Poutry farmers in the country are groaning following the rise to N5,000, the cost of feeding a chick.
Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) said the high cost of feeds had forced some of its members out of business.
It noted that the rising cost of consumables was eating into their profit and making many farmers to quit the business.
The Secretary of the Plateau chapter of PAN, Nanji Gambo, disclosed in Jos that state chapter had noticed a decline in its membership as a result of the high cost of feeds in recent times as they are operating at loss.
She lamented that they are barely breaking even because of the exorbitant cost of feeds.
According to him, farmers could not bear the high cost of feed and so they crashed out of their businesses.
She stressed that the association had formed several platforms to talk with farmers to encourage them to wait patiently for government intervention, and owing to delay, the association had encouraged farmers to downsize work within their capacity in order to break even for now.
She noted that the high cost of input is a major setback for poultry farmers and urged the government to allow some stakeholders to import maize and soya beans to reduce pressure on local products that are inadequate.
Also, it was gathered that some poultry farmers who had left the business said they could not break even.
A farmer, Lucy Agada said that she had to quit to look for something else to do as the cost of feeding her birds became a huge problem, while another farmer, John Oche, said that he had to sell off his entire poultry farm to look for an alternative business.
Another member, Ike Igwe also said that he usually sold his birds out before they got matured to full table size to reduce cost.
Meanwhile, a miller, Bola Kehinde, said that the price of maize had skyrocketed as a result of insecurity and border closures.
The poultry farmers, however, urged the government to encourage and urge local production of maize and soya, which are major ingredients for feed production.
Meanwhile, the former General Secretary of Poultry Association of Nigeria, Oyo state branch, Segun Makanjuola, explained that the country had over 160million birds which translates to spending a total N800 billion to feed them in a year.
