Productivity, Cost-Benefit Analyses, Market Prices and Constraints to Poultry Farming in the Northern Districts of Bangladesh

A total of 641004 chickens were produced by 10 farms, of which Cobb 500 (broilers) in P1 was the highest in number (243000) and G1 yielded the lowest (10117 Fayoumi, RIR and Sonali breeds). The most common chicken breed reared in the area was Cobb 500 (276350) and the least common was ISA Brown (43163). With regard to productivity, significant differences existed among the farms (F9, 103= 29.32; P<0.001), among the chicken breeds (F4, 108= 3.03; P<0.05), as well as between the government and private farms (F1, 111= 6.17; P<0.05). It was interesting to note that all the government farms were losing concerns (G2 > G3 = G4 > G1), while all the private farms were making profits (P1 > P3 > P2 > P6 > P4 = P5). The overall profitability index (PI) values of government farms ranged between -0.09 and -0.13, whereas those of private farms between 0.18 and 0.52. Cobb 500 was the commonest but the least profitable breed, and Sonali was the most popular and cheapest one; and the growers achieved the maximum profit from Fayoumi. High feed cost, outbreak of diseases, inadequate supply of vaccines/medicines, lack of credit facilities and capital funding were recognized to be the major constraints to the poultry farming in the study area