A poultry feed budget is the difference between knowing what the flock will cost before placement and discovering it at the feed mill. Because feed is 85–90% of broiler production cost, the budget is not a minor planning document — it is the financial plan for the flock. This page builds a feed budget from placement count, consumption curve, and delivered price, with a worked example, the adjustment discipline that keeps it honest mid-cycle, and the records that make the next budget more accurate than the last.
Building the Budget: Three Inputs
| Input | Example Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Placement count | 30,000 birds | Placement records — the placement disclosure fields carry the same numbers on the integrator side |
| Consumption curve | 0.05 lb/bird/day (week 1) rising to 0.54 (week 6), total ~160,350 lb | Your strain's published curve, adjusted by your own flock history |
| Delivered price | $0.50/lb — budget $0.53 to hold 6% price headroom | Contract or cash price, with the headroom that absorbs mid-cycle movement |
The Worked Budget
Example only — labeled assumptions. Summing the curve for 30,000 birds gives roughly 160,350 lb across the seven-week grow-out. At $0.50/lb that is about $80,175 in feed; with 6% headroom the budget line is roughly $85,000. The weekly shape matters as much as the total:
- Week 1–2: ~$4,830 — small; the easy weeks that lull budgets into silence.
- Week 4: ~$16,180 — the escalation point; the week budget discipline starts to matter.
- Week 6 (peak): ~$22,110 — nearly a quarter of the total feed spend in one week. A cash-flow plan that has not sized for this week will discover the gap here.
Keeping the Budget Honest Mid-Cycle
- Log deliveries as they arrive — weight, phase, date — and compare actual against the curve weekly. Intake running above curve is either a conversion problem or a temperature one; see the ammonia/ventilation guide for what under-ventilation costs in feed.
- Phase mismatches are budget events, not just nutrition ones. A grower feed delivered in the finisher phase costs more per pound for the same birds — the feed storage guide covers the ticket and bin checks that catch it.
- Re-forecast at week 3 with actuals: price movement plus conversion drift, projected to catch. A re-forecast that says the flock will land 4% over budget is a conversation with the integrator — before settlement, not after.
Tracking the Feed Budget in Poultry Log™
Feed deliveries logged by weight and phase roll up against the flock's projected curve automatically — actual versus budget visible weekly instead of at the feed mill invoice. The budget template builds the next flock's budget from your own consumption history; the feed cost guide covers the leak side of the largest line; and the profitability dashboard carries what the feed budget did to the margin, across flocks.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much feed does a 30,000-bird broiler flock eat?
About 10.7 lb per bird over a seven-week grow-out on the example curve — roughly 160,350 lb total, or about 0.05 lb/bird/day in week 1 rising to 0.54 in week 6. The weekly totals follow the feed consumption chart; multiply by your own flock size and delivered price for your budget.
How much should I budget above the feed price?
Hold 5-8% price headroom on the feed line — on the worked example, budgeting $0.53 against a $0.50 expected price adds roughly $4,800 of cushion across the cycle. The headroom absorbs mid-cycle price movement without forcing a re-forecast at the worst moment.
When should I re-forecast the feed budget?
At week 3 — early enough that actual intake data is meaningful, late enough that price and conversion drift have appeared. A re-forecast that lands the flock 4% over budget is a conversation with the integrator before settlement, not a discovery after it.
- 2026-10-06: Comprehensive rewrite. Three-input budget method, weekly cash shape, and mid-cycle adjustment discipline — replacing the earlier boilerplate version.
- Earlier version: short first-person note on weighing feed bags.