Feed is 60–70% of broiler production cost, which makes feed waste the largest silent leak on most farms — and the least visible. You cannot cut what you do not measure: every reduction lever on this page starts with knowing what the flock actually ate, what it should have eaten, and where the difference went. The levers are delivery verification, storage integrity, feeder management, and finisher discipline — each measurable, each worth real money per flock.
Where Feed Cost Actually Goes Wrong
| Leak | What It Looks Like | How to Catch It |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery errors | Wrong phase in the bin, short load, wrong bin filled | Weigh or count every delivery against the ticket on arrival — not when the birds stop eating |
| Storage losses | Moisture caking, rodent damage, bridging in the bin, spoiled feed left too long | Bin inspections on a schedule; first-in-first-out rotation; keep bins dry and sealed |
| Feeder spillage | Feed in the litter, pans overfilled for bird age, birds scratching feed out | Pan height and fill level checked weekly; walk the house and measure what is on the floor, not just in the pan |
| Overfeeding the finisher | Feed offered beyond what the flock converts — the last week's incremental FCR punishes every extra pound | Track daily intake against the feed chart; test extension decisions against the catch economics |
| Untracked consumption | Feed delivered but never compared to birds gained — the biggest leak of all, because it hides the others | Weekly FCR from your own logs: feed consumed ÷ weight gained, per the FCR method |
The Measurement That Finds All Four
Weekly feed conversion, calculated from your own records, is the single number that surfaces every other leak. If delivered feed minus bin contents divided by weight gained runs above the curve for your age and strain, one of the five rows above is the cause — and the pattern tells you which:
- FCR high, intake low: birds are not eating what they should — environment, health, or water. Check the ADG chart and the water chart first.
- FCR high, intake normal: feed is disappearing somewhere other than birds — spillage, storage, or a delivery error. Walk the litter line and check the bin.
- FCR on curve, cost per pound rising: the birds are efficient; the feed price moved. That is a purchasing conversation, not a management one.
The Money in the Levers
On the example flock, feed runs about $160,350. A 1% leak — spillage, spoilage, or a short delivery never caught — is $1,600 per flock. On four flocks a year that is $6,400, before counting the performance drag that wet litter and stale feed cause on top of the direct loss. The break-even sensitivity table shows the other direction too: a $0.05/lb delivered-price saving moves break-even about $0.045/lb — worth more than most management changes, and it starts with reading every ticket.
Building the Habit in Poultry Log™
Feed deliveries logged the day they arrive — weight, phase, bin — make delivery verification automatic instead of remembered. Weekly feed consumption against the target curve, mortality, and weight on the same timeline turn FCR drift into a named cause within a week instead of at settlement. And the flock's feed history feeds the profitability dashboard, where cost per pound produced shows whether the leak was closed. The feed delivery errors guide covers the ticket-side details.
- 2026-10-05: Comprehensive rewrite. Leak table, FCR-as-diagnostic framework, and money math from the feed chart example — replacing the earlier short note.
- Earlier version: brief note on tracking feed cost per flock.