Short answer: to reduce FCR in broilers, first check water, feed waste, feeder space and shed temperature, then litter and gut health. In our experience at Vital Feeds (Private) Limited, poor FCR is more often a shed problem than a feed problem. Fix the shed first, then judge the feed.
FCR (feed conversion ratio) is the feed eaten divided by the live weight produced. An FCR of 1.7 means 1.7 kg of feed for every kilogram of bird. Because feed is the largest cost in the shed, shaving even a small amount off FCR across a full flock changes the result of the cycle.
What is a good FCR target for broilers?
Use the breed’s own target at your selling age. The Aviagen Ross 308 Performance Objectives (2022) give these as-hatched figures under good management:
| Age (days) | Body weight (g) | Cumulative FCR |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | about 1,012 | about 1.14 |
| 28 | about 1,616 | about 1.27 |
| 35 | about 2,296 | about 1.40 |
| 42 | about 2,998 | about 1.53 |
Aviagen itself says local conditions such as extreme climate will reduce performance, so most open-sided sheds in Punjab will not reach these numbers in summer. Use them as a direction, and compare your own flock week by week with our broiler weight chart by age.
When FCR is poor, most farmers look at the feed first. In practice, feed is often not the problem — something else is stopping the bird from using it. Work through these seven checks in order.
1. Is water stopping the birds from eating?
Birds drink much more than they eat. The University of Georgia poultry drinking water primer says broilers drink about 1.6 to 2.0 times as much water as feed by weight. If water is restricted, dirty, too warm, or the drinker height is wrong, feed intake falls at once and growth follows. Check flow rate at the far end of the line, not just near the tank. This is the most common hidden cause of poor FCR. Use our daily broiler water chart to check the numbers.
2. Is feed being wasted as powder or spill?
Look in the bottom of the feeder. If you see powder rather than intact crumbs or pellets, birds are picking out the pieces they like and leaving the fines. Look on the litter under the feeders too. Spilled and wasted feed still counts as feed eaten, so FCR rises even though the ration is correct. Keep the feeder lip at about the height of the birds’ backs and do not overfill pans.
Storage matters too. Damp, caked or mouldy feed is eaten less and converts worse, so keep bags dry, off the floor and use the oldest bags first.
3. Can every bird reach feed and water?
If birds cannot all reach feed comfortably, the weaker ones fall behind and the flock becomes uneven. Uniformity and FCR are closely linked: a spread-out flock almost always converts worse than an even one. Add feeders and drinkers as the birds grow, and spread them evenly through the shed.
4. Is the shed too hot or too cold?
A bird that is too cold burns feed energy to keep warm. A bird that is too hot stops eating. Both raise FCR. Brooding temperature in the first week matters far more than most people expect, because a poor start is never fully recovered; follow our broiler brooding temperature guide. Later in the crop, the Ross objectives note that fast-growing broilers make a lot of heat, and keeping the shed below about 21°C from day 21 onward may improve growth. In a Pakistani summer, that means air movement, cool water and feeding in the cooler hours; see our guide to summer heat stress in poultry.
5. Is the litter wet and the air full of ammonia?
Wet, caked litter releases ammonia. Ammonia damages the airways, birds eat less, and disease pressure climbs. If your eyes sting at bird level, the birds have been living in that for hours. Ventilation costs some heat in winter, but it saves feed; our guide on keeping a broiler shed warm in winter shows how to hold heat and still bring in fresh air. Fix leaking drinkers quickly and turn or top up wet patches of litter.
6. Are feed changes too sudden?
Switching from starter to grower or grower to finisher in a single step can cause a dip in intake. Blend the two feeds over two to three days so the change is not abrupt, and make the change on the age or weight the feed programme sets, not when a bag runs out.
7. Is the gut healthy?
A bird with a damaged gut cannot absorb what it eats, so the best ration will still convert badly. Loose or watery droppings, undigested feed in the droppings and uneven growth are all signals to call your vet rather than change the feed. Do not start any medicine without your vet’s advice.
How should I record FCR on my farm?
You cannot improve what you do not record. Keep three numbers for every flock:
- Feed: bags delivered and bags left at the end.
- Mortality: birds dead or culled each day.
- Weight: a weekly sample weight of at least 50–100 birds from different parts of the shed.
With these, you can work out FCR for each flock and compare one shed with another. Our broiler feed consumption per bird chart helps you check whether daily intake is on track. Without records, any judgement about FCR is guesswork.
Written by Waqas Rafiq, CEO, Vital Feeds (Private) Limited.
See how our broiler starter, grower and finisher feed is staged, browse the full poultry feed range, or message the mill on WhatsApp (UAN 0311 1555136) to match a feed programme to your shed.