APPENDIX A 



Determination of Feed Mill Capacities and Outputs 



The feed manufacturing capacity and output of each model feed 

 mill is based on the feed requirements of the vertically coordinated 

 broiler marketing organization consisting in part of broiler processing, 

 live broiler production, hatching egg production, and broiler chick 

 hatching. The organization controls other stages such as broiler assembly 

 and chick distribution, but neither affects the quantities of broilers and 

 eggs produced. It is assumed that the organization produces only the 

 quantities of inputs necessary to ultimately operate the broiler process- 

 ing plant at its designed capacity and output. 



Eight processing plants ranging in capacity from 600 to 10.000 broil- 

 ers per hour serve as the basis for establishing feed requirements. These 

 plants are assumed to process straight-run broilers averaging 3.5 pounds 

 live. Plants operate eight hours a day, 260 days a year. The quantity of 

 broilers needed varies from 1.248 million a year for the smallest firm to 

 20.8 million for the largest firm size considered. Appendix Taljle A-1 

 gives the annual requirements. ^ 



The input for the processing plants establishes the output for the 

 live broiler production stage. However, the input of day-old chicks need- 

 ed is somewhat larger to compensate for bird mortality during the grow- 

 ing-out period. A mortality rate of 4.2 percent is used to derive the re- 

 quired chick input. This input varies from 1.303 million a year to 21.712 

 million chicks as shown in Table A-1. 



Hatchery outputs are equivalent to the broiler chick inputs. Con- 

 verting chicks to hatching eggs is based on a 72 percent hatchability rate 

 of good chicks. Egg inputs to the hatcheries vary from 5,026 cases to 

 83,765 cases a year. The quantities for the intermediate size firms are 

 given in Table A-1. 



Mature breeders are assumed to prodvice an average of 118 hatching 

 eggs per bird over a 40-week laying period. At this rate, the total annual 

 number of female breeders required varies from 15,333 to 255.553 with 

 11,795 to 196,579 being in production at any one time. There is a min- 

 imum of one male for each ten females. The total annual numljer of 

 males varies from 1,533 to 25,555 with 1,179 to 19,658 being fed at any 

 one time. 



The breeders are purchased as day-old chicks from a primary l)reed- 

 er hatchery and grown out to maturity by the firm. During this period, 

 an assumed 15 percent of the females are lost through mortality and 

 culling. For each 100 purchased female chicks, 15 male chicks are pur- 

 chased. The total number of day-old chicks purchased annually varies 

 from 18,039 females and 2,705 males to 300,651 females and 45.098 males. 

 Table A-1 gives the quantities of chicks purchased by each of the eight 

 firms. 



1 Derived from G. B. Rogers and E. T. Bardwell, op. cit. In that report the hourly 

 capacities of the processing plants are the same as those used in this report: however, 

 the work year was 247 days in the Rogers and Bardwell report, but is 260 in this 

 one, so that total annual capacities are not the same. 



52 



