Khanya Eggs Business Plan — Point-of-Lay Pullet Sourcing

Where the birds come from, the supply concentration risk in South African pullet rearing, and the placement schedule the plan depends on.

Point-of-Lay Pullet Sourcing

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The point-of-lay pullet is the second-largest cost in the business at R0.47 per egg, 21.7 per cent of the total cost of production, and it is the input on which every production assumption depends. A pullet costs roughly R135 to R162 depending on the stage and takes eighteen weeks to rear before it lays a single egg.

Consideration

Requirement

Why it matters

Supplier accreditation

Registered rearer with documented health status

The 2023 outbreak began upstream; buying birds is buying another farm’s biosecurity

Vaccination record

Full programme documented per batch, including Newcastle and infectious bronchitis

An unvaccinated or partially vaccinated batch is a liability that appears in week four

Body weight at delivery

Uniform and at breed standard for 16 to 18 weeks

An underweight pullet never reaches peak lay and eats the same feed

Uniformity

Coefficient of variation within specification

An uneven flock peaks lower and persists worse

Delivery timing

Placed before onset of lay, into a cleaned and rested house

A pullet that starts laying in transit is a bird under stress

More than one supplier

Two accredited rearers from Stage 3

A single supplier failure idles a house for eighteen weeks

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