Broilers are the faster and cheaper way to start (a batch is ready in about 6 weeks) but they carry price risk: at a cost of roughly ₹80-₹85 per kg live weight, a farm-gate price of ₹76 per kg, as reported in Kerala on 1 September 2026, means a loss, while ₹115 per kg leaves about ₹68,000 per 1,000-chick batch. Layers need a bigger investment and a 72-78 week commitment, and their profit is decided by feed cost versus egg price.
This guide gives housing and feed norms, the vaccination schedule, worked arithmetic for both, and what government support really exists for poultry. See also our poultry farming page.
Broiler or layer: quick comparison
| Broiler | Commercial layer | |
|---|---|---|
| Cycle | About 38-42 days to 2-2.2 kg live weight | Chick to 18-20 weeks, then laying to about 72-78 weeks |
| Floor space | About 0.8-1.0 sq ft per bird on deep litter | About 0.6-0.65 sq ft per bird in cages, or about 2 sq ft on deep litter |
| Feed | Feed conversion about 1.7-2.0 kg feed per kg gain | About 110-115 g per bird per day for white-egg layers |
| Output | About 2 kg live bird | About 280-320 eggs in a full cycle |
| Main risk | Live-bird price crashes, heat stress, disease outbreaks | Egg price versus feed price, long cash cycle, disease |
| Feed share of cost | Largest single cost | About 75-80% |
Feed is the biggest cost in both, so your margin is really a feed-price question. Maize and soybean meal prices move the economics of the whole industry.
Housing and equipment
- Choose a site with good drainage, away from residential areas and other poultry farms, with a road for feed and bird vehicles. Many states need a no-objection certificate from the gram panchayat or the pollution control board for commercial-size units; check before building.
- Orient the long side east-west. A width of about 25-30 ft lets natural air flow through, with wire-mesh sidewalls and curtains that can be dropped in cold or rain.
- Plan floor space as in the table: a 1,000-bird broiler batch needs about 800-1,000 sq ft of floor.
- For deep litter use 2-3 inches of dry rice husk, sawdust or chopped straw; keep it dry and stir it daily. Wet litter is the commonest cause of ammonia, leg problems and coccidiosis.
- Equipment: brooders (gas, electric or bukhari), feeders and drinkers at the recommended number per 100 birds on the hatchery or feed company guide, and plan on a generator or inverter for brooding nights.
- Biosecurity: one entry point, footbath, separate clothes and footwear, no visitors near the shed, and all-in-all-out batches with 10-14 days of cleaning and rest between them.
Vaccination schedule
A commonly used schedule from the TNAU Agritech portal (sourced from Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University) is below. Vaccines and ages depend on your hatchery's maternal antibodies and local disease pressure, so confirm with your veterinarian or the hatchery before you buy.
| Disease | Broilers | Commercial layers |
|---|---|---|
| Marek's disease | At the hatchery on day 1 (or 5-10 days if not given) | Day 1, injection |
| Ranikhet (Newcastle) disease | 1-7 days by eye or nose drop or spray, repeat at 3-4 weeks if a La Sota strain is used | 1-7 days, 3-4 weeks, 8 weeks, then a killed or mesogenic booster at 16-18 weeks, and again at about 40 weeks |
| Infectious bursal disease (Gumboro) | 18-21 days, spray or drinking water | Killed or live vaccine around 3 weeks and again before lay on vet advice |
| Infectious bronchitis | 3-4 weeks | 3 weeks, 8 weeks and 14-16 weeks |
| Fowl pox | Not routine for 6-week broilers | 6-8 weeks, wing web (listed in the TNAU table for breeders; confirm for your flock) |
| Infectious coryza, EDS-76, ILT | Not routine | Coryza and EDS at about 3 weeks, ILT at about 16 weeks, where locally needed |
Broiler cost and return: 1,000 chicks, one batch
Assumptions (September 2026, rounded, for illustration): chick ₹40 (market range ₹38-₹50); feed ₹30 per kg (range ₹28-₹33); 4% mortality, so 960 birds; average 2.2 kg live at 42 days; feed conversion 1.75. Medicines and vaccines ₹6,000, litter, power and water ₹6,000, hired labour ₹8,000 and transport and other ₹4,000 are stated estimates; use your own.
- Live weight produced: 960 × 2.2 = 2,112 kg.
- Feed: 2,112 × 1.75 = about 3,700 kg × ₹30 = about ₹1,11,000.
- Chicks: ₹40,000. Other costs: ₹24,000. Total about ₹1.75 lakh, or about ₹83 per kg live weight.
| Farm-gate live price | Revenue (2,112 kg) | Margin per batch | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹76 per kg | ₹1,60,500 | about -₹14,500 | Kerala farm-gate low reported on 1 Sept 2026 |
| ₹85 per kg | ₹1,79,500 | about +₹4,500 | Roughly break-even |
| ₹100 per kg | ₹2,11,200 | about +₹36,000 | Ordinary year |
| ₹115 per kg | ₹2,42,900 | about +₹68,000 | Good price |
With 5 batches a year (allowing rest days) the same farm could lose about ₹70,000 or make about ₹3.4 lakh, depending on price, and that is before interest and your own labour. FCR and mortality matter as much as price: a FCR of 1.9 instead of 1.75 adds about ₹9,500 to feed cost on the same batch. In Kerala in September 2026, farmers blamed oversupply and lower prices from Tamil Nadu suppliers for the ₹76 price, which shows the risk of depending on one market. If you take birds under contract with an integrator, insist on a written growing charge, feed and chick rates and the settlement formula.
Layer economics: think per egg
A white-egg layer eating about 112 g a day and laying at an average 80% uses about 0.14 kg feed per egg. At ₹27-₹30 per kg that is about ₹3.8-₹4.2 of feed per egg. Adding the pullet's purchase price spread over the laying period, vaccines, labour and power brings the total to about ₹4.4-₹5.2 per egg (assumption). The NECC egg price was reported at about ₹5.20 per egg on 28 September 2026, but farm-gate prices after zone deductions and transport are lower in many places, so the margin is thin, anywhere from a small loss to roughly ₹1 per egg. A 1,000-layer farm producing about 2.7 lakh eggs over a cycle gains or loses about ₹2.7 lakh for every ₹1 change in the egg price. Layer farmers who mix their own feed from local maize and soy cake, sell direct to shops and sell spent hens well keep more of the margin.
Government support: what is and isn't available
- National Livestock Mission (entrepreneurship). A 50% capital subsidy, up to ₹50 lakh, applies to listed units. For poultry the listed unit is a parent farm, hatchery or brooder-cum-mother unit of rural poultry birds with at least 1,000 parent layers, with a maximum subsidy of ₹25 lakh for a 1,000+100 unit (PIB, Feb 2025). An ordinary commercial broiler or layer farm is not on that list, even though many websites say otherwise.
- Integrated Scheme for Entrepreneurship Development. The Union Budget 2026-27 provides ₹500 crore for credit-linked subsidies, modernisation and integrated dairy and poultry value chains. No published guidelines were available as of October 2026; ask the district animal husbandry office.
- AHIDF. 3% interest subvention for 8 years on loans of up to 90% applies to feed plants, breed-multiplication farms, vaccine units and processing, not normal layer or broiler sheds. The DAHD page records the revised outlay as valid to 31 March 2026.
- KCC. A KCC can give working capital for poultry; the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme limit is ₹5 lakh per a March 2026 PIB release (a later Finance Ministry reply still cites ₹3 lakh, so confirm with your bank) with collateral-free credit of ₹2 lakh. See KCC details.
- State governments run their own poultry schemes; check the state animal husbandry department and the subsidy finder.
Before you invest
- Decide your buyer first: live-bird traders, an integrator, local egg shops or a cooperative.
- Start with one batch of 500-1,000 broilers and keep full records of FCR, mortality and cost.
- Keep at least 2-3 months of working capital because prices can stay low for weeks.
- Check local rules on licences and waste disposal.
Sources
- PIB - National Livestock Mission (4 Feb 2025)
- Union Budget 2026-27 Notes on Demands for Grants - Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- DAHD - Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund
- PIB - Kisan Credit Card (11 March 2026)
- TNAU Agritech - Vaccination schedule for poultry birds
- Onmanorama - Farm-gate chicken prices plunge to record lows (1 Sept 2026)
- AgriFarming - Broiler farming profit per bird