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[QUOTE="Munyaradzi Mafaro, post: 74655, member: 636"]
Bulawayo poultry farmers are getting squeezed by a day-old chick shortage right before the holiday rush, and some shady suppliers are allegedly making smallholder operations buy feed just to access the birds. The Competition and Tariffs Commission called out the practice as a market distortion that hurts small-scale producers. Zimbabwe Poultry Association chair Tizai Faranisi explained that breeders are keeping stock levels conservative because raising parent chickens costs around 25 bucks per bird before they even start laying eggs, and most hatcheries refuse to scale up production for a three-month demand spike since they'd get stuck with losses afterward.

Hamara marketing manager Bridget Rungu said the Christmas rush is winding down for farmers who booked early, and they started offering three-week-old birds to help growers who struggle with the wet season. Faranisi added that mortality rates climb when farmers skip proper management protocols, trying to save money, which makes repeat business harder to maintain.
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