Selling live vs selling to a processor
Only 1–2% of Pakistani broiler reaches a processing plant. What the other route asks of you, and what it pays for.
Around 1–2% of Pakistan’s broiler supply goes through a processing plant. Everything else is sold live and slaughtered at a wet-market stall. That ratio is slowly changing, and a farmer who understands what a processor actually wants is positioned for it.
Selling live
Cash, fast. Birds go, money comes — often the same day or against the arthi’s guarantee.
No specification. Nobody asks what you fed, when you last medicated, or whether the flock is uniform. Weight is the only variable.
Full price exposure. You take whatever the market is paying the day your birds are ready. A bird that is ready must be sold — there are no holding centres, which is a large part of why an estimated 20% of poultry product is lost to poor logistics.
Selling to a processor
A contract, and a specification. Typically a weight band, a uniformity expectation, and — critically — compliance on medicine Withdrawal periodThe days that must pass between the last dose of a medicine and slaughter, so residues clear. Set by the product label, not by habit.Glossary →. Residues are a food-safety and an export problem, and a plant that tests will reject a flock.
Payment terms, not cash. Usually 15 to 30 days. That is a working-capital cost the live market does not impose, and it is the reason many farms stay with the arthi even when the processor price looks better.
Less price volatility. Contracted prices are steadier. You give up the upside of a spike and you are protected from a crash.
The processor is not paying you more for the same bird. He is paying for a bird you can document — right weight band, uniform flock, withdrawal observed. Those are production disciplines, not sales tactics.
What it actually asks of you
- Records. Placement date, medication dates, withdrawal clearance. Without them you cannot make the claim, whatever the truth.
- Uniformity. A plant paying by weight band is penalised by outliers. This is where strains selected for consistency earn their keep.
- Withdrawal discipline. The date on the label, not the habit. This is the single most common reason a flock fails a processor’s test.
Which to choose
If you are running a 20,000-bird shed and selling into a strong local mandi, live sale is usually simpler and the cash cycle is better. The case for a processor strengthens when:
- You can carry 15–30 day payment terms without distress selling
- Your flocks finish uniformly
- You already keep the records, or are willing to start
- Local rates swing hard enough that steadiness is worth the discount
The longer-term argument is different. Traceability is the stated blocker on Pakistani poultry exports, and Gulf markets already take the great majority of what does leave. A farm with a documented production record is the one that can supply that trade when it opens. A farm without one cannot, at any price.