JOHOR BARU: Farmers in Johor can only produce some 600,000 chickens daily compared to the demand, which reaches over 1.4 million chickens a day.
Johor Poultry Breeders Association (Small and Medium), Lau Ka Leng, secretary said the shortage of almost 40 per cent of the chicken supply is expected to continue until next month.
He said 26 percent of the chicken supply produced by the state were also sent to other nearby states.
"Johor is facing a shortage of almost 40 per cent in chicken supply because it is only able to produce about 600,000 chickens a day or only meeting 60 per cent of the demand.
"This is compared to pre-Covid-19 production, which could reach over 1.3 million heads a day.
"The main issue affecting chicken production is because of problems involving workers, which has become very critical because of the lack of foreign labour, other than chicken feed which is not only more expensive but is of poor quality, of which the supply is also declining.
"Previously, each worker was assigned to take care of 10,000 chicks, but due to lack of workers, an employee has to take care of over 30,000 chicks, thus affecting not only productivity but also the life expectancy of chickens due to lack of workers other than poor quality of chicken feed," he said when contacted.
It was reported that the retail price of chicken was sold between RM9.50 and RM10.50 per kilogramme, exceeding the ceiling price set, since the fifth day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
Traders reportedly said that the supply of chicken in the state continued to decline and the price set by suppliers also soared due to the demand for chicken which exceeded supply.
Meanwhile, Lau said, the supply of chicken in hypermarkets and several markets and fast-food restaurants, is expected to be affected tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. This, as some chicken producers are closing their chicken production plants on May 21 and 22.
"We have received information on the closure of chicken production plants owned by several large chicken producers in the country.
"However, small producers will continue to keep their production plants open to enable supplies to be sent. However, we also cannot produce more fresh chicken stock because we are still struggling due to lack of workers.
"We cannot meet the very high requests made by some traders. We will prioritise supply stocks to our main traders and customers over other parties despite receiving top orders," he said.
Lau urged the government to expedite foreign workers' entry to ease the burden of high fresh chicken demand from consumers.
He said the existing workers are under intense pressure because they were doing triple their previous workload.
"We are asking the government to help in terms of admission and easier procedures (involving foreign workers) as not many locals are interested in working in chicken farms.
"We also hope that the government can look at the soaring price of chicken feed, but the quality is low. This also disrupts the growth and longevity of chickens, thus burdening chicken farmers," he said.