Chickens, ducklings and goslings cost dearer

The chickens, ducklings and goslings this year are sold at higher prices than last year. The sellers at the market said they had to raise prices because they were initially increased by the producers. Vitalie Ciobanu, the head of the Agriculture Ministry’s Animal Breeding Division, has told Info-Prim Neo that there are enough eggs on the market, but the prices of birds have been also influenced by the higher grain prices. There are fewer ducklings and goslings than chickens because the number of such birds at incubators was reduced. Vitalie Ciobanu does not rule out that the producers profit from the fact that many people lost their birds as a result of floods and diseases. According to him, the situation on the market will stabilize and the prices will fall. “The number of birds at incubators will be increased and the prices will decrease in a month or two,” he anticipated. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, the head of the poultry breeder “Avicola Moldova” Ion Bazgu said the prices are dictated by the market conditions. “The demand has increased following the death of many birds as a result of last year’s calamities. In this period last year, the prices were much lower,” he stated, adding the vaccinated birds of 10 to 40 days weighing 400-500 grams are the most expensive. Producers based in Ialoveni and Cahul said the price rises followed the high demand at the market and the increase in grain prices. Many people return from abroad and go to the market to buy young birds in order to breed them. A chicken at the market this year cost 5 lei, as against 2 lei last year. A duckling is sold for 10 – 12 lei, as opposed to 2 lei last year, while a gosling for 35 lei, by 10 lei more expensive.