There was once a time when common people did not have to count their monthly budget again and again while planning to purchase chicken for the week.

But now, with the prices of chicken meat surging to a new high, it feels like if this trend continues, chicken will become a rare commodity for many in the country. Just like mutton.

This wave of price hikes has not only engulfed consumers, but people selling chicken have also come in its folds.

The rate of chicken meat has risen due to the rise in the price of feed, poultry farmer Malik Noman fronlm the Gadap area of Karachi told Aaj News.

He said a sack of 50 kilogrammes of chicken feed would cost Rs1,800 in 2018, but now it is being sold at Rs4,500.

Noman added that the price hike is seen especially for chicken that is supplied from interior Sindh.

Moreover, he said, the increasing rate of dollar and overall inflation has also affected his business.

Chicken breeding is mainly done in interior Sindh and Balochistan. No man is hopeful that once the supply normalises, prices will go down.

Chicken price

Like in other parts of Pakistan, in Karachi too the price of chicken meat is sky high.

The price of chicken, including thigh and neck, is Rs580 per kilogramme, which was Rs500 before Eidul Fitr.

On the other hand, chicken prices have soaring in Lahore too, where a kilogramme is being sold at Rs400.

There was once a time when everyone can afford chicken regardless of social class, but now it seems impossible, a man buying chicken told Aaj News.

In Peshawar too, residents are face the same situation. In three days the rate of a kilogramme of chicken has gone up by Rs75, to Rs331.

One resident resorted to buying live chickens before eid, most of which died. So to break even he sold the remaining chickens at a higher rate.

A disrupted supply from Punjab is another reason for the increase in prices.