UAE poultry production :: Gulf News
Reliance on imported hatching eggs

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Dr Hassanin, an expert in poultry diseases, said the ban affected production because locally-produced hatching eggs were not enough to meet domestic demand. "The UAE needs 60 million eggs to produce the chickens people eat. But our farm here produces only 20 million eggs," he said.

"The UAE's import ban on hatching eggs will cause a poultry shortage."

Chickens take 35 to 40 days to hatch and mature before being slaughtered and sold. Poultry farms then take 20 days to clean and disinfect the enclosure in preparation for the new batch of chickens.

"We foresee a shortage of chicken due to the ban on importing hatching eggs," Dr Hassanin warned.

He said some poultry farms have had to supplement their waning stock by importing eggs from unaffected countries, such as Germany. However, some farms will not be able to afford it. "If this ban continues for one or two months, some farms will need to get new eggs, but from where? Europe is too expensive," he said. He added that prices of fresh chicken might increase by up to Dh1 per kg if production costs increased.