>Russian farmers declared it impossible to raise broilers without Czech eggs

>Farmers in the Leningrad region report a sharp drop in the quality of broilers due to the disappearance of the Cobb 500 hatching egg. Instead of the standard 4 kg, adult birds reach only 2–2.3 kg, which makes theirbreeding economically unviable. Cobb 500 is a highly productive breed bred in the Czech Republic and widely used in Europe and the USA due to its high survival rate and rapid weight gain with low feed consumption.

>Difficulties began after Rosselkhoznadzor banned the import of Czech hatching eggs in 2025. The only remaining products on the market are Turkish analogues, which, according to manufacturers, do not provide stable performance. Taking into account rising costs, the cost of chicken meat may increase by 130% - from 350 to 800 rubles per kg, which will actually make the product uncompetitive. Several farm owners in the Leningrad region have already begun to reduce production. Co-owner of the Khutor Zalesye farm, Irina Vishnyakova, said: “We have been purchasing day-old chicks, and since August the result has been amazing – in a bad way.” Another farmer, Ivan Nikolaev, added: “The chickens grow to a maximum of 2.3 kg instead of the usual four. We have completely stopped raising broilers and don’t know whether we will return to this direction next year.”

>Market participants attribute the deterioration in performance to the disappearance of Czech hatching eggs. Rosselkhoznadzor twice - in May and August 2025 - introduced restrictions on the import of products from Czech enterprises. After this, the market was left mainly with Turkish suppliers, whose quality, according to farmers, remains inconsistent.