KOTA BARU: Restaurateurs here are worried that they will not be able to meet customers' demand for chicken, which is in poor supply.

Traders here have raised the prices of food by between 50 sen and RM1 because they are paying more for chicken.

Trader Rosnani Zamri, 29, said she had to reduce the number of rice packets sold daily.

She said she used to sell about 800 packets of nasi khoumok a day. Now she sells only half of that. 

"This is because our supplier provides only 50 chickens daily compared with 100 previously.

"Apart from the dwindling supply, chicken prices have also soared, leaving us with no choice but to raise the price of nasi khoumok to RM5.50 from RM5," said the trader, who operates her business in Jalan PCB, Cabang Tiga, here.

The mother of five hoped that the chicken supply crunch could be resolved soon as it had affected not only the income of restaurateurs like her, but also chicken sellers.

Chicken seller Zarina Abdullah, 53, said the supply issue was perennial, but that it had become critical in the last few days.

She said supply had fallen by up to 50 per cent, affecting her business.

As a trader, she said, she had obligations to buyers in terms of the number of birds sold a day.

"With supplies scarce, prices have soared. I hope this issue will be addressed soon and the prices of chicken will return to normal.

"Due to the soaring prices of chicken the number of buyers has also dwindled. They are likely looking at other meat sources such as fish," said Zarina, who runs a stall at Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah here.

In Padang Besar, most chicken traders have started rationing the number of chickens sold daily following poultry producers' move to halt operations temporarily. This was because the weight of chickens produced by the farms does not meet the standard requirement of the market.

Perlis Department of Veterinary Services director Dr Adam Abdullah Kwan told Bernama that the rationing was undertaken by the traders themselves to enable more customers to obtain chicken.

"The rationing is carried out by the traders themselves and not on the enforcement officers' orders.

"I was told that the producers will supply 13,000 chickens to traders in the state today (yesterday)."

Chicken trader Ismanizam Ismail, 40, said he faced problems when the producers could not supply chickens according to the number that he ordered.

"I ordered 200 chickens but received only 20. During Hari Raya Aidilfitri in previous years, I could sell 1,000 chickens, but this year, I sold only 150."

He said he had been experiencing the lowest chicken supply since the Chinese New Year in February this year.

Another trader, Wan Shahrul Wan Choh, 31, said he did not trade on Saturday because he did not receive the chicken that he had ordered.

"Perhaps there is a supply of chicken but the producers are holding back the (stock of) chickens."

He also said the supply of chicken for the Hari Raya Aidiladha celebration was uncertain.

Pulut ayam seller Rogayah Ali, 38, said she had to go to two or three shops to find chicken to enable her to make the dish.

"I had to close my business for three days because I could not get the chicken."