THE soaring cost of chicken feed in Malaysia has sent the price of live birds here up by almost 20 per cent this month, to about $5 a kilo.

Hawkers say they have no choice but to raise their own prices to offset some of the hefty increases.

Mr Chew Kian Huat, secretary of the Poultry Merchants' Association, said corn, the main ingredient in chicken feed, has shot up from about $420 to $820 a tonne - making live chickens 20 to 25 per cent pricier.

Hawkers said chicken prices are at an all-time high.

"Chicken has never been this expensive," said Mr Tay Thiam Huat, 48, who has been selling chicken at a wet market in Eunos for 30 years. He used to sell a medium-size one for about $5. Now it costs $6.

The Sunday Times visited 10 wet markets in neighbourhoods like Ang Mo Kio and Toa Payoh last week. It found that the price of fresh chicken had gone up by between 30 and 90 cents a kilo.

Those who passed on all increase in costs to customers suffered a dip in sales.

One hawker at Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 said sales fell by 30 per cent after he raised prices by 90 cents to $5 a kilo.

Mr Ng Say Cheng, 57, who runs a stall at Toa Payoh Lorong 4, said: "Business is already not so good. We just have to earn a little less." He charges 50 cents more for a kilo of chicken.

Two weeks ago, Sheng Siong Supermarket raised chicken prices by about a dollar.

A small chicken weighing 1 to 1.3kg now costs $4.80.

Giant hypermart has also increased prices, while NTUC FairPrice is "holding" them for now.

The Sunday Times knows of at least one chicken rice stall that has raised prices this month. Ming Kee Chicken Rice at Bishan Street 13 now charges $3 for a plate, a rise of 50 cents.

Singapore imports about 3.4 million chickens from Malaysia a month.

While Mr Chew stressed that chicken prices have been kept "too low" over the past few years due to intense competition, some consumers clearly think otherwise.

Housewife Tan Poh Yok, 67, said: "It's very expensive compared to the last few years. I'll just have to eat less of it."