For those who pay for processing....

[beebiz]

I know that some of you pay someone else to process your birds. How are you charged..... by the bird, by the pound, or what?? How much does it cost to have your birds processed?? How do the processers package your birds??

I ask these questions because I just don't know how much longer I will be physically able to process my own birds. I've found local places that process deer, cattle, and swine, but so far none that process poultry. But, I haven't given up yet!!

Thanks in advance for sharing your information!

Robert

 

[HFC]

I don't know of anybody in West TN, but I'll ask around and find out.

There's a place here that charges $3/bird. They'll cut them up into halves, peices, or leave whole for the same price. They just put them in bags for you to package to freeze.

 

[snugglepup]

We paid $2.65/bird, cleaned, plucked, and vacuum sealed whole in a bag with a label.

 

[LoneCowboy]

We will pay $2.70 a bird. We deliver a live bird, they give us back a bagged bird, USDA inspected processing plant.

 

[saddlebags]

HFC how far is that place from ft worth that processes birds?

 

[greyfields]

I only have State inspected processors available to me. It's $3/bird up to 4 pounds, then it's $4, then $5 for anything over 5 lbs live weight. Mine tend to be in the $5 range. They only come bagged and chilled.

 

[HFC]

Quote:
It's in the Sheldon are, just NE of Houston. They also have a place in the Cypress area NW of Houston somewhere. Both are almost four hours from Ft. Worth.

 

[blue90292]

hfc, do you know anyone in the south side of houston? other than the people in richmond??

 

[beebiz]

Thank you all very kindly for sharing your information with me. Though most costs seem reasonable for the amount of work involved in the butchering process, a couple of the prices seem a bit high to me. It makes me wonder if it is really worth it.

What I mean by "worth it":
I know that the birds that we raise ourselves are better for us. We know first hand what has gone into them. And we also know first hand that we are not getting "sick" birds to eat. But, we never know what we are getting when we buy the bagged bird at the grocery store. To that end, I know that growing our own birds and having them processed is "worth it." But, what I am wondering about is from a financial standpoint. Once you figure in the cost of the chick (for those who buy them it's a lot higher than those of us who incubate them), the cost of feed to get them from chick to fryer/broiler, the cost of fuel to transport them to and from the processor, and the cost of processing, it seems to me that the cost per pound of edible bird is kind of high. That's that part that I'm talking about when I ask if it is "worth it."

What do you all think???

Thanks again for any input that you are willing to offer.

Robert

 

[HFC]

No, not off the top of my head. I have some friends who just started working in Pearland. I'll ask him to keep an eye out.