justification

[Triple Willow]

My time and water not included I raise mine for $1.75 a pound.

Would you tell about how you raise yours and the results you get?

 

[bowhunter862]

I've raised about 300 CX in the past 2 years and the results are almost always the same:

A CX at 8 weeks will dress out at 6.5-7 pounds. To get to that weight, the will eat 20 pounds of feed which will cost 6-7 dollars. Add to that the cost of the chicks which varies from $1.80-$2.50 and you have an 8 to 10 dollar bird. Price per pound ranges from:
8 divided by 7 = $1.14/pound to 10 divided by 6.5 = $1.54/pound FOR FEED. Add in your other costs like bedding, electricity and water and you have your total cost per pound which is still going to be a bargain for a home raised bird that tastes way better than store bought any day of the week. It's well worth it to me.

 

[ChaoSS]

Others have given their calculations, but here you go. Feed conversion rate should be around 2. That means 2 pounds of food for 1 pound of bird. You gave a price of .36 cents per pound, this gives you .72 cents a pound live weight. Figure in a70% live weight to dressed weight gives you $1.03/pound dressed weight. Costs of bedding and water and electricity can range from almost nothing to a lot, depending on your set up.

Feed conversion may not be perfect for you. Your rates may be higher per pound. Still it should be easy to come in at under 1.5-2 bucks a pound.

How much do you pay for chicken? At my local grocery store leg quarters and parts range from 1-1.5 dollars a pound depending on season. Boneless breasts run low 2s to 3s. If you want something that was raised decently you buy the organic for 7 bucks a pound.

Then there are the organ meats which you can eat or give to your dogs or cats. There's the poop which fertilizes your garden. There's the insect control.


On the other hand, some people use little of the chicken and it's byproducts and are thus less cost effective. Yesterday at Walmart I got a ten pound bag of leg quarters for 5.53 on sale. Hard to beat that price.

 

[AlbionWood]

If you buy on price, you don't care about quality, so don't bother raising your own meat. You can always get chicken meat on sale at ridiculously low prices ($/lb). Of course, about 80% or more is contaminated with pathogenic bacteria (Campylobacter, Salmonella, etc), all of it is injected with water, and some may even contain arsenic (added to the feed to make the meat pink). But if price is what you care about, then those things don't matter.

If, on the other hand, you actually care about the quality of the meat you eat - including texture and flavor, as well as cleanliness - then the cost of raising it is insignificant compared with the hassle. For me anyway.

 

[SmokinChick]

Would you tell about how you raise yours and the results you get?

I tractor them. Shop around and buy the cheapest chicks I can get and do a group buy with friends that raise meaties. Feed cost $13 for 50 lbs. Process them weigh and divide total pounds by feed costs.

 

[ChaoSS]

$13 for 50 lbs... Wish I could find that.