Meat amount from bird question

[Beekissed]

you won't be able to raise them cheaper.

Different products. You won't be able to get free ranged, naturally raised CX from the store at the prices mentioned. Yes, you can get commercially raised CX cheaper, but the product is incredibly different in taste and content.

I can certainly raise my free ranged CX cheaper than I can buy the same kind of meat.​

 

[Titus2Woman]

I am willing to pay a little more for humane conditions for the meat and for better quality meat. However, $9 a pound is more than we can afford so I need to find a happy medium.

 

[Matrix Escapee]

I agree with a previous post that 3 lbs is quite small.
Cook up a 5lb bird and see what that yields.
Around here, $3 per lb at the Farmer's market is a bargain. We get 4.99/lb (birds are on pasture and organically fed), and a friend gets 3.99/lb (on pasture and conventially fed).
We sold a few birds under 4;bs thsi year, and were embarrassed to do so b/c they were so small. More like a personal size pizza. It aint gonna feed your family. Not to mention at that age and size, that bird has not acquired all the nutrients it would have been able to if allowed to get a little older, so you are shorting yourself there too.
In the end, if your supplier had 5lb birds, and you had to shell out 15 bucks for a whole bird, I can see your hesitation. However, only you can decide if 15 bucks is a good price to feed your family 1 clean, nutritious meal.
If you want to save a little, ask the farmer if you can buy some birds that he may not be trying to sell at the market due to bruises or broken wings that occured during processing (relax, these occured after the bird was killed). Totally safe to eat, just not as store perfect looking.

 

[2pinkmom]

I had trouble finding the time to process my last batch of Cornish X, and they got past 12 weeks. They were all male, so the chicks cost me about $2.50 each. I normally get straight run, but the feed store had ordered all males for another customer and I got part of that order. The "runt" that had medical issues dressed at 6 lbs. Everyone else dressed around 8-9.5 lbs. They were challenging for me to butcher because their necks were so strong. I cut most of them for parts since I cook chicken pieces more than whole chickens. The breasts were easily over a pound each. They were so big that I used 1 in a recipe that called for 4 chicken breasts.

That said, the farmers that I process with don't grow their chickens that large. 3-4 lbs dressed seems to be the norm. Any bigger and customers won't buy them. at $4.99 a pound, 4 lbs seems to be the tipping point. People will pay $20 for a chicken, but get scared at anything over that. So if you grow your own, you'll certainly be able to produce much larger birds because you aren't goverened by market and time constraints. I mean, my whole birds make 3 meals for a family of 7.

But I can't see how you would hide Cornish X in the 'burbs, anyway. The manure output is so much greater than that of laying breeds. My grass is covered in slime in one day with the chicken tractor on it. I raised the last 2 batches in my horse barn, and was hosing the center aisle down twice a day. And that was only 10 chickens!

 

[jeb251]

here is an idea, I looked at your page and saw that you plan on getting your own birds, get a good dual purpose bird like orpingtons, (mine are huge and great layers too) you can sell eggs, fertle eggs, chicks and sell your hens at 1 to 1 1/2 years old keeping the roos for the freezer, the sell of eggs, chicks and hens will offset the cost of the meet birds. it works for me, I love free chicken and eggs