Average price to have chickens processed?

[bhawk-23]

Hello! We hatched out 12 eggs under a broody and it is time for the cockerels to head to freezer camp. We are fortunate to live in a town that is great for bartering. Knowing we were going to need to cull roosters I reached out to a local who has butchered chickens for others. I offered half the chickens for him to keep for his services. He agreed without us going into exact details. Well, I found out 1 week beforehand he wants $7 per chicken that we keep. Sounds fair to me for his services but do I still need to give him half? We are not educated enough nor prepared to do it ourselves. We will be using his services and paying the $7, I'm just caught on how many to give him also. There are only 6 cockerels to butcher. Thoughts?

 

[Mosey2003]

On the one hand, seemingly changing the terms at the last minute is a bit rude. On the other hand, setting up everything necessary to butcher for only 6 chickens, in the middle of winter, is an enormous pain in the @$$. You'd pay close to $7 each or more if you took that number of non-broiler chickens up to Brummel in Rochelle or down to Arthur, IL to the big processor.

I would imagine if it was a nice weather season and he already had a batch planned to do, his rates would be much different. I wouldn't butcher 6 cockerels in this weather for any money, lol.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Either / Or, not both. You cannot charge me to process my birds AND keep half too.

 

[bhawk-23]

On the one hand, seemingly changing the terms at the last minute is a bit rude. On the other hand, setting up everything necessary to butcher for only 6 chickens, in the middle of winter, is an enormous pain in the @$$. You'd pay close to $7 each or more if you took that number of non-broiler chickens up to Brummel in Rochelle or down to Arthur, IL to the big processor.

I would imagine if it was a nice weather season and he already had a batch planned to do, his rates would be much different. I wouldn't butcher 6 cockerels in this weather for any money, lol.

Much agreed. I think the actual price is more than fair. I also believe he may have more to butcher because he was setting up something with another person back at our initial contact. At least I hope he was able to do them together. And I can only assume the amount of set up it requires is time consuming. I am very appreciative of him butchering for us!! My question is, should I still offer him half or just pay and keep all for us? We are very new to this and I would like other opinions. Would everyone prefer half the money and half the chickens or being paid for all the chickens? Maybe a stupid question. And I should probably just ask him. I'm kinda awkward with this stuff anyways. Add in my total ignorance on the subject and it only gets worse

 

[bhawk-23]

Either / Or, not both. You cannot charge me to process my birds AND keep half too.

Oh no, he's not asking for both! I pay for the ones I keep.

 

[Mosey2003]

If he's known as the local chicken man, lol, he probably has enough to eat himself. I'd just pay for them all and take them home, myself.

 

[Ebony Rose]

If he's known as the local chicken man, lol, he probably has enough to eat himself. I'd just pay for them all and take them home, myself.

That's what I'd do too, Sorry dude, but you have that much in room and board in those birds.
1/4 pound of feed daily, by 6 months (180 days / very conservative estimate here as some breeds aren't big enough to eat until 9 months or older); is over 45 pounds of feed EACH bird (using the conservative 6 month age for processing). Plus the cost of bedding, medications if used, and your LABOR is worth something too. You didn't wave a magical wand and have sufficient housing appear out of thin air, either. These things are part of the expense of raising poultry, and if he wants $7 per bird to process them, then you need to consider ALL of your investment as well to come to a fair trade.

As a personal note: I think he's being exceptionally greedy since you already offered him half of the flock as payment for his labor. If this person were my friend yesterday, and they pulled this stunt, you can bet that they'd not be my friend tomorrow.

Edited to correct my math & to add the thought that even at 25 cents per pound of feed, you have over $10 invested in each bird in feed alone.

 

[iwltfum]

Agreed with these fine folks. Either half or $7 per bird. $7 is pretty pricey on a per bird price compared to what I'm used to, but not completely out of the ball park. 6 birds is definitely not efficient to butcher if you consider set up and clean up so I can understand the price, but only if it's a straight money deal, not for the trade also.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I now process my own chickens at my kitchen sink. Before I gained the confidence to do it myself, my neighbor processed all of my poultry with x-number of birds to her, in exchange for her processing for me. I let her pick which she wanted, assuming she'd take the biggest birds (which was fine by me), but even that was like two birds out of ten for her trouble. She taught me how to process my own, without ever making me feel pushed into it.
In a nutshell, I bind their feet with rope, hang them (by their feet) from my mango tree in the back yard. Chop off their head with a branch trimmer, cuts 1 to 1 1/2 inch branches and chicken necks, with ease; I use the sort with the long handle. Release the bird and walk away for a few minutes while the bird bleeds out (and flaps its wings etc). I don't want to see that part, but know that it's needed for the process. After a few minutes of bleed time, I gather the bird, and take it to my kitchen for processing. I don't pluck. I sacrifice the skin to save the time and trouble of plucking by removing the feathers, skin and all. I also don't go for the 'full' bird when done approach, opting to remove the thigh quarters first, then removing the entire breast. Hardest part is separating the wing from the carcass. With the majority of the meat safe from accidental puncture of the entrails, I then harvest the heart, liver & gizzard. Pull out the remaining entrails and discard (or feed to your dogs, pigs, etc.) Cut the back in half; discard the bony half (or feed to your other animals, as mentioned before), and put the meatier half into the soup pot.

There are many YouTube videos on the subject of harvesting your own poultry.

 

[aart]

Oh no, he's not asking for both! I pay for the ones I keep.

But he still keeps half the birds?
.....and you pay $7ea for the ones you get back?

$7 seems steep.
I paid 3.50ea when I had a few done thru my friends processor.