Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[cluck-cluck]

I've yet to be at a bird show. I'm definitely going to the Ventura show as that's not too far from me, and I'd like to go to Bakersfield, but that's stretching it a bit, and I don't know what to do with my kids, LOL. But maybe....

I have been to the Houston Rodeo a few times which is like a county fair, and they have bird shows, rabbits, all kinds of animals. It's a lot of fun too, but never spent that much time with the birds, and I have no idea when they were judged as at that point they were all just on display, though the cattle were being ushered around.

So it would be really great to see it all come down, hear what the judges say, etc...

 

[Yellow House Farm]

The Bay area market is very unique. I'm a life long Californian, so forgive me when I say, we're a bunch of idiots Not sure that would work anywhere else
That's so true, most businesses go down within 2 years. It's tough!

I'd actually say more that it reflects the real price of real food. If one lives in an area where the local food movement is very strong these prices are standard because the represent the reality. Our eggs are $5.00, but we should up to $6.00 as some have. We are not certified organic which would translate to the $8.00. Our chicken meat is $5.99/lb.

If we actually think about it, $6.oo/doz is only $ .50/egg. With the nutritive value of eggs, especially fresh eggs that also comply with one's hope for their care and husbandry, that's not a lot.

 

[HEChicken]

If we actually think about it, $6.oo/doz is only $ .50/egg. With the nutritive value of eggs, especially fresh eggs that also comply with one's hope for their care and husbandry, that's not a lot.

I agree with you - I think my eggs are worth way more than I can get for them. Around here (midwest), store bought eggs are .99c/dozen and sometimes free because they're always doing deals like "buy 1 gallon of milk, get a dozen eggs free". Plus, out in the country where I am, almost everyone has their own flock meaning there is very little market at all. I am fortunate that I have a small group of customers dedicated to the home-grown food movement who are willing to pay $2.50/dozen because they recognize that my eggs are superior to the .99c eggs at the store. If it weren't for them, I probably couldn't get more than $1.50-2.00 selling them on Craigslist (I see ads for those prices regularly). I envy those of you able to charge $5-8/dozen, because you probably aren't paying much more for feed than we are either.

 

[neopolitancrazy]

I'd actually say more that it reflects the real price of real food. If one lives in an area where the local food movement is very strong these prices are standard because the represent the reality. Our eggs are $5.00, but we should up to $6.00 as some have. We are not certified organic which would translate to the $8.00. Our chicken meat is $5.99/lb.

If we actually think about it, $6.oo/doz is only $ .50/egg. With the nutritive value of eggs, especially fresh eggs that also comply with one's hope for their care and husbandry, that's not a lot.

HEAR! HEAR!!
People forget that "cheap" food is cheap for 3 important reasons: 1. it is inferior in nutrition. 2. it was produced via inferior husbandry method(s). and 3. it is partially paid for by government subsidies. Most people don't really want to know what their food costs in terms of taxpayer support, environmental degradation and animal welfare. Hopefully, the "locavore" movement is slowly changing that. Here on the HLF thread, we can educate people about how to spot superior animals, and how to care for them properly.
Angela

 

[pysankigirl]

I’m so thankful that I don’t actually have to make money on my chickens. (fingers crossed that nothing changes in that regard) but something you might want to look into if you do need to is using spent brewer’s grain to augment your feed expenses…if you can find people who brew beer. The grain is soaked and heated to about 150 degrees just in the initial part of the process of beer making and they take a lot of the sugars out so what is left is the protein and the fiber There have been a lot of nutritional studies done on it for large scale poultry use. I think they say you can replace 30% of your normal feed with it.

And it’s a practice our forefathers definitely employed…nothing useful was wasted back then.

The only problem with it is you kind of have to use it right away as it will ferment if you don’t, being wet and all. Or you can freeze it.

The best stuff to use is both barley and wheat. But stay away from hops. Hops will kill canines if you have livestock guardian dogs.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

I’m so thankful that I don’t actually have to make money on my chickens. (fingers crossed that nothing changes in that regard) but something you might want to look into if you do need to is using spent brewer’s grain to augment your feed expenses…if you can find people who brew beer. The grain is soaked and heated to about 150 degrees just in the initial part of the process of beer making and they take a lot of the sugars out so what is left is the protein and the fiber There have been a lot of nutritional studies done on it for large scale poultry use. I think they say you can replace 30% of your normal feed with it.

And it’s a practice our forefathers definitely employed…nothing useful was wasted back then.

The only problem with it is you kind of have to use it right away as it will ferment if you don’t, being wet and all. Or you can freeze it.

The best stuff to use is both barley and wheat. But stay away from hops. Hops will kill canines if you have livestock guardian dogs.

I have a Budweiser plant "all but in my backyard"....wonder if that might be a source?? Is the hops ok for poultry as I have no dogs.....and if a local coyote were to eat it ....well, "too bad"

thanks

 

[kaiwan]

lurker here...
I'm having trouble accepting that if your poultry business is otherwise losing money, by folding it into a larger farming/ homesteading operation it can become profitabe. One may be able to hide the losses by considering them with the overall income of the farm. But in actuality, you would only be decreasing your profit marins of the larger operation. This is the point at which fortune 500s sell off the unprofitabe branch of their company to realize greater overal profitability... Now, I can accept that a farm selling dairy, vegetables, fruit, etc., may bring more business to their operation by adding variety (eggs and meat) to their total offering of goods. But I'm not sure how one would quantify the increase in customer base. I can also see that free-ranging your flock in your orchard or garden, and feeding them with vegetable spoils can reduce the feed bill for a few months (we do this). But what you gain in $, you may sacrifice in productivity because of the lack of nutritional balance (we've experienced this). Don't get me wrong, I keep records of sales and expenses from my small flock, and am constantly brainstorming about how to become profitable. Just haven't yet figured it out! - Love the thread. Love the discussions.
-Kevin

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yes, two years is the magic mark. It is unusual to be a life long Californian......most people here are from other states....thus the strangeness here. I am a native son as well. I wish I could go to Newman, but we have our own show here in Cali.............Fresno this weekend, Bakersfield in a couple more weeks.

Walt

Native Californian here too. I live in the same area I grew up in also. My kids were born at the same hospital I was born at.

 

[cluck-cluck]

I'd actually say more that it reflects the real price of real food. If one lives in an area where the local food movement is very strong these prices are standard because the represent the reality. Our eggs are $5.00, but we should up to $6.00 as some have. We are not certified organic which would translate to the $8.00. Our chicken meat is $5.99/lb.

If we actually think about it, $6.oo/doz is only $ .50/egg. With the nutritive value of eggs, especially fresh eggs that also comply with one's hope for their care and husbandry, that's not a lot.

You got me, you're right. If I were to add up how much my eggs cost me, it'd be horrendous, so I guess I'm a crazy Californian as well, LOL. If I didn't get my plywood, concrete foundation blocks, etc... for free, and didn't have a pile of wood already, it would have cost me as much as building a house building my coops! As it was I've spent hundreds! I have bad knees so I wanted the setup to be as conducive to my abilities as possible. Even without taking any of that into consideration, my birds had to be fed the first 5+ months of their lives before they started producing, then they have to continue to be fed while producing, and it costs big time around here! $8 a doz wouldn't begin to cover it, but I'm also not set up to make money either

Keeping birds is for my soul, no more

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Keeping birds is for my soul, no more

This is nice, then anythig that comes is just a bit of whipped cream on the sundae.