BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Leahs Mom]

I also purchase all meat and milk direct from the farmer. I can't bring myself to get meat from a grocery store. And I just can't use the "milk" they sell. I know too much to be able to do that, unfortunately.

 

[LindaB220]

I am so glad that we buy from a local outlet that buys meat direct from the local farmers and we can cut costs buying pks. of meat for 2-4.00 per pkg. I just bought a months worth of meat for under 100.00. You can't do that at walmart. I have not shopped at walmart for many years except for milk and bread and frozen pizza. lol I may just raise all my roosters this year for my own freezer. I had been selling them to the local neighbors.

Cheapest hamburger meat in Shreveport area is $5 lb. Pitiful.

No such place like that around here.

 

[bnjrob]

I am so glad that we buy from a local outlet that buys meat direct from the local farmers and we can cut costs buying pks. of meat for 2-4.00 per pkg. I just bought a months worth of meat for under 100.00. You can't do that at walmart. I have not shopped at walmart for many years except for milk and bread and frozen pizza. lol I may just raise all my roosters this year for my own freezer. I had been selling them to the local neighbors.

That's is great! Wish we had something that good here. There is local meat to be had, but at super premium prices. Being close to a big metro area jacks up prices even out here in the country. There is one ranch that does some selling at the farmer's market in Dallas that has reasonable meat prices, but finding the time to drive into the city is a challenge.

I hate having to shop at Walmart but otherwise the other option is the store that is cheap but has no selection, or the store that is a lot more expensive than Walmart. Not a lot of good options in the small towns near us that fit both my wallet and my desire for things other than junk food. We don't eat a lot of pre-made food anymore, I'm even making my own pasta most of the time now, so I need a half way decent selection of items to make food from scratch, but that won't kill my budget.

We have been discussing hatching more birds this year to try to fulfill our meat consumption without buying from the store. Prior to this, we had simply been hatching and raising for breeding/preservation and just eating culls. But our goal is totally supplying our own meat, so we are going to see how it goes this year with raising more birds specifically to be eaten. I also want to start raising turkeys, but getting the turkeys that I want from a breeder seems to be difficult, since either they don't raise the breed I want, or they don't have NPIP to be able to ship. I may have to just suck it up and order turkeys from a hatchery.

Our oldest freezer bit the dust this week so that is a concern for raising more chickens though. I had good results with the chicken that I canned, so I am thinking that I may just start canning the chickens we butcher. Just need to get some more jars. Also finally bought a meat grinder so I can start making my own chicken/turkey burger. And apparently you can can burger as well, so I don't have to have electricity to preserve all this chicken meat I want to raise.

 

[bnjrob]

Cheapest hamburger meat in Shreveport area is $5 lb. Pitiful.

No such place like that around here.

My family lives over in Marshall and they can find some good deals occasionally there. Their prices are better than ours here though, closer to Dallas.

 

[bnjrob]

I also purchase all meat and milk direct from the farmer. I can't bring myself to get meat from a grocery store. And I just can't use the "milk" they sell. I know too much to be able to do that, unfortunately.

We went to a farm a few months ago for unpasteurized milk. It was delicious. It was also $10/gallon. We have been looking at the feasibility of adding a milk cow to our family. We use 2 gallons a week of just milk to drink/cook with, not including milk and cream that I buy to make yogurt, sour cream, and butter. We'd have way more than we needed if we had a cow, but that would be ok with us. Still doing some research and it seems we will likely have to go to Wisconsin to get the cows that I want, but it took me years to find the chickens that I wanted, so this won't be much different.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I am very blessed. Our gallon is $4 for A2 milk; my grass fed ground is $3.50/lb directly from the farm in both cases. Ground is going up to $4 the first of the year. Our milk is fed on a fodder system during the winter so they get freshly grown greens in the winter.

Yep...I'm really blessed.


Before that I did consider a family cow. And I have the pasture for it. But the price of a good A2 cow isn't cheap! Not to mention the time involved. I kept going back and forth wanting to get one, then realizing the commitment and arguing w/myself. I really want to be more self-sufficient too. I kept dragging my feet then I realized that I could support the local farms as long as I can afford it and that makes me very happy.

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote: I know we did not buy beef for a long time boycotting the price. We did not have one of these outlet stores for a long time. But I had shopped at one in Pensacola Fl. And they advertise at cost plus 10% to cover their over head and pay employees. We buy as much as we can there to keep them in business. Before that when we went to visit my daughter in Fl. we took a cooler and filled it up. lol It is darn sure worth it. Hopefully you all will get one.

 

[LindaB220]

My family lives over in Marshall and they can find some good deals occasionally there. Their prices are better than ours here though, closer to Dallas.

Since Shreveport/Bossier City got the gambling riverboats, prices on everything are through the roof. Housing, groceries, everything. I live 20 miles east of Shreveport and when we moved out here 50 years ago it was the back of beyond. Now we have 5 or 6 new subdivisions that are being built in the last 2 years just minutes from me. They just finished the first home in an upscale subdivision just across the road and down about 200 ft. DD Aimee is thrilled because she owns and runs a dog grooming and boarding shop. Man they have been busy. Last Christmas she decided to help a friend out and board her dog. She had such luck with it that she got another building. Then another. Last week they boarded 22 dogs at one time. SIL is going to retire from his job as Athletic Coodinator at a private school to run that portion of the business. Growing so much and so fast. A lot of people coming into the area.

 

[bnjrob]

I am very blessed. Our gallon is $4 for A2 milk; my grass fed ground is $3.50/lb directly from the farm in both cases. Ground is going up to $4 the first of the year. Our milk is fed on a fodder system during the winter so they get freshly grown greens in the winter.

Yep...I'm really blessed.


Before that I did consider a family cow. And I have the pasture for it. But the price of a good A2 cow isn't cheap! Not to mention the time involved. I kept going back and forth wanting to get one, then realizing the commitment and arguing w/myself. I really want to be more self-sufficient too. I kept dragging my feet then I realized that I could support the local farms as long as I can afford it and that makes me very happy.

WOW! That is some awesome prices. Definitely nothing that cheap here. And the milk here that is $10/gallon is not A2 milk. And it is more than an hour's drive one way just to get there and you have to drive through the city too They mix Jersey with a little bit of Guernsey milk, but they don't separate it out. There is a Mennonite family farm closer to me that has Jersey milk but I have not yet tried them to see what they sell milk for. There is one Guernsey-only A2 milk farm about 60 miles or so from me and I am planning on going there to try their milk out. They finally obtained some more cows so they aren't constantly running out of milk like they had been. I anticipate having to save quite a bit for a cow since I'm pretty well set on getting a Guernsey and they are difficult to find in a state known for beef cattle.

 

[bnjrob]

Since Shreveport/Bossier City got the gambling riverboats, prices on everything are through the roof. Housing, groceries, everything. I live 20 miles east of Shreveport and when we moved out here 50 years ago it was the back of beyond. Now we have 5 or 6 new subdivisions that are being built in the last 2 years just minutes from me. They just finished the first home in an upscale subdivision just across the road and down about 200 ft. DD Aimee is thrilled because she owns and runs a dog grooming and boarding shop. Man they have been busy. Last Christmas she decided to help a friend out and board her dog. She had such luck with it that she got another building. Then another. Last week they boarded 22 dogs at one time. SIL is going to retire from his job as Athletic Coodinator at a private school to run that portion of the business. Growing so much and so fast. A lot of people coming into the area.

Yuck! That is like here, seems like the city limits just keep creeping closer and closer. It's good in a way - like when you own a business that people want to patronize, but I hate the higher prices, traffic, noise, crime, etc. that having the urban sprawl brings. With so many city folks getting on the healthier food bandwagon, you might just have yourself a nice little setup for eggs and chicken sales.