Cornish Cross Financial Planning

[WinklerFarms]

$12 a bag sounds like a dream!  We pay almost $30 per bag for our feed, but it is certified organic.

 

My broiler feed is at $21/ cwt which is a $4 increase lately. For the last year it has been around $17/cwt

 

[WalkingWolf1]

I believe it is a 20% or 21% protein grower feed. Your right prices could increase but I might have been paying $12.50 but it was not over $13.00 a bag.

Double-check your price/%. If in fact you get it for this then get extra. You need to keep the protein up or you will end up feeding longer. You're doing the math and it all calculates well but I feel the key to success (besides keeping them all alive to market weight

) is keeping everything on schedule. If you have a customer base willing to give you $18/bird at 8-9 weeks and they pay processing then I think you come out smelling like roses. The burden becomes yours to keep your feed expense down, keep your stock alive and have everything processed timely.

best of luck

 

[PotterWatch]

My husband just informed me that the latest price increase has taken our feed to $32 per bag. We buy it by the pallet as we usually have between 500-800 birds on our property at any given time. We are starting to raise black soldier fly larvae (our grub compost bins arrive sometime this week), and that will hopefully enable us to buy a much cheaper feed, though it will still be organic, while still keeping up the protein percentage the birds need.

 

[WalkingWolf1]

My husband just informed me that the latest price increase has taken our feed to $32 per bag.

50 or 100lbs? Expensive either way.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I pay about $12 for a 50 pound bag of 20% pellets from a local mill. However, the birds don't seem to get much use out of it when they are small. You will need a crumble or mash to start them with and probably should plan on a more expensive, easier to digest food for the first couple of weeks.

I start mine on a meat bird grower that is $17 a bag. Then when they get a bit of size, they get switched to the less expensive food and can handle it just fine.

Also figure bedding. You can lose them by putting them outside on the ground too early. I use paper towels for the first 3 days and 3-4 rolls of paper towels add something to the cost of raising the chicks, Then the cost of shavings. Also brooder bulbs seem to burn out fast and they cost.

Note: I am expecting that price of feed to go up sharply and am surprised it hasn't gone up more than it has. Most poultry food uses soybean for protein and the soybean is one of the crops with massive failures this year.

 

[PlumpChicken]

Yeah your correct winklerfarms not sure where I got 4.5 lbs. from I remember from my last batch some hit 7 lbs. don't know what I was thinking. Anyone have an idea what chicken meat goes for per pound in west michigan.