Cost per dual-purpose meat bird?

[bobeena]

IN my city backyard, along with 4 laying hens/pets, I have 10 dual-purpose birds in my first, and probably last, experiment at raising for meat. At first I kept track of the $ per chick, knowing I'd never beat grocery store factory chickens, but hoping to come in under the $20 per chicken an organic farmer we buy from charges.

After losses to resident hawks and the cost of replacement chicks, the purchase of hardware cloth, great quantities of feed, etc. I stopped counting. I'm sure we're under the twenty bucks, but again, I don't know.

If they'd been Cornish Xs, I'm sure this would all have been different. These chickens were babies in mid-April and I'd hoped they'd be ready mid-July but I doubt it. They get laying feed, scratch and copious scraps from all our meals. Sometimes they range the yard, but more often now they're confined in the pen to make them easier to catch.

I have a new respect for anyone who humanely raises meat chickens commercially. But my question is: Does anyone have an average cost-per-bird for slower-growing chickens they eat? (I'm not including coop and pen, which we already had for layers.)

 

[Bossroo]

Production costs vary from time of year, area of country, climate , cost of commercial feed ( organic is always higher) and if you butcher your own or have them done by others. Your cost of feed will vary widely and is directly connected to the cost of gasoline and therefore grains. The EPA mandated the blending of biofuels in gasoline, so it's demand will cause the price of grain to vary wildly. Add to that the increased cost of all the organic regulations to meet and that too will increase your production costs sharply.