Does anyone know this? Help.

[rancher hicks]

Approx. how much feed does it take to raise a chicken to age 5 mos. ? Does anyone measure their feed per bird per day? or does anyone "ration" their feed per day?

Now I've been contacted by a person wanting two hens age less than a year. Now how much would you charge. Certainly at that age they are just starting to lay and you've been feeding them for all that time.

It hardly makes sense to sell them for $5 when they are just beginning to earn their keep don't you think?

 

[FireTigeris]

Yeah, not for $5 -

each Standard foul each day should have (some amount I think it's 1/4 lb, I'll use it as an example) - 5 months is about 150 days that's about (exactly 37.5) 40 lbs of food each bird IF there is non wasted at all and (1/4 lb is correct).

Here a 50 lb bag of food is between $16-20 each bag.

so the cost of the chick in time or money or electricity for incubation or brooding, you also have to clean up afterwards and keep the birds safe.

 

[lonewolf308]

Charge what you feel is fair. In my area in VA I've saw them go from $10-$25. I found it was cheaper to just to buy the chicks, a heat lamp, and wait. If they pay more than $25 they're a sucker!

 

[FireTigeris]

The feed store has them from 5-8 dollars all the time. but the cost for one od use to raise to that age seems higher to me.

 

[Chris09]

Are you talking Large Fowl or Bantams, Pure Bred (show quality) or Hatchery stock?

The average around here this time of the year for Large Fowl Hatchery Stock is right around 6 to 8 dollars for non-laying fowl, Large Fowl Hatchery Stock that is laying is around 7 to 10 dollars.
Now Large Fowl Show Quality bird this time of the year bring from 9 dollars on up.

Chris

 

[Den in Penn]

Got this off a bag of Agway layer.


Weeks of Age Feed Approx. Feed Consumption for period
0-8 weeks Chick Starter 4lbs/ bird
8-20 weeks Chick Grower 12lbs/bird
Over 20 weeks Egg Layer 1/4lb/bird/day

 

[rancher hicks]

Charge what you feel is fair. In my area in VA I've saw them go from $10-$25. I found it was cheaper to just to buy the chicks, a heat lamp, and wait. If they pay more than $25 they're a sucker!

Well now it seems to me the sucker is the person raising LF birds to 5 - 6 months and then selling them for less than the feed it costs to raise them to that age. Not including cleaning and daily care simply make the loss even more so.

If as the second poster stated it's take approx. 40 #'s of feed to age to 5 mos. of age then the cost to me for Dumor is $12 in feed. Not including labor. So if I sold them for $10 , I'm more than $2 in the hole. Now I was born at night but it wasn't last night.

Add to the $12 one hour of labor per bird for all that time and you've got $19.25 (7.25 min wage) and it makes no sense to bother offering hens for $10.

So as you state it makes more sense to put in the labor and invest in a one time cost of equipment to raise them yourself. Provided you buy from a hatchery and have better odds of getting pullets.

Which is , I will admit, my whole point in beginning this discussion. Also so those who come to a anyone asking to buy a POL hen understand when they ask for $25, that they are not being a Sucker.

 

[NCnarrator]

The hatchery near us charges $1 per week per bird added to the initial cost of the chick. So if the initial cost of the chick was $2.50, and you picked it up at 10 weeks, the cost of the bird would be $12.50.

We cheerfully paid the $1 per week because we are not able to raise chicks until they're ready to go in the coop. After looking at the costs I felt like that charge was very reasonable. If we'd wanted to wait longer, I would have happily paid more. I felt like I was basically paying someone to raise my birds to an age that was convenient for me...and you have to pay for convenience.

ETA: The hatchery is raising a fair number of chickens, so the cost is spread out. I'd say if you are only raising a few, then the cost would go up because the overall cost wouldn't be distributed as widely. It would depend on the actual cost of feed, electricity, and man-hours.

 

[Den in Penn]

Labor is the issue that makes a raising a small number of birds drive the cost per bird up, as you pointed out. The producers of large numbers of POLs drive those costs down. That makes someone's price, who custom raises, seem high.

 

[OreoPlymothRock]

I dont keep track. but i think it takes about 70lb