Doing the Math

[AuroraSprings]

I'm hunting through this site and others, trying to find the facts to put together to figure up, beforehand, how much it will cost to raise some Delawares and Buckeyes for resale. I need:

-Avg. amount of feed (in lbs) consumed by 50 birds between hatching & 16 weeks old
-Avg. amount of feed (in lbs) an adult DP layer eats (per month or per week) from 16wks-2 years old
-typically age of slaughter for Delawares & Buckeyes

For this purpose, assume the birds consume only chick starter (20%) and then layer feed (16%), no treats or extra forage. The second calculation is per hen, not for all 50. Because the roosters will be processed at least by then, if not sooner.

Thank you so much to anyone who can help!!!



I HAVE to be able to prove I can make money with the birds or I can't get them. Right now, my small farm is my livelihood. This crappy economy has both my husband (a lawyer) and I (an animal production scientist) out of work. We've had to cut out the pygmies because they weren't making ends meet and we're looking very hard at our corn snake business. Luckily, they ducks and geese seem to be holding their own and giving a little cash flow right now.

 

[Bossroo]

As an animal production scientist, Consider what the pros do... raise the Cornish X for meat as they were developed to be the most efficient in feed conversion rate in chickendom... mine convert 2.2 lbs of 20% protein feed for 1 pound of gain. 6 weeks for 4-5 lb carcass,-8 weeks 6-8 lb carcass and to freezer camp they go. The Delaware and Buckeye need to be raised for 16-24 weeks for a 4-7 lb carcass so much more labor and will have consumed about twice the feed. You do the math. For egg layers, consider the Leghorn or the sex link egg layers. They are small birds so convert more feed to egg production, are NOT broody, and lay at least a medium to mostly large egg. While the DP birds are much larger and have to expend more energy for maintaining bodily functions , therefore eat more feed and produce considerably fewer eggs per year. I can buy chicken for $0.79 - $0.99 per pound or an already roasted game hen for $5.00 or a 2 dozen box extra large eggs for $3.49 at the local grocery stores. Again, do your own math. As for the pigmy goats and snakes, you are looking at a very specialized market, can be profitable in a very good economy, but a bust loss in today's marketplace. As for the mustang ( a feral horse) and donkey... a total money pit. I bred purebred Arabians very profitably for 38 years untill the bleeding heart, treehugger dogooders got all horse slaughterhouses in the US closed and the market for quality horses dissapeared. My equine Vet had to close his horse end of the business as hardly anyone bred horses anymore. ( 5 years ago there were 6 full time equine vets, now 2) So, he changed coarse and opened up his own dog and cat practice. In our county,Two out of the five farriors are now out of business. Two years ago, I sold 33 horses on average of $0.25 on the dollar. Today, you can buy hundreds of horses for $5ea. or even free as there are now thausands of abandoned horses roaming the countryside. ( a friend who owns @10,000 acre cattle ranch In the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, now suddenly owns 27 abandoned horses that he can't afford to feed, adopt out, or just plain get rid of for free. Good luck.

 

[ShadyHoller]

Well gosh. Looks like Bossroo doesn't much like you or your question. I guess he/she(?) doesn't like treehuggers or adopted horses either, but that wasn't the question you asked.

I don't think it's a bad question, but I do know it's hard to make money by raising meat birds. If you are raising heritage birds for meat, they are going to be less efficient converters of grain to meat than modern broilers. They take longer, and they eat considerably more per pound of weight gained. I don't raise meat birds commercially, but I believe it is safe to say that the only way you can make money on slower-growing birds is to have access to a market where the consumer is willing to pay a premium for it. People will pay more for a bird that is raised on pasture. If you can practice organic methods (not talking about organic certification, which is expensive for the small-time farmer) you can also charge a little more. Keep in mind that organic methods require you to not use medicated chick starter, and can limit available remedies if you get mites or other parasites.

In regard to feed: 16% layer ration is not enough protein for meat birds. I've had some cockerels end up in a batch of pullet chicks that were supposed to have been sexed. We kept them in the coop with the girls, on the same feed. Those roos never gained any weight on that diet. Compared to our Delawares who were out in a tractor on good pasture, eating flock raiser and whole grain wheat, the cockerels who stayed with the layers, eating layer feed, were really scrawny. In the long run, it is probably more expensive to feed lots of layer feed, because it's not formulated to make birds gain weight.

Honestly, I don't think I would be up to the challenge of trying to raise heritage birds for a profit. It's hard to compete with the commercial outfits who have industrial efficiency and economy of scale. You either need a consumer who will pay a premium, or you've got to be willing to do it for the pleasure of it.

 

[AuroraSprings]

This all I knew before. I know it's tough. But I believe in conserving heritage breeds and finding uses for them in our "big-factory farming" world. I know there is a niche market out there for "naturally" raised chickens. The beauty of DP heritage breeds is they will give you males to eat and females to lay eggs. You get a bit of both worlds. Plus, the chicks you can raise off of them will sell for more because they are "more rare" than your average CornishX or hatchery stock.

I asked these questions, so that I can put the answers into a worksheet and figure out what it will cost and what price I'd have to ask. Then I can decide whether it's worth it or not.

 

[jasonm11]

Quote:
Not to be rude, but start doing the research instead of asking questions you already have the answers to.

 

[ShadyHoller]

In case I wasn't clear on my first post: I think raising heritage breeds is totally worthwhile, and it's what I do. I just think it would be hard to make money on the project.

However, I can't figure out why people are being so critical of the OP. If people had been so intolerant of the questions I posted, I would have quit posting a long time ago.

 

[AuroraSprings]

I don't already have the answers to the questions I asked. I was hoping for breed-specific or atleast heritage breeds- specific cost info. I guess I will take my questions elsewhere.

 

[annaraven]

You might do better asking at a county extension office or something.
This place seems to have *some* info:
http://www.lionsgrip.com/feedinstruc.html

hope this helps.

Also:
The University of California-Davis reports the following feed rates for feeding layer hens: Chick starter, 20-29 lbs./week for 10 chickens. Pullet growing at 120-130 lbs./week. Layer feed at 8 to 24 lbs./week. For feeding meat chickens, the university says 10 chickens will eat 30 to 50 lbs. of broiler starter until six weeks of age, and 16 to 20 lbs. of broiler finish until slaughter.
According to http://poultryone.com/articles/feedingchickens.html

 

[unionwirewoman]

I know nothing of heritage breeds , but they should eat as much as any of the other breeds except the cornish X and other "meat birds " . I have raised " meat birds " for a few years , and have not done it for the last couple just because they are getting too expensive to buy and maintain . That being said , my birds go through 250# of feed every month . I have 30 birds , and my 16% feed costs me $15 a bag . That is $906 a year . This does not include the grit , oyster shell , and shavings . Depending on what the market is around your area for butchered meat , I would say in my honest opinion that you would be very hard pressed to break even , let alone make money off of it . I was paying $8 dollars a bird ( cornish cross that I raised myself...that's with feed , electricity , shavings , and oyster shell...at that time we were paying $1.00 per chick...now they are over $2.00 a chick .) . I do hope you can make money off of them , but it seems highly unlikely that you would break even . JMO.

 

[Bossroo]

I was stating the hard facts to consider in my post. Here we have 2 unemployed well educated professionals and their small farm providing their only livelyhood for now, therefore there is very little wiggle room. Since raising any chicken to make a profit on a small scale is extremely difficut and because everyones ovehead costs are different, I identified what the competition is selling their product for as a benchmark for comparison. I also identified what other fat that potentially can be trimmed as their current livestock assets have minimal value, but detract from the bottom line. I feel the OP's pain of loss of income! So I gave my own examples as I was forced to liquidate my lifetime business of 38 years due to some do gooders' misguided mores which in effect devalued horses by 75% +/- almost overnight and falling. I stood 3 top quality stallions at stud. Loss of value plus given this lausy economy, suddenly hardly anyone was interested in breeding anymore. Result,a loss of a quarter million in stud fees. Add to that I was faced with an annual $210,000 feed bill. To put the frosting on this cake, my workmans' comp insurance jumped from $2,200 to $10,000. And that is not counting any other operating expenses like wages, Vet., etc.. With a major loss of income comes inability to pay for feed which in the long run would cause the animals to starve resulting in the inevitable charges of animal cruelty. Funny how one's assets plummet in value, but all of one's costs skyrocket. Not fun at all. So,I had to bite the bullet and I liquidated all of my horses in what amounted to a fire sale... 6 internationally, 11 to 3 states, 3 I donated to a boy's ranch home, and gave away 13 for FREE. A bitter pill to swallow, so no love for these do gooders.