Has anyone ever done the math...

I have 15 I caught up this week all are 4.5-6months old my son talked grandma into TSC chickens so I bred his black rooster to some game hens on free range I have no idea on the feed as they are wild only a few came up when I threw feed out for them I plan to feed them a couple weeks then to the freezer they haven't eat much since they've been up and they're in with 8 Muscovy Ducks

Kenneth

 

There are many threads on this site where an ongoing discussion related to this topic is taking place. I'm sorry to say that I cannot even remember how to help you find those links, but I believe that others can. My recollection is that the cost per bird is slightly higher, at best, than what you'd pay in a store. I'll poke around and see what I can find.

 

Most cost per pound discussions are on the Cornish cross or Freedom Rangers. It'll be hard to find concrete #'s for dual purpose birds. But if you've raised birds from chicks already then you've a good idea of costs.

Last year we raised 5 birds that ranged and ate 2 bags of feed to age 18 weeks. This year we raised 4 chicks and had 2 of last years hens that ate 4 bags of feed to age 28 weeks. The age at which you butcher will make a huge difference in feed cost, how much they free range makes a big difference too. As for meat yield the variables are breed of bird, age you butcher (if you want fryer, broiler or roasters) and if your only butchering the males or both cockerels or pullets.

Edit for ages of traditional birds to cooking category:

Fryer- 7-12 weeks, 1-2.5 lbs (dependent of age and sex)
Broiler- 14-20 weeks, 2.5-4 lbs
Roaster- 5-9 months, 4-8 lbs

 

I did some searching here but I wasn't able to find the thread I remember where a guy said his freedom ranger birds ate the same feed in 18 weeks as his Cornish X did in 8 weeks. Most though say that their heritage or dual purpose or freedom rangers or whatever eat more total than the cornish x do, though that was the first I saw that seemed to really keep track. Or at least offer proof that he did. But his free ranged and I know that makes a big difference in feed cost.

 

At our various farm locations, we raise a good number of DP fowl expressly for the freezer. I believe it is not solely a matter of sheer economics, but the satisfying aspects of self sufficiency, clean, quality meet, and the incredible taste of a dual purpose rooster at 18-19 weeks.

Not sure how one can do the math on those aspects of raising out DPs and eating them. No one is in the mood to stop raising them, that is for sure.

 

The Cornish X has the most efficient feed to meat conversion rate in all of chickendom... since nothing in life is free ( costs to keep the parent stock, + land costs if free ranged,+ time ) it is very obvous that the Cornish X is by far the most cost effective chicken out there. I used to raise the DP( from my parents original stock covering over 50 years, and NOT some hatchery baught birds of today) for several decades, then about 3 years ago I baught some Cornish X chicks and did a side by side comparison ... the Cornish X beat my DP by at least 1/3 in feed costs alone and NO COMPARISON ( mine took at least twice as long to processing time and still not produce a similar amount of meat) in time to the table. My DP when to freezer camp. Nuff said!
P

 

It all depends on your methods of feeding and getting CX to the freezer....I found them amazingly cheap to buy, raise and process compared to my DP roos and, since they were raised in the same methods and with the same feeds, they tasted the same as the DP. No added expense went into raising my CX that I wouldn't have added for the same number of DP roos but I placed more meat in the freezer for the same amount of feed.

 

Another consideration is space. We're assuming everyone has the space to let 50 free range birds grow out but sometimes you don't. I don't. But I can grow out some Cornish X in a tractor for 6-8 weeks. And after doing so, it much more cost effective than the amount I was paying for "free range" "natural" local birds.

There is a thread here called something like "the real costs of growing cornish x" that takes it down to the level of detail you want to go to. One poster even considered the amount of taxes on the land and appreciation of the barn. The amount of detail you want to get into depends on your situation but that one really has some pointers on costs you might need to consider.

 

I don't know if I would order DP birds for the express purpose of raising meat birds, other than the sheer enjoyment of doing so, but the roosters of a DP flock just come with the territory. If you hatch eggs, keep hens, have hens that go broody, etc, you end up with lots of DP roosters. Short of euthanizing, which some folks do, what else to do? Raise them, eat them.