How does everyone sell meat chickens?

[chkn15]

I am going to get some birds processed at a facility and I plan to sell the birds as whole chickens but let the customer decide how they want it cut up if they do at all. I have some people that are interested in buying just the breast meat. Although I cannot figure out a way to do this with out getting stuck with the thighs and legs. Any suggestions? And how is everyone else selling their birds?

 

[Hiltonizer]

I sell whole birds, but only because I process myself and that eliminates the regulatory hassle. Selling cut-ups, per pound, requires inspected processing and a meat handling license.

Since you are using a processor, I see no reason why you couldn't just have a certain percentage of your birds cut up, and get a premium per pound on breast meat. When selling boneless/skinless breast per pound, you should be mostly paying for the rest of the bird. If you do the math on grocery stores geting 89c/lb for whole chickens and $4lb for boneless skinless breasts, you realize you're better off buying the whole bird.

Should you get stuck with the quarters, you'd be doing so at practically no cost, so why not? Any of those you happen to sell are your profit, and what you are stuck with comes off your grocery bill. There's more ways to cook these than breasts too, I've come to prefer quarters to breasts as the crock pot, smoker, grilling, baking options are endless.

 

[rotten97]

I would either - charge them for the whole bird or just not sell to them at all. Its tough as small operation , especially if your not processing birds yourself .

 

[chkn crzy]

I process my birds myself. I sell them by the pound as whole chickens. I have the customers pick them up within 24 hours of butchering and they can cut them up and package them like they want.

 

[chkn15]

Thanks. To sell them whole is the plan. I didn't know if there was a better way to go about it.

 

[donrae]

My family prefers dark meat, so we'd be happy to keep the hindquarters and sell the breast meat for a premium price. Chicken thighs are becoming pretty popular, so you may have a market for those.

Are your birds Cornish cross? If they're other breeds, your customers wanting breast meat may be disappointed at the amount.

 

[chkn15]

They are White broilers from Meyer hatchery