How does this sound??

[EggsForIHOP]

I have several friends that want to buy my meat chickens...STILL ALIVE and process themselves at home or even here...some live in apartments, some have crummy neighbors and crummy HOAs that they deal with...and I have been trying to wrap my head around the figures on this all day...

I know and most importantly THEY will all know that LIVE weight is NOT the same as DRESSED weight....but since I will be selling them live and not all will be processed here...does this sound fair:

Pastured poultry, raised in tractors for there safety, but still able to feel the wind in their feathers and grass between their toes. $1.75/lb LIVE WEIGHT

I will be shooting for them to come and get birds between 6 and 8 weeks if they want them - and several people are already lined up for the next batch...How does that sound? To me, for what I am spending...it's not bad, I'm coming out ahead a little...and everyone seems okay with it so far (no one has told me I'm nuts, and most of my acquaintances are NOT afraid to call me crazy!)

For what it is...does that sound okay? I mean, I saw the same darn thing nearly (pastured chickens) online at a few farms for $3.99/lb and the only difference is that it's processed - heck, most of these people I'm working with REALLY want to do that themselves! One lady, Miriam, used to take my excess roos home and process in her bathtub in her apartment JUST to do it herself like she used to do "back home"...so i can't see charging more and taking the fun out of it for anyone

But really...I guess for the apartment bound it's not a bad plan...at least until they move into a house or condo with a bigger patio...

Anyways..really I was curious on what ya'll think of the plan and the pricing...my cell and my email have been blown up since I told one person (my devil friend Jaquy who i think vicariously lives her farming dream through me - I blame all the chickens and ducks and future turkeys on her!) I had chickens....and then she told 2 who told 3 who told 4 more people each...I don't mind doing it...I'm still having fun at it...maybe one day I'll tell everyone to bug off...but for now why not?

Someone please confirm I have lost my mind or found it...either way works I suppose...please and thank you

(And no, I do not intend to take on more than I can handle, some people will be told no...that's just life...if I have to I will and can say no)

 

[jessicayarno]

I don't know what the price of feed is there, but if you have done all of the numbers and you won't be out any money then I say go for it.. I jipped myself and am only charging $2lb processed, wish I would have charged more.."live n learn"..

 

[galanie]

I say go for it, but it's "their" not "there." Do your math well and don't forget anything. Feed prices are likely to rise more I think, but that's only my uninformed opinion

 

[EggsForIHOP]

galanie - I know...I know...feed will go up...but by then I will have goats in milk and plenty of calcium loaded goodness to share with the poultry

That helps a bunch...as do my lovely leftovers I get from my restaurant friends...broccoli, scrambled eggs, blueberry pancakes...all kinds of deliciousness and yummy goodness that pigs and poultry alike find tempting and fattening...

I really think as long as it is fair...I'll be okay...I'm not out to get rich just break even (most of these people will probably continue to "tip me" for my "services" as they are restaurant folk...and we are a weird bunch)...and I never really see too much when it comes to live birds being priced... I do always see the pre-plucked sort

but that's not what I'm going for...

And where did I use their incorrectly? I keep looking for it and it's KILLING me that I can't find it! Like a Waldo book...

I'm easily distracted by shiny objects and random cattle...why can't I find it so I can edit it?

 

[justafewchickens]

I had to check for there or their too, couldn't find it,dang OCD. I would only worry about the ones that can't do the deed once the bird is in their care. Would you have a deal set in place to butcher if they decide they can't, and how much to charge. It would worry me to think about the life it would have in an apartment, especially when their health can be delicate at older ages. ( 12+ weeks in their case.)

 

[Life is Good!]

Quote:
For those of us who are closet editors....here's your 'there' vs. 'their'.

By the by, your plan sounds ok for the near term future. But if you think this might turn into a larger sort of thing, I would charge a small percentage more on the start, so you don't have to immediately raise prices - potentially ticking off new-found 'friends'. Perhaps even something as small as $1.95/live pound to start off with. That way, if feed prices increase too much next spring, you'll be covered for the second batch.

 

[EggsForIHOP]

AH HA!!! There is the their!!! Yes...it was driving me nuts...I kept looking and looking and looking...but I can't really change it now, or it would make even less sense as someone else read this wouldn't it? There there shall stay I suppose...

These aren't new friends...pretty much all old ones...and prices have gone up a few times already and I've never had a problem (though eventually you always do I suppose, but most of them seem to go with the flow and understand where I am coming from). I used to give them the extra roosters for $2 or $3 whenever we had them running around...and I've gone up as things have changed...and they're still so thrilled to have "chicken like back home" that it's nuts to me...when I got the "culls" from the FFA girl for $5 each I never asked more than $5 and people always gave me $8 and up for them...but we really are a strange breed us IHOP folk

I guess because these are meatier, but still get to run in the grass, it makes a world of difference to the people I know too. One of my cooks at work always called them the "miracle chickens" because they got so big...he REALLY loved when my friends daughter had culls...he would say "Thanksgiving is not today, where did you find this miracle chicken? It's like a baby turkey to me!" A good majority of them are my ex-staff from work, and in all honesty, most of them are from places like Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador...one lady is even from Nigeria and she was telling me once that she pays way more for "scrawnier birds" at the flea market somewhere on the southwest side of Houston and that they "weren't always healthy enough to eat" so some weeks they didn't have chicken - and she had been getting my little EE roos from me...those things aren't that meaty either! But she was impressed...it's a trip to me, it really is, to hear some of the stuff I have been told...

I'm not out to make any money so much as break even for sure and have a little extra for my time...and remember...the deal is they come grab what they want, put it on the scale, and pay for it feathers and all which makes a difference...you really would charge more even if it's still alive when you weigh it? Because I figure they are already loosing 30% right there when they process it...and it's costing me about $1/lb to raise them (once again, live weight and just guessing on the high end when I put in my figures...over estimating what I will be spending)...

This is hard for me...to charge for this with intent to profit...I realize I can't really take a hit..financially who can these days right? But that's just it...if they are paying for it still feathered, full of guts and blood still pumping....doesn't that make a difference in how you charge? I don't want them taking a hit on it either... or am I being WAY too nice? Do I need to put on my big girl panties? I don't know...

 

[galanie]

LOL sorry for not getting back to you with the There. I'm sorry, that just leaped out at me, I didn't even notice the second Their was right. I think you need some profit. The reason I say this, is because often when I plan to break even, I end up in the red. When I plan for a small profit, I break even. So plan for at least some profit. To break even. And if you do make that profit? Great!