How much does it cost to raise a meat chicken?

[galanie]

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Evidently, you didn't read any of the rest of what I wrote. All those other expenses are there regardless of whether I have these Cornish X or not. No, I don't need oyster shell for Cornish X. What, you think I'm expecting them to lay? Here, I'll repeat myself somewhat: Yes, my labor is free because if I wasn't doing that, I wouldn't be doing anything else to make money either. The enclosure they are in not only is from free materials, it's actually there for another purpose and just happens to be unused for a couple months. I didn't have to buy any feeders or anything else. Just the food. And the chicks.

Quit trying to convince me I'd be better off buying store chickens and that I'm somehow "cheating" myself by sitting here on my a$$ and letting chickens grow. I get irritated.

 

[galanie]

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I respectfuly disagree with this type of cost calculation. No business will survive very long and no respectable accountant would condone this type of accounting. With this type of reasoning, no wonder the economy is in the state it is in today!

I'm not running a business. Here, let me help you by repeating something from above: I can see throwing in all that other nonsense if you were discussing large scale broiler factories but we just aren't. I don't run my household as though it's a million dollar operation or even a money making opportunity. You guys can and I'm ok with that. But I'm talking my house and my household and my labor. You cannot tell me what that's worth. For all you know it's just as worthless as I'm making it out to be.

So now the economy is in trouble because I'm spending less out of pocket to raise my food than I'd spend for it at Krogers?

You guys are killing me here!

 

[galanie]

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And this, my friends, is the real answer to the original question. Figure it how you wish, and here's the numbers depending on how serious you are and what your motivation is. For myself, I'm not doing it to save money anyway. In my case, that just happens to be a happy coincidence for me. I'd do it even if I did think I was spending $20 apiece. We aren't all the same. A quick check of this thread certainly proves that.

I just get aggravated when it's taken so far that costs a person would have anyway, regardless if they had a dozen CX's or not, are taken into the figure. The original poster didn't really say if they wanted to do it to save money or not but all of you have mostly valid points as to what to consider, again, depending on how you want to figure it.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

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Everybody here pretty much agrees with you... except for the fact that there are direct costs other than just chicks and feed involved, such as electricity, bedding, propane, and packaging. Those are costs that you would not have otherwise.

No need to be aggravated...

 

[Bossroo]

In life, everyone is in business for themselves, wheather one sees it as such or not. If one is not making a profit in an individual or family venture, like it or not, then one is loosing money. If one can't sell the produce for more than ALL of the associated real world costs, one is loosing money. If one can't produce it for less than one can purchase a similar product for personal use, then one is loosing money. If one is raising chickens or anything else for that matter as an enjoyable hobby, one is in fact loosing money. It is well known that the vast majority of hobbies are a money loosing proposition. Take the game of golf as an example... the only ones making money in that passtime are the golf course owner, the pro golfer, the manufacturer of equipment to partisipate in the hobby, and the TV networks, the rest that participate pay through the nose with their hard earned money .

 

[galanie]

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Everybody here pretty much agrees with you... except for the fact that there are direct costs other than just chicks and feed involved, such as electricity, bedding, propane, and packaging. Those are costs that you would not have otherwise.

No need to be aggravated...

You could indeed argue that I should have included electricity for a brooder light. Bedding.. eh Im just using old newspaper (which I paid nothing for, BTW - it's those grocery store ads you get every week. I pull out the shiny pages and keep the others. Crazy, I know, but I'm partially disabled and can't find a job, so what else have I got to do? heh.) and when they go out, still no purchased bedding. Just pine needles and leaves and grass which is already laying there in a movable "tractor". As for packaging, I only have a dozen and really 12 bags is such a small figure, and I'm not buying any specially for that, I just didn't figure it in by choice. So you got me on those two lol. But you never put in any of those crazy costs anyway Mac. Yours really looked the most reasonable and sane of the 'bean counters' type estimates lol.

ETA: It's the "disabled and can't find a job" part that makes me laugh so much at figuring in my labor. Others may find it useful to do so, me, nah.

 

[ronniewayne]

thank you all for this informative post....i have raised 50 heritage white rocks for meat and 100 cornish x .....per pound of meat the cornish cost half as much...and the #'s are about what i saw ....my out of pocket cost were around $6.oo per bird...i sold about 75% of them for $10 per bird.....did i really make money...or did i really lose money....depends on who you ask but i did get a much better food for my family and alot of my friends ......it is my belief that americans are killing themselves one bite at a time...and the food we eat is 90% of the added heart ,stroke , and cancer problems we now see....now if i dont have a $500,000.00 heart attack or a million dollar cancer to fix ....did i make or lose money....again thanks for all the comments as i find the different views helpful ..and the discussion serious and funny....

 

[whaledancer]

When I compare the cost of a homecooked meal to buying the same meal in a restaurant, I count the cost of the food I buy to make it, and I know it costs me less. I don't count the cost of the kitchen I cook it in, or the electric lights, or my labor, or the dishes I serve it on. In a pinch, I might count the cost of the gas to cook it (naw, I really wouldn't). That's because I'm not running a restaurant, I'm just feeding my family. Most of those expenses --the house, dishes, etc.-- I would pay for whether I cooked at home or ate out, so what I count as the cost of the meal is what I am out-of-pocket. The "business" of running my home seems to work just fine that way.

If I were raising chickens to sell, I'd run it like a business. I if were to raise chickens just to feed my family, I'd count the direct out-of-pocket expenses. Like when I raise my own veggies, I count the cost of seeds and water. I don't even count the cost of the shovel and rake, because I HAVE a shovel and rake...I don't have to go buy them.

For me, cost accounting for a business and figuring the costs of homegrown groceries aren't the same thing.

 

[LilyD]

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[galanie]

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Well said. Best analogy yet. It does indeed differ this way depending on if you're feeding yourself or trying to turn a profit.