How much does it cost to raise a meat chicken?

[LiLRedCV]

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DO YOU BUY YOUR BOSS??? If you do, I'm sure it's not grown organically....

I buy organic when I can find it... but if not? Well, it's pretty much the only non-organic product they might get and it's used only as a treat. I would have to say that better than 90% of what our girls eat is organic - which is far better than what the processed chickens at the store are fed.

 

[LiLRedCV]

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[kfacres]

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DO YOU BUY YOUR BOSS??? If you do, I'm sure it's not grown organically....

I buy organic when I can find it... but if not? Well, it's pretty much the only non-organic product they might get and it's used only as a treat. I would have to say that better than 90% of what our girls eat is organic - which is far better than what the processed chickens at the store are fed.

in order to call yourself,organic... it's like got to have everything organic..

Lets compare it to this...

GMO-- you do realize that only one or two peices of the genomic puzzle, are modified out of the millions... So in theory, your one peice of the puzzle, out of like 10-- is far, far, far a higher percentage of "non normal", than the GMO...

So in theory, the GMO corn, percentage wise, should be safer/ more/ closer to natural than the non organic BOSS you are feeding your birds to make them organic.???

You also realize that being organic, is more a marketing scheme than an actual health beneifit... straight from the horse's mouth as an organic producer. The last organic farm I visited stated that being actually certified organic did nothing extra for them, other than on commodity crops-- ie the soybeans and corn. Their meat, vegie, and other produce items benefitted none from the 'actual' label..

They sell their eggs for $6./ dozen, certified organic- but he stated that in reality, they have only about 2 buyers a year wanting that organic label... most people just want to see homegrown, or natural type product... Keep in mind this farm is located directly 1/2 way between Springfield and Bloomington IL- 2 of the largest metro areas known to the state... this is if you kick chicago out... This farm has also been in business for close to 20 years, and organic the entire time...

 

[Mac in Wisco]

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Depreciation of the cost of fixed assets is more for tax purposes and the true expense is not easily pinned down until the asset is sold or disposed of. They are assets that you own that are worth something. IRS depreciation is usually much quicker than the actual life of the item. E.g., I have a drum plucker that I paid $1000 for. I could process a few thousand birds and after a year sell the plucker for $950. On the other hand, with some minimal repair expenses, the plucker could last me a lifetime and still have some value after that. The true expense is much different than the five year cost depreciation schedule that the IRS allows and that would show on the books for that plucker. The same could be said for the $80,000 hen house I have on the books. On the books it is depreciated over 10 years, but such structures usually have a life span of much greater than that and actually appreciate in value as the cost of labor and materials increase. So, in reality, I am not really spending $8,000 a year over ten years for flock housing, that is just the accounting for tax purposes.

Labor is free when producing something for yourself. Yes, I could say "My labor is worth $20 an hour". In reality, it's not a matter of time that would be spent working for wages elsewhere. It is a matter of getting outside and producing something vs doing other things such as watching TV or reading a book. As I enjoy it, it's just a more productive form of recreation. We don't earn wages for our spare time, nor do average people analyze the labor costs behind doing everyday chores such as cooking, washing dishes, or doing the laundry and then hire them out to somebody else because it could be cheaper.

 

[kfacres]

Quote:
Depreciation of the cost of fixed assets is more for tax purposes and the true expense is not easily pinned down until the asset is sold or disposed of. They are assets that you own that are worth something. IRS depreciation is usually much quicker than the actual life of the item. E.g., I have a drum plucker that I paid $1000 for. I could process a few thousand birds and after a year sell the plucker for $950. On the other hand, with some minimal repair expenses, the plucker could last me a lifetime and still have some value after that. The true expense is much different than the five year cost depreciation schedule that the IRS allows and that would show on the books for that plucker. The same could be said for the $80,000 hen house I have on the books. On the books it is depreciated over 10 years, but such structures usually have a life span of much greater than that and actually appreciate in value as the cost of labor and materials increase. So, in reality, I am not really spending $8,000 a year over ten years for flock housing, that is just the accounting for tax purposes.

Labor is free when producing something for yourself. Yes, I could say "My labor is worth $20 an hour". In reality, it's not a matter of time that would be spent working for wages elsewhere. It is a matter of getting outside and producing something vs doing other things such as watching TV or reading a book. As I enjoy it, it's just a more productive form of recreation. We don't earn wages for our spare time, nor do average people analyze the labor costs behind doing everyday chores such as cooking, washing dishes, or doing the laundry and then hire them out to somebody else because it could be cheaper.

maybe you should be taxed for recreation then? like the deer hunters are who purchase timber and complain about the taxes going sky high

 

[KenK]

I have a pretty good grasp of how depreciation works being that I'm an accountant.
I think some folks that raise poultry as a hobby tend to overlook a lot of the costs associated with it.
Still, as hobbies go, it's not as spendy as a lot of others.

 

[homesteadapps]

Mac is figuring the numbers the right way for a variable cost analysis.

Depreciation and other fixed cost are there irregardless once you've decided to raise the chickens, goats, etc. The fixed costs also remain the same whether you raise 150 or 300 chicks

For tax purposes, of course you want to write off every allowable expense to avoid paying more taxes than are owed.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

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Well, there you go then... You know that the cost of assets doesn't appear on a profit and loss statement.

I do my my own accounting for our layer operation. The processing equipment is actually depreciated under our layer operation as we process stewing hens for sale, as is the barn the broilers were raised in. Property taxes for the buildings and land are deducted as expenses. Your average person isn't going to include the property taxes related to the raising of broilers for their own freezer though...

 

[weeders n feeders]

On the subject of water weight in store bought meat. Ever buy meat from the store take it out of the packaging and weigh it. Even if you take the packaging itself into consideration there is a lot of juices already drained out of the meat. Unless they are padding the store scale. Also try weighing after cooking. My home grown chicks have a much higher ratio of before/ after cooking weight than the store bought do.

 

[KenK]

I spent $1500 on my coop and run. It should last 30 years if a tree doesn't fall on it. That's $50 book depreciation per year, as opposed to tax depreciation. Say I raise 50 chickens to eat per year. By my ciphering I think I need to add about a dollar a bird to my per bird cost to account for the coop.