I'm selling my meaties!

[momofchicks]

My market is just starting to take off, I have been selling my birds for $2.99 a pound. At first several people were like "I can get a whole cooked chicken at Walmart for $5." So then I had to explain to them, "yea, but who knows what's in your chicken, blah blah blah". So I took 22 (lost 3) to the processor yesterday and I have 18 of them already sold. I can't really grow any right now it's too darn hot, but I'm thinking since my market is getting bigger I should raise my cost more. Also when my customer wants their bird cut, the processor charges me $1 and up till now I hadn't charged that back DUH! So it's all still a work in progress. I need o look back at all the food costs, divide that by bird and see if I'm even making a profit. But, I would do this anyway for my family, so I feel like I am making something because I didn't intend on selling any at first. I've had meat birds 4 times now. I have found that I can get a 3 - 4 1/2 pound chicken in 6 weeks now instead of the 8.

 

[UncleHoot]

It's fun! ...for awhile... Pretty soon, you'll start getting orders for 5, 10, 20, or even 30 or more. Then it might start to feel like work.

Even so, it's work that I enjoy. I'm a computer programmer for 8 hrs/day, so raising chickens is about as far away as I can get from my real job.

My wife mentioned to her doctor that we raise and sell chickens, and so her doctor wanted some. Then the doctor mentioned it to some of her staff, and suddenly, we had about 50 chickens sold with no extra effort! That's when you start to really feel good about what you're doing.

Depending on how I compute my costs, I might make about $1 profit per chicken at $2.25/lb. I think of it as more of a community service. If some folks don't want to pay over $2/lb, then that's their choice. If they're willing to talk about it, I'll explain to them that all "meat" is not the same. Would you think $2.25/lb was a good deal for a rib-eye steak? Heck yeah! If they still want to stick to their cheap "food", then I'm fine with that. Most of the people that buy from me don't need to be convinced. They already know what they are looking for, and I'm one of only a few people that provide it.

 

[Dogfish]

Nice!

Sold 15 of my meaties today. $3/lb.

 

[brandislee]

That's great! It depends on what you pay for feed, of course, but I have figured that I will spend about $6 a bird when all is said and done (with a little wiggle room- the actual is probably between $5 and $6). So as long as you're making more than that you're making a profit. But I'm with you- I would be doing it anyway, so if you sell some you're helping to offset the costs of raising your own. For example, I figured if I raise 50 and sell 25 for $10-$12 each the ones I sell will pay for the ones I keep for my family. So no technical "profit," but I'm essentially getting our meat for free. But I haven't yet tried this, I just found out that I'm okay to keep that many on my property, and I'm going to wait until fall when it's cooler.

 

[chicktwins]

I wanted to do the same thing but couldn't find a processor in my area. So, I changed my order for my chicks to no meaties, however, I did order pullets that are good for both laying and meat. That way if I must cull any from the flock I can still get something back. Any ideas on finding a processor would be appreciated. I have many friends who want to buy eggs from me once I have them laying that have also asked if I was gonna do meat. I really would love to even if only for my family and a few friends. I just don't necessarily feel confident about processing them myself because of all the sanitation risks, etc.

 

[CarriageStone]

My mother mentioned to her co-workers that my wife and I just finished some CX's. She had two people interested -- very interested -- and then I mentioned $3.50/lb and that the whole roasters were 4.5 to 5 pounds each. They weren't so excited then. "I can get a bird at Wal-Mart...." Fine, go ahead. I don't even try to explain the worth of these birds to folks like that. We have other acquantances that are the Whole Foods/Trader Joe's shoppers that are far "better" clients. To me, it's far too much effort and frustration to raise these birds up, dealing with their smell and stupidity, to have to justify everything to people who will STILL feel you're cheating them.

Put it this way, there's a HUGE difference between the price of IKEA furniture and Henkel-Harris -- or even a lesser brand like Ethan Allen. However, the quality is discernable. I guess what I'm trying to say is sell to the right market and you'll have fewer headaches.

 

[CarriageStone]

P.S.

Congrats on making the sale!

 

[PotterWatch]

Definitely charge the extra processing amount for cutting up birds to the customer. We charge $4.60/lb for whole birds and $5.35/lb for cut up. Ours are fed organic feed and we do all the processing ourselves. Our customers are definitely not the kind who would be buying their meat at WalMart anyway so the cost isn't as much of a shock to them. We even raise batches of soy-free birds when we get an order of at least 30 and those are even more expensive. We are lucky that we are in an area where people recognize the value of the product we offer and are able to pay what we need for us to make a profit.

 

[RoosterGeek]

That's awesome. I'm thinking about doing the same thing with Pekin ducks. I've had a Chinese Professor ask me to raise ducks and "black chicken" (Silkies) for him. He even said he would find others for me to raise for. And he is willing to pay a good price because there isn't anywhere to buy duck in our area.

I'm still mulling over the numbers. It's definitely an exciting prospect.

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
The chicken police have you scared. Truth of the matter is that home raised chickens have a much, much lower rate of potential contamination. Contamination is such a huge concern for the industry due to them being raised in confinement and how they are processed at the factory. Contaminates have to be present in your birds in order to show up. If raised in a clean enviorment, like on pasture, you aren't likely to be at risk. I've been on here for several years and have yet to see a post where someone got sick from their own birds. If this is the only thing holding you back, I say go for it. Your family and friends will be happy you provided them with a quality product.