Is it cheaper to buy chicken at the market or raise it?

[sara]

Quote:
Do you do processing for others?

 

[blue90292]

Quote:
i thought i couldn't afford it either....

with the price of everything going up, i decided to create a spreadsheet with the prices of vegetables, etc, for that week, that was listed on the weekly flyers that i get in the mail. i was quite surprised to find, that when i did my homework, walmart wasn't the cheapest after all. walmart has recently raised their price of chicken to $1.29 a pound. their zucchini was $1.49 a pound. HEB had theirs for $1.29.

we have a farm "frobergs" that sells their fresh grown vegetables. they are about 5 miles from me. i'd never been there, thinking they would be expensive. i decided to stop by their yesterday and found that i had been very wrong. their zuccini was $.99 a pound. the only thing more expensive in vegetables was the corn, which was 2 for a $1.00, where walmart had 6 for a $1.00.

so in short, ignorant me found that if i took the time to do my homework, i CAN feed my family with better food.

btw, they had cherry's there and it was so good, i ended up eating too many and made myself sick. lol

 

[okiemommy]

i thought i couldn't afford it either....

with the price of everything going up, i decided to create a spreadsheet with the prices of vegetables, etc, for that week, that was listed on the weekly flyers that i get in the mail. i was quite surprised to find, that when i did my homework, walmart wasn't the cheapest after all. walmart has recently raised their price of chicken to $1.29 a pound. their zucchini was $1.49 a pound. HEB had theirs for $1.29.

we have a farm "frobergs" that sells their fresh grown vegetables. they are about 5 miles from me. i'd never been there, thinking they would be expensive. i decided to stop by their yesterday and found that i had been very wrong. their zuccini was $.99 a pound. the only thing more expensive in vegetables was the corn, which was 2 for a $1.00, where walmart had 6 for a $1.00.

so in short, ignorant me found that if i took the time to do my homework, i CAN feed my family with better food.

btw, they had cherry's there and it was so good, i ended up eating too many and made myself sick. lol

I had the same experience recently. Checked the prices of the produce at Wal-mart to the prices of produce at our local store, Crest. the vegetables at Crest were cheaper, by a landslide, as were a lot of their other products. That will have to do until I get a garden up and going next year.​

 

[SandraMort]

That's assuming people have the ability to garden. Some people don't have the space, some people aren't physically able, some people don't have the time. Gardening IS likely to save you the money, but not many of the low income people I know have the ability to do it.

 

[okiemommy]

That's assuming people have the ability to garden. Some people don't have the space, some people aren't physically able, some people don't have the time. Gardening IS likely to save you the money, but not many of the low income people I know have the ability to do it.

Good point.​

 

[Sunny Side Up]

In my opinion, it has more to do with inclination rather than income or ability.

If you are determined to garden, you will find a way, no matter where you live, how much/little land you have, regardless of your income, your ability or disability. There are folks who grow edibles in windowboxes in apartments, who plant seeds and pull weeds from their wheelchairs, who find packets of seeds at affordable prices at the dollar stores. Some folks are joining with others in their neighborhoods to make successful community gardens, some even with community chicken coops.

The OP's question is valid, and worth considering if that aspect of keeping chickens is important to you. Personally, I haven't kept track of the exact dollar figures to see just how much it costs to produce my own fresh eggs and home-grown meat, or my own fresh produce. Partly because I suspect it might not be extremely cost-effective, especially if compared with large-scale farming and ranching done in those giant petri dishes. But mainly because I raise produce & chickens for many many other reasons besides economy. It's more than a hobby, but a very satisfying way of life for myself and my family, something that is, like the MasterCard commercials say, PRICELESS. Furthermore, I find the quality of our home-made edibles to be so much superior to anything I would buy in any store that I cannot find a way to compare them in terms of dollars & cents.

 

[SandraMort]

Quote:
Yes, anybody can garden. Not anybody can produce enough vegetables to affect their budget. Speaking for nobody but myself, I live in NYC and have no soil yard. There is a tiny square courtyard shared with the next house that serves as an entrance way, play area and garden, among other purposes, so my space is very limited... but it's more than any of my friends has access to.

I have room for a *few* pots, but not many. The pots were prohibitively expensive. I switched to large buckets from feta cheese from the Greek shop down the street, but the soil to fill them was killing my budget, so everything ended up in pots that were too small, so things aren't growing very well. It wasn't too well thought out, but you live and learn. Additionally, there is very little direct sunlight.

There are no community gardens within easy walking or public transportation distance of my house and that's not factoring in child care to get there or the pain I would be in after bending to the ground level (back injury). So yes, I have pots with tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers in my yard, but they won't affect my budget at all.

When I move, next month, I plan to have raised bed planters that I can grow vegetables in. They will be filled with compost from my chickens, if it's ready in time, along with the cheapest usable soil I can get. I DO plan to have it contribute to the food consumption of my family, but I will be one of the only people I know who will have that option.

The OP's question is valid, and worth considering if that aspect of keeping chickens is important to you.

Yes, I plan to keep track because it's important to me.​

 

[MissPrissy]

It can be done if you want to do it. I refuse to accept the excuses of having no time. Let's face it most excuses are just that excuses. If you want something bad enough you make time for it. Mostly people who would have trouble are those in an apartment with no balcony.

I lived in a town house in metro DC.

I grew lettuce and spinach in hanging baskets on the back deck. They were gorgeous.

I grew several types of tomatoes in patio pots. Cherry tomatoes vined and grew from the bottom to the 2nd story deck. They were very pretty to look at and to eat.

I grew zuchinni in the back around the air conditioner unit in a small raised bed. It hid the ugly unit.

I grew cucumbers on a trellis from a kitchen window box.

Herbs grew in small pots in a big window.

I had strawberry jars and lots of berries from them.

People in the HOA were amazed and surprised to find we had vegetables and not flowers.

From the back our townhouse looked like a lush italian terrace and people wanted to come over and just sit among the foliage.

All of my seeds where started in doors in the windows and would have grown really well in most places if I had left there.

A 50 lbs bag of potting soil is $5. You can make pots out of most anything. Used soup cans, buckets, yardsale pots and planters. Plastic pots are cheap to come by and once the vegetables are growing they hide the plain jane pots. I know online you can find greenhouse grow pots in a sleeve of 50 for under $20. You can even make newspaper pots.

It can be done if people are willing to work for the better food.

 

[SandraMort]

Quote:
Balcony?!? There are no balconies in NYC.

I grew lettuce and spinach in hanging baskets on the back deck. They were gorgeous.

I hope you'll forgive me for laughing, but there are no decks in NYC, either.

I grew several types of tomatoes in patio pots. Cherry tomatoes vined and grew from the bottom to the 2nd story deck. They were very pretty to look at and to eat.

OK, wait. You live in a town house with two decks? That's unmeasurable luxury here. Now, in Baltimore, sure, there were places to plant. But not where I am now.

I grew zuchinni in the back around the air conditioner unit in a small raised bed. It hid the ugly unit.

A raised bed sitting on what? The VAST majority of the people here live in high rise apartment buildings.

I grew cucumbers on a trellis from a kitchen window box.

I'm not visualizing this. A trellis going from where to where?

Herbs grew in small pots in a big window.

Yes, herbs are easy.

I had strawberry jars and lots of berries from them.

I've got some hanging strawberry planters that are at a friend's house, but there's no place to put them at my apartment. If I was staying, I was planning to construct something but I'll move instead.

From the back our townhouse looked like a lush italian terrace and people wanted to come over and just sit among the foliage.

I don't know about Metro DC but what you're describing in NYC is only available to upper middle class and up.

A 50 lbs bag of potting soil is $5.

I think that your experience is valid but nothing like mine. I paid $2 per 8 pound bag. That's a lot more. Later on in the season, I found a cheaper source, but you need a car to get there. Very few people in NYC have cars and none of the low income people.

It can be done if people are willing to work for the better food.

I think you're being very judgemental of a lot of people for whom you have no idea of their resources. I managed to wade through every one of those problems mentioned above and STILL ended up with mostly nonfruiting plants because of inadequate sun.​

 

[halo]

Its fine being negative and making a long post stating why you CANT do things. Certainly there are situations where those things can't be done. But as Miss Prissy showed, with a little effort, you can do things where people think you can't. Somehow I think if Miss P lived in your situation, she'd find a way somehow to grow something.