Is it worth it?

[KatyTheChickenLady]

LOL! Me too! I was raised on a farm, fresh meat, milk, eggs everything . . . and I miss that part of it but I know HOW MUCH WORK IT IS!. My husband on the other hand see's only the romantic side of it and is all behind ME doing it lol! That's why I'm taking it slow, making sure I have the proper set up FIRST and that the amount of labor required is something I enjoy . . . so far I am finding that I do, I will stop when I don't.
I know I won't be getting a milk cow without the farm hand to go along with it! But free ranged meat birds take me 5 min in the morn and 5 min in the eve, then a couple hours at the butcher twice a year (25 chicks at a time 2 x's a year for 52 birds in freezer- that's one a week in our house).

 

[patman75]

Quote:
I spent a lot of time in my youth on my grandparents cattle farm & family petting farm for schools, pumpkins, etc. My inner farmer is taking over.

I started small with a few laying hens last year and I'm trying to hold back from going crazy. I'm thinking this year I'll just increase my flock, improve the garden, add some fruit trees and keep harvesting wild rabbits that have overrun my property. Meat chickens is the next logical step or maybe a goat.

 

[paridisefarm2009]

I want to do meat birds I cant wait I have processed a lot of my roosters just regular birds , yea there is no meat it was kinda a waist of time But Now I have done it so I know what I am doing and would love to do a real meat bird , I just have to get the area outside ready to keep them so they are safe from the coons I dont want to go through the trouble of meat birds just to have a stinky coon eat well . I would say try it atleast once then decide if it is worth it if you think it isnt atleast you can say you tryed . But I know I am gonna try soon Just gotta get moving on my plans Good luck

 

[bucketgirl]

It's worth it if you are interested in doing it.

Out in these parts, a chicken raised as you would raise them is around $35 - $40. It involves a deposit and a lot of complicated maneuvers.

It costs me about $15 all said, processing myself.

If I could get them for $10, I probably never would have started it. I would have learned a lot less, but it would be less of a fight to try and talk all my friends and family into trying to eat real food. "You should buy a slightly more expensive chicken from this farmer" being more compelling than "And then you reach into the cavity and work your hand around the entrails, and it comes out in a nice neat package..."

Plus I think there should be more farmers who produce as you are describing. Perhaps you supporting him will strengthen your local foodshed, which to me is a HUGE benefit.

 

[GlitterBug]

I raised some last spring (only 27). I turned out to be some very, very expensive chicken meat. I was quite disappointed with the results after hawks took quite a few, but it was fun to try & I learned I don't really want to do meaties again any time soon. But, of course, this is the opinion of someone who had never done meaties before & perhaps did not know all the "ins & outs" of it all?

 

[jaku]

$10/bird is a good price... at least I think it is because that's what I sell mine for! My birds cost me about $6-7 each to grow out, and selling them at $10 is enough to get the birds I eat all year for free, and end up with about $40 profit. So, if you do it yourself, you could do a batch of 25 birds, get 500 pounds of feed ground (at least at my mill, that's the cutoff for the cheaper feed price, and about what you'd need for 25 birds,) and save a few bucks per bird, otherwise, yes, you're getting them at a good price, even not organic. However, they are fun to raise. I love the idea of growing out my own food.

 

[chickenwhisperer]

Without reading 2 pages of folks opinions, heres my take . . .

Just this evening, I bought a whole Foster Farms chicken, it was 5lb and $7.48.

I have 10 cornishx that I paid $1.65 each, and $15 for a bag of feed.
Count a light bulb if you want- $3.
Ill probably have to get 1 more bag of feed to get them nice and plump- $15

So thats $49.50 for my lot, and $74.80 the price Foster Farms is charging . . .

I dont count my time, as I enjoy raising chickens.
Granted I never raised an animal just to eat, but Im doing it this time.
BBQs all thru the summer . . .

So for me, it is worth it both monetarily and for the enjoyment I get out of it!
Look carefully at the 2 pics, my chickens dont say "product" . . .

 

[silkiechicken]

As for cost, unless you already have housing paid for, and shavings free, you still might have to add the cost of electricity which can vary from place to place. Being on the west coast, it still amazes me a bag of chick starter costing less than 20 bucks, and you'll probably need 3 bags to get a 5 lb dressed bird from 10 chicks. I figure 1 50lb bag of feed per 4 cornish x birds raised to 5-6lbs dressed. Granted, the weather is cool in the PNW, I remove heating at 6 weeks, and rainging around burns up energy that would otherwise go to weight.

For electricity, figuring I'm running one 100W bulb x 24 hours a day x 7 days a week x 6 weeks at 10 cents a kwh, I'm still forking over 10 bucks to the electric company for those 6 weeks of heat.

 

[chickenwhisperer]

Quote:
I was going off the general rule of "2lbs of feed for 1lb of bird" . . .
Ahh, but I did forget to factor live vs dressed weight . . .

Even if I need a 3rd bag, Im still under the FF price . . .
I cant factor in electricity to run a couple light bulbs for a few days, most peoples kids leave more lights on than the chickens use.
Shavings shavings shavings . . . they are a part of my life, I just "have them".



Im eating the last drumstick and thigh right now, and theres not even any dark meat, its all just white . . .

I am very curious to see what happens with my cornishxs, I hope they turn out perfect, Im working diligenty.

 

[Bossroo]

Yesterday, there was an add for a employee owned grocery store chain that if you buy TWO chickens, the price would be $0.47 a pound. So, using your example of 5.02 lb = $2.3594 per chicken or $4.7188 for TWO chickens.