It's hard, it's not easy by any means. However do keep in mind about how many you do. If your doing only 100 every 3-4 weeks your going to have higher cost. If you have a bad batch you have less overall birds to absorb your loss. For instance if you have 65 birds make it out of 100, your profits are going way down. Which this will happen, I had it happened to me a couple of times this summer. I was fortunate to have great batches as well to help off set my bad ones.
Anyone can sell 50 chickens at $4.00 / lb. it's when you can sell 4,000 at $4.00 / lb. So do keep in mind when doing your chickens that you leave that margin for growth. Don't max yourself out by charging top dollar for everything you raise, you will go out of business quickly. However don't undercut yourself either, think of it as what would you pay for a dozen eggs/chicken/turkey if it was up to standards.
The key is to not compete with factory farms, but not be so outrageous that only a handful of customers join your escapade. You need quantity and quality to make it when raising custom broilers. You have to have the best and you have to be able to do more than a couple hundred a year to make it. It does take time though to get to a few thousand so take your time and learn from it. Buy your equipment as you go.
Your time is worth something.... but do remember that all of your income will be reinvested in your venture. You will see very little money to keep in your pocket. Even though your not making much on a profit your buying your equipment/pens/ ect.... and your also gaining knowledge and experience which trust me.... that alone is worth its weight in gold.
Also keep in mind that your cost / bird should be between $2.50 -$5.00 / bird depending on how you figure out your cost. I can tell you from experience if your not processing your own birds, your not going to make money at all. It's very easy to go above your budget when paying someone else to do your processing. It may be expensive to start on your own because your birds / hour are low.... everything cost so much because your only doing 50-100 at a time... But when time goes on and your able to buy better equipment, gain more knowledge, and pull more purchasing power when buying in bulk... things are different. Not just bulk feed... but bulk propane, bags, bedding, chick cost (average producer that does a few thousand doesn't pay more than $0.50 / chick), gas is cheaper as your doing more birds/gallon, electric is cheaper... again more birds / watt, and the list goes on and on.
There is so much that goes into your cost that most don't even think about but when you expand those cost over a few thousand birds it's not so bad. Also note that if your wanting to direct market your birds you will have market fees, health inspection fees, NSF coolers for transport, insurance, and again the list goes on.
Anyone can sell 50 chickens at $4.00 / lb. it's when you can sell 4,000 at $4.00 / lb. So do keep in mind when doing your chickens that you leave that margin for growth. Don't max yourself out by charging top dollar for everything you raise, you will go out of business quickly. However don't undercut yourself either, think of it as what would you pay for a dozen eggs/chicken/turkey if it was up to standards.
The key is to not compete with factory farms, but not be so outrageous that only a handful of customers join your escapade. You need quantity and quality to make it when raising custom broilers. You have to have the best and you have to be able to do more than a couple hundred a year to make it. It does take time though to get to a few thousand so take your time and learn from it. Buy your equipment as you go.
Your time is worth something.... but do remember that all of your income will be reinvested in your venture. You will see very little money to keep in your pocket. Even though your not making much on a profit your buying your equipment/pens/ ect.... and your also gaining knowledge and experience which trust me.... that alone is worth its weight in gold.
Also keep in mind that your cost / bird should be between $2.50 -$5.00 / bird depending on how you figure out your cost. I can tell you from experience if your not processing your own birds, your not going to make money at all. It's very easy to go above your budget when paying someone else to do your processing. It may be expensive to start on your own because your birds / hour are low.... everything cost so much because your only doing 50-100 at a time... But when time goes on and your able to buy better equipment, gain more knowledge, and pull more purchasing power when buying in bulk... things are different. Not just bulk feed... but bulk propane, bags, bedding, chick cost (average producer that does a few thousand doesn't pay more than $0.50 / chick), gas is cheaper as your doing more birds/gallon, electric is cheaper... again more birds / watt, and the list goes on and on.
There is so much that goes into your cost that most don't even think about but when you expand those cost over a few thousand birds it's not so bad. Also note that if your wanting to direct market your birds you will have market fees, health inspection fees, NSF coolers for transport, insurance, and again the list goes on.
