Most common chicken meat??

[Ragna]

Hey everyone! I'm dreaming about owning a chicken farm and I was wondering what chickens are most commonly processed for food so I can get an idea of what I want to raise and how I could price them )) thanks for advice!!

 

[Latestarter]

Get prepared for intensive government intrusion. There are govt regulations for selling meat. If you just want to raise and sell chickens, then the fastest growing, quickest to slaughter weight are the meat birds, generally cornish crosses are the most popular. But there are other meat breeds as well. study up.

 

[Northern.Ontario]

Hey everyone! I'm dreaming about owning a chicken farm and I was wondering what chickens are most commonly processed for food so I can get an idea of what I want to raise and how I could price them )) thanks for advice!!

The Cornish cross broiler chicken is the cheapest and fastest to raise. But don't expect to make a lot of profit selling a small amount of chickens.

 

[Ragna]

The Cornish cross broiler chicken is the cheapest and fastest to raise. But don't expect to make a lot of profit selling a small amount of chickens.

Under the limited poultry and egg operation I'm limited to 384 dressed poultry a week anyway... Im trying to find out if there are restrictions on selling like poultry to like slaughter houses because I fall in love with my girls way too much to really want to kill them myself

 

[Maeschak]

Under the limited poultry and egg operation I'm limited to 384 dressed poultry a week anyway... Im trying to find out if there are restrictions on selling like poultry to like slaughter houses because I fall in love with my girls way too much to really want to kill them myself

You might find that butchering yourself is the best way to love your birds through the end... Watching them freak out as they get Hauled off to an unknown place and handled by people who have never loved them is really hard to do. At least that is the way it is for my freezer beef- I give my guys love their entire lives and it kills me to see them scared out of their minds the last few hours of their lives being carted off to the cold strange butcher shop- where they surely didn't stroke his head and calm him before the act. I'd pay a lot to have it done right here on my farm but simply cannot find a mobile processor.
Anyway, I love my chickens too and after watching others slaughter my birds I realized that I care too much for them to allow anyone else to kill them... One guy cuts the esophagus (which I do not do), one guy handles them too roughly, etc. I realized that the most comfortable I can get with my birds being butchered is to do it myself. No human on this earth will care more than me as to how they spend their final moments alive.
Just something to think about- plus, your business model will benefit greatly from the saved costs!

 

[trudyg]

I agree with Maeschak. No one else will care for them the way I do so, even at the end, they aren't unduly stressed.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Under the limited poultry and egg operation I'm limited to 384 dressed poultry a week anyway... Im trying to find out if there are restrictions on selling like poultry to like slaughter houses because I fall in love with my girls way too much to really want to kill them myself

https://newfarmers.usda.gov/

 

[Ragna]

https://newfarmers.usda.gov/

See.. I tried that but when you go to the section"business plan" it basically only tells me that I infact do need a business plan which I kinda already knew lol... I'm not sure if it's a site error or not

 

[Ragna]

https://newfarmers.usda.gov/

Thus I haven't l
Used the site much

 

[Lazy Farmer]

See.. I tried that but when you go to the section"business plan" it basically only tells me that I infact do need a business plan which I kinda already knew lol... I'm not sure if it's a site error or not

I tried to understand the wording myself, as well as navigate the entire site. VERY confusing and jammed packed. The search engine feature did not short cut me to my worded requests.
Perhaps a phone call would be more advantageous.
BUT from what I did see, it is saying that that chicken (meat) farmers are seldom profiting from a small operation. Rising feed costs/over head/housing/competition makes it extremely difficult on a small scale level w/less than 3000 birds). I'm sure getting in bed with the USDA isn't helping either. BUT if you wish to provide human consumption products such as meat to the general public, I suggest not by passing Uncle Sam.
Maybe start off really small and provide meat for your family/friends first, then swim to the deep end.

As far as processing is concerned, that is a major over head. ALL OF your profits right there.
Our processor charges us over $500 per cow and an average of $220 per swine. We do our own poultry- less complicated and we only have space to rest the meat on a small scale.
If you are to wishing to go right into the deep end first, I suggest you invest in a walk in cooler.
Contact them thru Ma Bell. An agent will explain in full detail the do's & don't's. That's what we pay taxes for.. humans helping us- not for us to spend hours on a .gov web site searching for answers.
Good luck.