price of chicken meat

[Bossroo]

I should clarify... we charge $3.25 a pound, average processed weight around 5 pounds.

We don't sell $3.25 per bird.

So you are selling your processed whole chickens for $3.25 / pound x average of 5 lbs.= $ 16.25 . and you also stated that you will be raising your prices next season. While I can buy a similar Cornish X chicken at most of the grocery stores in our area for $0.79 / lb. x 5 lbs. = $ 3.95 . By adding just $ 0.70 to your $3.25 / lb. = I can enjoy a tasty and tender whole 5 lb. Cornish X chicken for 5 meals what you are currently charging for only ONE FIFTH ( like one leg quarter size ) of a chicken which is only one meal for me. Or in other terms ... the grocery store can provide 5 people a chicken dinner at a similar price that you can provide only one. Guess where I will be shopping next time ?

 

[LilRedRoo]

There is a farm in the area where we live that charges just over $5.00 a pound for 5-6 lb birds, another one further west charges $3.50/lb. I get the feeling that if your customers know that you are either certified organic, or organically raising birds (for those who don't want to go through actual certification) you can get just about whatever price you want.

As mentioned earlier following the grocery store prices of .88/lb et cetera, yes that is for the usual Tyson/Pilgrim's/et cetera CAFO poultry. Your potential customers will generally already have looked into what those companies feed their birds, and will still be willing to pay fair market value for your home grown meat.

We are currently only asking $10.00 a bird (less than $2.00/lb), but that is for a trial run until we get the logistics and economics penciled in.

 

[trunkman]

She's right, I went that far, not the baby talk to the chickens but bought a couple goats a cow and tried to sell the house to buy a farm and have lots of gardens!

 

[BCMaraniac]

She's right, I went that far, not the baby talk to the chickens but bought a couple goats a cow and tried to sell the house to buy a farm and have lots of gardens!

And that's a great thing to do....the chicken baby talk thing I understand.......leave that to us "mother hens", who are very adept at babying and spoiling everything around us........including our big roos......lol

 

[Buster52]

As mentioned earlier following the grocery store prices of .88/lb et cetera, yes that is for the usual Tyson/Pilgrim's/et cetera CAFO poultry.

And the most depressing aspect of those prices is that is what the grocery store is getting, after Tyson or some other corporate giant gets their cut. Just think what the poor farmer is getting for actually growing the things.

Another reason I can't support that system.

 

[LilRedRoo]

Whisper......be vewy, vewy careful......once the meaties come in, chicken math will kick in and the next thing you know you will be incubating the eggs from those layers you first got "just" to have eggs, and you will eventually be like this:

Don't say I didn't warn you.....

That's pretty funny. Come to think of it, that's about how Melinda and I started. "Let's just a get enough hens to lay breakfast for the kids." We now have 40+ "ladies", a great RIR roo, 15 broilers set for harvest before Christmas, 4 dairy goats (2 are pregnant), will be getting a gaurd jenny once our fence in the back is finished, and the only reason we aren't getting the cow is because there are herd-bulls on every side of us and I don't care to mend fence every time she goes into heat. Guinea fowl are on the list for the Spring...we're doomed...

 

[BCMaraniac]

That's pretty funny. Come to think of it, that's about how Melinda and I started. "Let's just a get enough hens to lay breakfast for the kids." We now have 40+ "ladies", a great RIR roo, 15 broilers set for harvest before Christmas, 4 dairy goats (2 are pregnant), will be getting a gaurd jenny once our fence in the back is finished, and the only reason we aren't getting the cow is because there are herd-bulls on every side of us and I don't care to mend fence every time she goes into heat. Guinea fowl are on the list for the Spring...we're doomed...

Well.....about that cow.......you would just have to mend it once a year......no, wait.....maybe if you just put up a gate, you could LET him come in.

You get a baby and the milk comes fresh and he gets, well.....you know......

 

[Bossroo]

And the most depressing aspect of those prices is that is what the grocery store is getting, after Tyson or some other corporate giant gets their cut. Just think what the poor farmer is getting for actually growing the things.

Another reason I can't support that system.

Well consider this ... Currently you say that you charge $3.25 / lb. and plan a price increase next year for your chickens while the grocery stores sell theirs for $0.88. Since many people have fixed incomes , just how are they supposed to come up with an extra $2.37 / lb. plus ??? next spring just to purchase from you ? Then we ran into the " affordable health care plan " ... in our Clark County, Washington , reported in today's The Columbian newspaper that since the enrollment started an additional 57,000 people with $46,000 + / year income ( that is the threshold for Government [ you and me ] subsidy are now among the uninsured.. Prior their average premium was $450/ month, now the least expensive plans cost about $600 with higher co- pays and deductibles . Those that elect to not purchase the health plan will then have to pay a penalty. Or , those that elect to pay the new premiums will then have to apply for government welfare assistance ( again the funds will come out of your and mine pockets). In today's noon TV news, they reported that to date in the entire State of Oregon they have enrolled a grand total of ZERO people. How can any of these come up with your $2.37 / lb. ( plus ??? more come spring) extra just to buy from you. Also, many people who used to work 40hrs/ week at many small businesses are suddenly told that they can work under 30 hrs./ week and more often less than 20 hours per week and they are hiring additional part time workers to pick up the slack. My daughter worked full time -now works 8hrs./ day once a week, my son worked full time at the start of the year, now works 2 hrs./day 7 days a week and their health insurance is no longer provided by their employers . For the first time in their lives they have NO health insurance A N D to ask the State for WIK plus welfare to feed their kids. Just how are they and many more like them can come up with any extra money to pay an additional $2.37 ++ / lb. just to buy a chicken from you?

 

[LilRedRoo]

Bossroo - Perhaps the question you raised can be answered by rephrasing the topic of selling a meat bird for a high price per pound. An economically priced bird is still an option for anyone who wants it, and there's cetainly no expectation that anyone should feel pressured into paying the extra money for a bird from, for example, Buster52. The issue with backyard flocks boils down to two drivers. One is economies of scale, and the other is supply and demand.

For economy - It costs more per bird when you have to build your own coop, install electricity (an option, not a necessity), own land, purchase land, feed (difference in cost of certified or not), grow your own feed...than what it costs per bird to build a run that will house 75,000 birds all at once, times between 4-8 houses, and feed them the typical commercial feeds that they are fed. I won't get into what that is, but the reality is that there are extreme differences in economics. The end result though is that the producer is looking for a profit margin.

For demand - there are a lot of people who are willing to pay the extra cost to get a bird they trust. This takes into account the economies (why they'd purchase rather than rasie their own), and their own preferences of knowing what a chicken eats, and deciding whether they want to consume a bird that's fed any given ration. While many people certainly choose to purchase a broiler for about $8.00, there are also people who are willing to pay $20.00.

It's a personal choice. And for those who choose to pay a higher price for poultry raised a certain way, there are people willing to provide the product.

 

[Buster52]

Farmers deserve to make a living wage, just like anybody else. I make no apologies. People are free to pay my prices, or they are free to shop Walmart for lesser quality. Free choice. That's what's great about this country!

Just don't expect me to work for free.