You're getting there (close to starting up) , and please don't take offense to what folks have suggested. You are asking questions and folks are giving honest answers. Many of these folks have been there and done that. Me, I'm still learning.
Most of the folks here process their own birds if they are for sale. At least the most vocal ones do. So, without knowing what your processing costs are, you don't know what ALL of your costs are. Depending on the scale of business that you wish to take on, hiring out the processing may, or may not, make sense. If the cost of hiring out the processing takes away a good portion of your gross profit (Sales - (cost of chicks+feed+incedentals)), you may find that the convenience of having someone else process your birds doesn't allow sufficient profit to make it worthwhile when selling at the current market price.
To put it simply, baby sitting 200 birds for 8 weeks may not be worth $200-400 to you. Maybe it is. If, by processing those birds yourself you can boost that profit by $200-400 dollars, it might be worth it. Depends on how you value your time. How many hours did you spend getting them ready to harvest, and how much time would you need to work to process them yourself?
So do you have to process in an inspected facility in Michigan if you intend to sell them, and if so, is there a break point at which inspections are not needed, like under 1,000 birds?
I wish you the best of luck in your project.
Most of the folks here process their own birds if they are for sale. At least the most vocal ones do. So, without knowing what your processing costs are, you don't know what ALL of your costs are. Depending on the scale of business that you wish to take on, hiring out the processing may, or may not, make sense. If the cost of hiring out the processing takes away a good portion of your gross profit (Sales - (cost of chicks+feed+incedentals)), you may find that the convenience of having someone else process your birds doesn't allow sufficient profit to make it worthwhile when selling at the current market price.
To put it simply, baby sitting 200 birds for 8 weeks may not be worth $200-400 to you. Maybe it is. If, by processing those birds yourself you can boost that profit by $200-400 dollars, it might be worth it. Depends on how you value your time. How many hours did you spend getting them ready to harvest, and how much time would you need to work to process them yourself?
So do you have to process in an inspected facility in Michigan if you intend to sell them, and if so, is there a break point at which inspections are not needed, like under 1,000 birds?
I wish you the best of luck in your project.
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