Pricing for whole chickens

[BBQJOE]

I'm thinking about setting up a second coop for some of those fast growing meat birds.
I haven't decided on a breed yet, but I've seen MM offer some that are ready really quickly.

What can a person charge for a whole bird per pound? How about dressed verses undressed?

Is it even worth it for selling to locals?

 

[Bridebeliever]

The average price seems to be $3.00 per pound. You could specialize in selling birds raised on a soy free diet and go to $4.50 per pound. Cornish X seems to be the easy bird of choice to begin with! I highly reccommend that people look into feeding a soy free fermented feed diet. The birds will be healthier and you will save on feed cost in consumption and waste!

Here's a great thread to read about that!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds

 

[donrae]

I'd start slow and see how your market is. Some places have a strong local food market and folks are willing to pay for that. Some places, you run against the "I can get that chicken at Wal-mart for $1/lb" and you can't move birds for any profit. You'll just have to see what your market can support. I do see pricing in the $3-3.50/lb range for pastured chickens.

 

[blucoondawg]

I sold some this year for 3 bucks a lb they were red rangers and pioneers, I didn't keep track of it but I probably barely broke even if that because they ate a lot but that was my fault for feeding free choice rather than feeding once a day and letting them free range the rest. I did the processing too, I'm gonna do it again this year and keep a closer eye on the feed and money and see how it goes, I would think the Cornish x birds would be a better option due to the shorter grow out time and people on general are more familiar with that body shape and flavor or lack of flavor I should say

 

[JetCat]

here in South East Alabama there are several stores that sell whole chickens for 88¢ a lb so there's not a lot of people who'd pay 3 bucks a pound, but there are a few it's just not a big market, could be different in your location.

 

[Weehopper]

Yup. And you should figure in what your labor is worth. Time is money, so to speak.

 

[Bridebeliever]

Yes, there are plenty of people (most of the population) that want to buy a $4-$5 bird from the grocery store. But there is a growing movement of people that are quite willing to pay $15 for a bird that has been raised in a healthy and humane environment. You have to determine if you are in an area with many of these people. You could start with a post on Craigslist and a visit to your local farmers market to see if you are in such an area.

Don't underestimate the consumer that wants a chicken raised on a soy free diet either! This is becoming more and more prevalent as many more people are finding they are so sensitive to soy that they can't even eat an animal that has had soy.

 

[blucoondawg]

Craigslist is a good suggestion, I see a good number of posts each spring and summer for pre orders on meat birds, post price per lb and whether or not butchering will be included. I would take a down payment to ensure minimal amount of people who forget about their order or back out. I wouldn't buy a bunch of chicks without any idea how many orders your will have, get preorders or start small, if you gain more interest you can always do additional batches cx don't take long to grow out. The only reason I did it is one of my egg customers asked me too and since doing it for him I've had a few others ask about it. None of these people are wealthy so to speak but they make a decent living and prefer to buy as much food as possible locally, that will only get more popular especially with chicken being produced in China and the government wanting to eliminate the labeling of origin of food products.

You can't worry about Walmart shoppers who prefer to go buy their 99 cent eggs and 88 cent chicken, those people either don't care where their food comes from or don't have enough income to justify a more expensive option. Don't worry about trying to get these folks to buy your chicken because they will look at you like you are stupid when you tell them your price. I got plenty of shocked looks for my egg prices at 2.50 per dozen, I say if you don't like it don't buy it, I have no problem selling all my eggs especially now that store prices are ridiculous.

 

[BBQJOE]

We have a bunch of neighbors who also live off the grid above us. I know at least one couple who raises chickens for eggs but not meat. He told me he might be interested in meat birds. He's the hunter type of person, so I'm sure he could clean his own bird.

The things I'm thinking are these.
A trip to the grocery for us is 100 mi RT. More for them.
At say, 5-6 lbs I'd have to get at least $25 a bird. Personally, I don't think I'd pay that. Even more if I get those beasts that get closer to 8 or 9lbs.
All I have for freezer space is a regular 19 cf fridge/freezer.
I kinda like the idea of pre-taking orders though.
I'd like to have some meat birds, but if my RIR's start throwing chicks, that would probably be more than enough for the wife and I.
I really don't need all the extra work for a couple dollars over cost, but it would be fun to contribute something to the community, and also if SHTF, it might be something to barter.

Somebody tip the scales for me one way or another, thank you.

 

[blucoondawg]

If the shtf your out of luck anyways unless you can still order chicks because the meat birds don't breed true. If you want truly sustainable you need to go with more heritage breeds but if you want to make a few bucks the meat birds are probably the only way to go.
Honestly at 3 bucks a lb for those rangers I think that's cheap for including processing, many ads on craigslist sell for 3 bucks then also take birds in to be processed, which the only plant here that does poultry charges 3 bucks a bird, extra for cutting it up and extra for special packaging, so at 3 dollars a lb I basically did the processing for free. I don't mind because it's a friend of mine but if I get bigger I need to keep better track and figure out if it really pays.

I wouldn't want to raise birds to be 8 or 9lbs, people are used to chicken options bring from a 3 to 5 lb chicken, growing them super large is going to cost an unnecessary amount of money in feed which you will have a harder time recovering