Trying To Make Money On Meat Birds

[Organic Acres]

I raise meat birds, broilers, just for my own consumption. I buy broiler eggs and hatch them myself to ensure I don't bring new diseases onto my farm from the hatchery. i grow 40 to 50 broilers at a time.

To feed them, I just produce my own organic feed. I grow oats, wheat, barley and corn on my field. I buy non-GMO organic soybean meal in blocks of 400 pounds at a time to get it for cheap (this much lasts for a couple of years).

I then mix the oats and wheat and barley together, grind the corn so it's in quite big pieces (not ground finely) and then prepare the home mix food in the following way:

1 part soybean meal
1 part rough ground corn
3 parts oat/wheat/barley mix (note: I grind this too, but not finely)

this gives me a feed with a high spectrum of minerals and vitamins, and about 25% protein - which is plenty for broilers.

I then put them in a mobile chicken trailer that I can move to fresh pasture every day or two (by hand, it's a light trailer), so that they can get additional nutrition from the pasture.

this works great, costs almost nothing per bird other than my labor time, and produces fabulous birds. I can't imagine going to the shop and buying a commercially raised chicken.

 

[BugGuy]

Making my first foray into meat birds this summer. I can get corn screenings (which looks like fine cracked corn) for $95 a ton. I plan on mixing that with $13 (50lb bag) feed and see what happens. I'm hoping to keep my feed costs down to around $5 a bird. It looks good on paper using 20lbs of feed to get a bird to slaughter weight, but we'll see.

 

[Organic Acres]

Meat birds have different protein requirements than free-range layers do, and their diet needs to be more specially formulated if they don't have access to pasture (most likely a vitamin/mineral supplement). Note that if they do have access to pasture it should be in a trailer that can be moved around, as if you let therm range over a large area they run around a lot and get too muscled, which means less tender meat. The broilers that I grew the first year were extremely good foragers and roamed far and wide, furiously pecking and scratching and digging up worms, etc. The meat was tasty but not as tender as I would have liked.

The thing about commercial feed, especially if it's not certified organic, is that you don't know what they put in it. Usually it has preservatives, medication, chemicals and pesticide residues from when they grew the various ingredients, and sometimes even antibiotics or hormones or both. I don't see much point in raising birds myself using store bought food, when the resulting meat has just as many uncertainties regarding what's in it as the meat you can buy from the supermarket.

I suppose it depends on your goals. I want chicken meat that I can feed to my kids and know that they are eating pure, chemical free and medication/antibiotic/hormone free meat that is actually good for them, and is composed of the same ingredients that my grandparents grew up on prior to the industrialization of farming.

The diet that I describe above for broilers is based on a few years of intense research, a lot of trial and error, and wide consultation with other members on this site and around the country.

This is the same diet I give my layers in the winter when pasture access is limited, along with grated veges from time to time, and then in the summer I just remove the soybean meal and corn (they don't need the additional protein and energy when they are summer-ranging as they catch a lot of insects) and keep everything else the same. Note that I give them on-demand crushed oyster shells too.

Even if cost is the main issue, it really will be cheaper to buy a 100 pound bag of wheat, one of barely and one of oats, and a 50 pound bag of corn, then grind them roughly yourself and buy also a 50 pound bag of organic soybean meal, and then use these ingredients to formulate your own feed.

So long as you or someone you know has a large or medium sized grinder or grain chopper (my very helpful neighbor has one), formulating this feed yourself will be way cheaper than buying pre-made food and requires maybe an hour's work once a month to pre-make the feed in large batches.

The best option, of course, is to grow your own corn and grain, if possible. If this is not possible but one of your neighbors grows grains and corn, you can usually swing a deal to buy a few sacks of grain off them.

 

[kerriholley]

Just came across your post... we are trying to do the same in oklahoma and we decided to invest in some infrastructure for future years by purchasing 55 gallon water barrels with the latch lids. then we put them on a palette and have the feed store fill them. then take the tractor and lift out of the truck back at the ranch. we can do 3 55 gallon barrels at a time that way... hope that helps...

 

[LindaB220]

Just came across your post... we are trying to do the same in oklahoma and we decided to invest in some infrastructure for future years by purchasing 55 gallon water barrels with the latch lids. then we put them on a palette and have the feed store fill them. then take the tractor and lift out of the truck back at the ranch. we can do 3 55 gallon barrels at a time that way... hope that helps...

Good for you. I wish I could do that in La but feed store is too little. I like the idea of storing in water barrels. I made the mistake of sending my SIL to the store to buy me a flat trash barrel and he came home with a cheapo one on wheels. The kind that raccoons love to open and sample.

 

[Organic Acres]

One thing I learned this year, is that broilers don't gain weight well when it's cold, if they are outside. when I say "cold", I don't mean "real" winter cold, I mean they don't do well even when it's 18 degrees C (64 F) or less. They would not survive at all in sub zero weather the way that laying chickens can, because their feathers are not developed fully even at slaughter time so they have no real defense against "real" cold until they are at least 16 weeks - and by then they won't be any good to you because they will be too old to taste good.

I hatched the eggs Feb 21st, had them outside in the chicken trailer by third week of March. Much earlier than I usually do. it didn't work out well.

They are now going into their 12th week, but are still not carrying much fat and are not as heavy as usual. I'm going to have to slaughter them this weekend because after 12 weeks they'll start dropping dead. Using my food mix I can usually slaughter them at 9 to 10 weeks. 12 weeks is the absolute maximum.

Just out of curiosity, I checked the ingredients on some organic broiler feed this week, and found that the main staple ingredients are very similar to my formulation. They list Corn, Soybean meal, Rye and Wheat, and then small amounts of dried peas and broad beans, and then vitamins and minerals. So essentially the same thing as my homemade stuff, except that I use Barley instead of rye (barley is more nutritious, I checked), plus I don't give them peas or broad beans, and I let them forage on small pieces of pasture for their vitamins and stuff. I did some research for carb content and fats and sugar in their product vs mine, and found that actually my feed, because of the oats and higher ratio of wheat and barley and oats over the corn, has higher energy AND sugar levels than their feed does, meaning a higher net energy content. Plus, their feed is only 21% protein, whereas mine is more like 26% or more.

Also, the feed that I make costs me about 18 dollars for 200 pounds, but this organic stuff is 74 Euros for 100 kilos, which is about 100 US dollars for 200 pounds. it's literally 5 times more expensive, for the same thing, actually with slightly lower fat, sugars and carbs, and thus lower total energy content!!

Anyway, I won't try to raise broilers in cold spring weather again, as they used up too much energy staying warm and now have smaller body weights and less fat than I expected. I already ate one a few weeks ago to see how it was, it was a bit tough and scrawny.

My next batch I will hatch out on June 10th so they won't be cold at night.

 

[LindaB220]

One thing I learned this year, is that broilers don't gain weight well when it's cold, if they are outside. when I say "cold", I don't mean "real" winter cold, I mean they don't do well even when it's 18 degrees C (64 F) or less. They would not survive at all in sub zero weather the way that laying chickens can, because their feathers are not developed fully even at slaughter time so they have no real defense against "real" cold until they are at least 16 weeks - and by then they won't be any good to you because they will be too old to taste good.

I hatched the eggs Feb 21st, had them outside in the chicken trailer by third week of March. Much earlier than I usually do. it didn't work out well.

They are now going into their 12th week, but are still not carrying much fat and are not as heavy as usual. I'm going to have to slaughter them this weekend because after 12 weeks they'll start dropping dead. Using my food mix I can usually slaughter them at 9 to 10 weeks. 12 weeks is the absolute maximum.

Just out of curiosity, I checked the ingredients on some organic broiler feed this week, and found that the main staple ingredients are very similar to my formulation. They list Corn, Soybean meal, Rye and Wheat, and then small amounts of dried peas and broad beans, and then vitamins and minerals. So essentially the same thing as my homemade stuff, except that I use Barley instead of rye (barley is more nutritious, I checked), plus I don't give them peas or broad beans, and I let them forage on small pieces of pasture for their vitamins and stuff. I did some research for carb content and fats and sugar in their product vs mine, and found that actually my feed, because of the oats and higher ratio of wheat and barley and oats over the corn, has higher energy AND sugar levels than their feed does, meaning a higher net energy content. Plus, their feed is only 21% protein, whereas mine is more like 26% or more.

Also, the feed that I make costs me about 18 dollars for 200 pounds, but this organic stuff is 74 Euros for 100 kilos, which is about 100 US dollars for 200 pounds. it's literally 5 times more expensive, for the same thing, actually with slightly lower fat, sugars and carbs, and thus lower total energy content!!

Anyway, I won't try to raise broilers in cold spring weather again, as they used up too much energy staying warm and now have smaller body weights and less fat than I expected. I already ate one a few weeks ago to see how it was, it was a bit tough and scrawny.

My next batch I will hatch out on June 10th so they won't be cold at night.

Good to have you here. I'm interested in your mix. Wheat, barley and oats. What do you use? Steamed crimped oats? My chickens will not eat whole oats even when I soaked and fermented them. I wondered if you use crimped? I also bought a bag of Azomite rock dust that has 70 something minerals in it and they suggest 1 T per 5 gallon bucket for fermented feed.

 

[JessicaThistle]

What should wheat cost per pound? I found a person local that is selling some for 20 cents per pound. I am not sure if $20 for 100 lbs is a good price or not. Can you advise? I do live in Oregon, so that may make a difference as well.

 

[LindaB220]

What should wheat cost per pound? I found a person local that is selling some for 20 cents per pound. I am not sure if $20 for 100 lbs is a good price or not. Can you advise? I do live in Oregon, so that may make a difference as well.

For up there I'd say terrific.

 

[Organic Acres]

Linda B220: My layers eat whole oats, but I grow (and buy also) the hull-less kind whenever possible because the chickens like them more and waste less when eating as a result. However, for the broilers although I mix sand and crushed oyster shells together at a rate of 50/50 to give them calcium and minerals plus some fine grit (they eat this mix on demand), I still don't give them whole grain. I make the mix that I described earlier in this thread, the wheat and barley and oats and corn I run thru my neighbor's electric grain chopper, so that each grain is milled such that it's about 3 or max 4 smaller pieces. Not dust, just smaller pieces than a whole grain. For vitamins and minerals, I give them vitamins in their water only for the first three weeks. After that, the corn/wheat/oats/barley/soybean meal mix provides them with all that they need, especially considering that they are on a small, fresh piece of pasture each day. If they were confined indoors, then I would give them a powdered vitamin/mineral mix but they are much better off outside on real grass with real sunshine giving them vitamin D.

Jessicathistle: When I buy wheat, or barley or oats, I pay usually around 55 PLN per 50 KG sack, which is about 18 dollars for 100 pounds. Corn on average costs me around 20 dollars for 100 pounds. these prices are for the off season, it's a little less during the harvest months. It costs me a little less than half that when I grow it myself, because I grow large quantities on the field. So, here in Europe at least if I can buy grain for around 18 cents a pound that would be a reasonable market price. 20 cents per pound is a little high but might be ok if you live a long way away from a grain growing area.

Note, my 38 broilers this time around, between the 4th and 9th week, ate about 100 pounds of food a week. this is about 20% more than they usually eat and their gains were very disappointing. Again, I believe this is due to the cold temperatures. This first batch of broilers this year is a big loss, even though they are not for sale. Considering that a whole organic bird costs around 14 dollars in the shop in the US, I could have bought 25 whole certified organic chickens for the amount of money I spent on feed (if I lived in the US, here in Poland they are much more expensive than that) - all because I started them too early in the year.

live and learn, I guess.