Why do we do it, when you can pay someone?

[Milliemay]

Interesting replies. Here is how we look at it. Right now we have $4.64 in each bird, we will have to buy one more bag of feed, so by the time we are done feeding, the cost will be $4.81 a piece. If we had the Amish do it, by the time we would take all the birds, probably 2 different batches, pay for the ice you have to supply, then figure out where to put all the fresh birds to age, we would be well over $6 a bird. We live on a farm, so our time is always taken up somewhere, so processing is just another thing that needs to be done, and we do 10 at a time, age, then freeze, use ice that we have made ourselves, etc., and what a good example for our kids! They can grow up and tell their friends how much fun they DID NOT have butchering chickens. You know, like when we were kids and had to work in tobacco!

 

[wombat]

I think that's a good idea, Mille.

That's why I'll probably go ahead with the "do it yourself" routine at my friend's place, and take my kids along to "help" ... even if I'm only saving myself $3 an hour ...

Education is priceless.

 

[jaku]

I do it myself because I like doing it, having fun with friends/family. I'm also too cheap to pay, (it's $2/bird around here.) Then I also know the conditions they are processed in. But, $1.25 would be tough to pass up!

 

[TimG]

Quote:
Ken's Meat Processing in Biddeford is $4/bird.

Tabor's in North Berwick is a little less or a little more depending upon the size of the bird.

West Gardiner Beef is the other option I know about, but I don't know their price.

I'm curious about your co-op.

I think you can get around the state inspection issue if you sell live birds to your customers. It wouldn't matter if you transported them to the place of processing. Of course, this requires a bit of planning and wouldn't work so well for individual birds.

 

[fasbendera]

We did 183 this year and at $1.25 added to the price of feed and chicks it just adds one more cost and really my weekend is free. We have it down to a science now even how to raise the height of the tables so you don't get a sore back. We are lucky we have a crew that comes and cleans we are kind of a little chicken coop. You come help clean and you can take home fresh chicken for the cost of feed, bedding and birds. This year it was $4.25/bird end cost. That included the cost of the vacuum bags we used so not bad.

 

[Kev]

Gah.. like some, I WISH there was someone close who would process! Am alone, no slaves.. err I mean kids so when I process have to ALL by myself. Always have a very sore back at end of the day!

I am jealous you have the option at all! And that price, I'd be REALLY happy. My chickens are far more a hobby than anything else so personally am not at all concerned about "costs" or "getting payback" etc. Frankly... if there was a processor with that price near me, I would have hatched and raised twice as many chicks.. it's the "self processing" that pretty much stops me from raising more than now.

 

[becky3086]

Well, I have no idea what I could get them processed for. Never met anyone here who had them processed. There is a processor in town, I have seen people take their animals to but never saw anyone take chickens. Anyway, I wouldn't pay to have my chickens processed and I am slow doing mine. I find anyone who can do 22 in 2 days a super person, lol., because I sure can't but then there is only me, Phil kills them but I do all the rest. We grew up processing any poor chicken anyone would give us--we needed that food! so I guess I just don't see the point in having chickens for meat if I can't do it myself. That being said though, the $1.25 would be tempting, lol.

 

[hildymarie]

We are in the process of doing in our pteridactyls ourselves partly because we feel we need to learn this, we want to know they were dispatched with humanely and the only local people we know of charge at least four bucks apiece, maybe more this year. They are swamped too being probably the only ones for a couple of counties that we know of who do this as well as raise broilers themselves to sell. These are already expensive birds as we let them go way too long.
The hardest part is catching them, lifting them to be dealt with and we would have to do most of that anyhow to cage them to have someone else to do the final acts. Also we have no cages to transport them and besides, part of the idea is also to not stress them by catching them, caging them and driving them over 40 miles away only to sit and wait their turn amongst other cages of stressed birds. To do them onsite they have a very short period of real stress. Unless you count them seeing their buddies snatched, flipped upside down and carried off to the other side of the shed. It was only the last 3 that put up a major fuss about being caught. I think the last rooster to be caught was T-Rex. Talk about mean, he prolly never realized til the last minute that this was one situation he couldnt bully himself out of.
Ok,my mind wanders, anyhow, someone has to do it, why do half a job? We went thru all the hassle and cost of raising the ourselves we might as well do that part of it ourselves too.
If we had a hundred and could get it done for a buck and a quarter each I'd have to seriously think about it but would prolly still do it at home. We'd just sort the out and go from the biggest on down thru time. As it is we dont have that many this year so it is not big deal, just tiring.

 

[deerman]

I take mine to be processed. 50 chicken in 30 min. cost 2.00 each. Can easy spend the 3 hours it would take me. At work at overtime, easy to payed the processing fee.

My time ,can make more working if not tied down processing chickens.

I get my joy from raising them, sure dont enjoy all the work processing them.

 

[Southerngirl]

The main reasons we process our own are: we know what they were given to eat; they were happy and loved; free ranged and most important if it came down to survival I can can kill, clean and gut my own food in about 6-8 minutes. There are soo many people who could not fend for themselves in a time of disaster. I am not going to sit around waiting on the government to rescue me; I'll be making chicken soup over a warm fire .