Why meat birds?

[ChickenThunderdome]

First off this is not being asked in a judgmental way, we all love chicken.(Heck I had a chicken sandwich for dinner and we have 20 egg laying chickens).

But I gotta ask why spend $2-3 on a chick, who knows how much money in electricity, food, bedding, coop, run and all the other costs only to slaughter the chicken, then have to clean it and cook it.

Vs going to Sams Club or your local grocery and getting an already cooked full chicken for $5-6 each.

I'm guessing because you know exactly whats going into the chicken? Wanting to get educated here as I know there's a ton of people that raise broiler/meat chickens and we're clearly missing something?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mrs. K]

I like to fiddle around, and I love growing my own food. Garden, chickens first for eggs, and occasional bird to eat. I was not that impressed with dual purpose meat. I got a new coop/run... and there was the older, smaller set up empty.

I did 15 meat birds, raised them all, and really think that it is pretty tasty. But do I save money, no, is it with pride, I put this on the table, yes. It is my hobby.

 

[Compost King]

Sure it costs less to buy meat at Walmart, its also less expensive to buy their eggs than it is to raise my own egg layers. It costs way less to buy peppers there than It does to produce them in a garden too especially if you count your labor as a commodity. I do these things to have the skills to feed myself which is starting to slip away from humanity as the world is all automated and industrialized.

 

[Henriettamom919]

A friend of mine does meat chickens and yes, it's a lot of work. She shared a few stories/videos with me of meat chicken production facilities and now I buy chicken from her whenever I can. Once you know where your food is coming from and how it's treated its hard to unring that bell.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I don't raise meat birds and haven't eaten any of my birds but I've eaten plenty that others have raised.
There's probably a few reasons. Like you mentioned some like to know what has went into the chicken they eat.
Others like the other poster mentioned don't want to support factory farming and/or take satisfaction in providing for their families.
For me it boils down to one thing....TASTE.
Like almost anything if it comes from someone raising it on small scale and caring about how it is raised it shows in the taste.
I'm sure you've noticed a difference in the taste of your eggs compared to those dull yellow yolk store bought eggs. No comparison right?
I can tell you the difference in meat is even more noticeable.

 

[Henriettamom919]

For me it boils down to one thing....TASTE.
Like almost anything if it comes from someone raising it on small scale and caring about how it is raised it shows in the taste.
I'm sure you've noticed a difference in the taste of your eggs compared to those dull yellow yolk store bought eggs. No comparison right?
I can tell you the difference in meat is even more noticeable.

YES! It seems everything "homegrown" is like eating the store bought version with extra *fillintheblankflavor* added. Home kept hens lay eggs that have a stronger egg flavor, homegrown cattle is like store bought but with extra beef flavor. Everything just tastes better and richer, somehow.

 

[LilyD]

In part you are right I know what's going into my meat and another large part of it for me is I know these guys are being raised humanely and being given the best I can give them including the very end. We have all seen the videos of how horrible the conditions are in the chicken houses where they raise commercial chickens and how they are treated at the end. I think if I want humanely raised food that is fed quality diet I need to do the raising and processing to make sure they are getting the absolute best I can give them beginning to end.

 

[Mimi13]

My best analogy is a store bought tomato vs a homegrown tomato. The difference is astounding. It’s like eating two different things.

 

[sourland]

Known treatment of the birds and taste of the end product ring my bell.

 

[Morrigan]

In part you are right I know what's going into my meat and another large part of it for me is I know these guys are being raised humanely and being given the best I can give them including the very end. We have all seen the videos of how horrible the conditions are in the chicken houses where they raise commercial chickens and how they are treated at the end. I think if I want humanely raised food that is fed quality diet I need to do the raising and processing to make sure they are getting the absolute best I can give them beginning to end.

My thoughts exactly. Also, it can be fairly cost efficient to raise your own. My first year, I tracked all the soft costs -- chicks, shipping, feed and bedding -- and came out to about $1.7 per pound which is an OK price for any chicken and a steal for a so-called free-range supermarket chicken. I fermented their feed, they had access to a large yard to forage in, and got a lot of garden produce tossed in, so that helped. We also do our own butchering, so there was no added costs there.