A 'math' lesson on meat birds

[TomK]

hi folks.. thought i would work out the cost of raising my meat birds this time around and share so people who might be interested in giving it a go have a baseline to go on.
Yesterday was D-Day for my birds and I shared my time with @Killerbunny and an awesome gal running a mobile processing business. Keep in mind, using this kind of service makes selling the birds illegal....grrrrr...another topic that grates my one remaining good nerve.
Anyway, I raised 25 day old white rock chicks to almost 3 months and then freezer camp. Not quite 90$ for the chicks taxes in. A bag of medicated chick starter followed by 200 kg of chick grower from my local mill. Every evening i let the chicks out to free range and relocate the chicken tractor to fresh ground. During the process, I lost two chicks early so i was down to 24 as they sent 26 on the 25 chick order.
To summarize..$23 for starter, $127 for grower, $13.50 for ice at processing, $ 200 for mobile processor and $90 for the chicks. And 24 5-7 lb birds in the freezer.
Keep in mind, thats just the out and out cash outlay. If you process your own then of course that cost isn't in there. But you need a robust pen which involves bedding costs. I only had the chicks in the brooder pen til they were capable of being in the tractor. Then no bedding costs. But you need tho build the tractor so there is that.
It got costly, and if i had a chicken plucking machine i would process them myself and save that cash but i don't. In my case, the nearest abattoir is 1.5 hours away so it is problematic to go that route and highly stressful on the birds anyway.
So each bird cost me $19 in total cash in this case. At 6 lbs average thats a little over $3 per lb.
The birds lived a good, albeit short, life, ate good quality food and met their end quickly and humanely. I know what I am eating, where it came from and at 3 bucks a pound I think a pretty good deal all in all. And as usual, my labour during the process is 'free'....lol.
Thanks @Killerbunny for the company. It turned out to be a very worthwhile morning.

[Ontario Chick]

Thanks for taking the time to post that, I wish there was a mobile processing available when we had our meat birds, the transport to a processing plant was the absolutely worse part of the process.
The filling of the freezer the best, although I found it was too many birds for aging in the fridge and to freeze fast enough in one home freezer, the feeling of reaching in to the freezer in January and pulling out one of your own birds to cook was certainly enough of a reward for all that "free" labor :)

[TomK]

@Ontario Chick ...this gal is in Perth...only 20 minutes away..the setup fee varies in distance and number of birds and at present she charges $6 per bird...there were these types of services back when i lived in North Gower area and the chickens were deemed saleable but then the Gov't stepped in and deemed it unsanitary...I am sure that there were some unsavory types operating but wouldnt a business inspection and licensing system serve the public better?...I think this has to do with big business trying to get 100% of the market share rather than public safety..

[Killerbunny]

SHe was great. Incredibly clean and careful. Turkeys would have been $8 per bird and totally worth it for the way the birds were handled with minimal noise and stress. I say "would have been" because one lucky lady of the 4 cull turkey hens went home with her to see if she can brood some eggs ?next year LOL! I learnt a few things about processing too. Good day (for us) nice to see @TomK too.

[Killerbunny]

Oh and for the record I am just frying up some chicken and turkey skin from the ones I parted out - YUM!

[beavertail meadows]

$8 for cooked chicken at grocer unknown?????

[TomK]

$8 for cooked chicken at grocer unknown?????

?????..ya got me

[Ontario Chick]

$8 for cooked chicken at grocer unknown?????

I think it was $ 8 for processing.......

@ $3 lb for a free range chicken, well worth the "elbow grease" :)

[baronrenfrew]

for reference there is two mobile processors that operate near Renfrew/ Pembroke

[lolotsung]

Thanks @TomK is there a big difference in taste compared with a grocery store bought $10 BBQ chicken? This is worth the extra cost eg. Aero bar $1 or a dark chocolate Truffle $3. Right?