Profitable Cornish Cross Project

[iwltfum]

And in fairness, it usually looks like the birds were butchered and dressed by some ogre using his bare fists

lol. They are machine processed. It's a disgusting thing to witness.

 

[Welllaidacres]

Almost nothing. I'm in a very poor area of the country (60% +/- below poverty level by US standards) and I am surrounded by commercial chicken farms - Tyson, ConAgra, Wayne Farms LLC, etc. The closest one isn't 1/4 mile away - and the worst of it? Half of them (at least) aren't currently even producing, because its not cost effective to do so. One of my local grocery stores routinely sells whole birds at $0.79/lb. Even offering premium birds (assuming my neighbors had the funds to purchase), that sets the floor so low that you would have to offer birds at $2.00, maybe $2.25 per pound to have any takers at all.

I can sell eggs at $2/doz though they get $3/ at the store, simply because so many of the neighbors have a couple chickens with their cows. LOTS of cows. No demand for premium birds.

Definitely a different area for sure. I'm in the middle of an extremelely rural corn and soybean area and the only large commercial livestock farms in the area are swine farms. Theres plenty of small farmers that sell freezer beef and pork (myself included), but no one really deals with poultry. When I set my $2.75 price, all I did was go to the local small town grocery store. Their price for a 5lb whole chicken was 2.25/lb. I decided I was worth 50 cents haha.

 

[Parront]

Current Ad - well, the relevant parts. And in fairness, it usually looks like the birds were butchered and dressed by some ogre using his bare fists, but even so... A Dozen eggs for $0.75? Fryer Breasts at $0.88? and pig under a $1...

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I do have to reply that at our local Walm*rt those prices are advertised. But at the Prescott Farmer's Market, grass fed beef sells, and for prices that keep the ranchers in business. $15.00/pound is about the going rate. He comes with a freezer, if it does not sell, he is OK with that and brings it back next Saturday. $5.00 for eggs at the farmer's mkt is standard. I pay my neighbor 3 and help her with her chores. Mine are too young to lay yet.
Do not go by the prices in the store. Every single one of our BYC are far better than the birds in the store. People who eat would love to eat them, if they only could! If I could buy a backyard chicken for $16.00, I would.
Weighing this guy a little while back, 1.25 pounds. Now They are just starting to crow and are going to dress out at about 1.5 pounds. Not to a lot of folks taste, but I can't wait!

 

[Parront]

Definitely a different area for sure. I'm in the middle of an extremelely rural corn and soybean area and the only large commercial livestock farms in the area are swine farms. Theres plenty of small farmers that sell freezer beef and pork (myself included), but no one really deals with poultry. When I set my $2.75 price, all I did was go to the local small town grocery store. Their price for a 5lb whole chicken was 2.25/lb. I decided I was worth 50 cents haha.

No wonder your get feed for so cheap! .33/pound for chick starter/grower here.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Eh, I'm a foodie. The difference between my production costs and my cost to purchase at the store I simply chalk up to "entertainment budget". There's a certain pride in feeding someone a meal that you raised, butchered, and prepared well - even when that someone is just yourself and your family. and the local market can't keep offering those prices and taking the loss forever, though they cover it with profit on other offerings.

Meanwhile, as I dial in my plot of land in terms of what I can grow, what I need to purchase, etc and my skills (and flock quality) increase, my costs just come down.

Still, seeing someone actually profit - not just think they did - on birds at not unreasonable prices. Its like a light at the end of a tunnel I'm not quite ready to go into yet.

Thanks again for this thread.

 

[Parront]

No matter the area, there are people who care about the food they eat.

a tunnel I'm not quite ready to go into yet.

 

[Welllaidacres]

I started selling my birds for $7/pound to tourists in the summer and have recently found a niche market of local residents that have been buying them at $5/pound for organic, pasture raised. You have to find some way to stand out among your competition. Barn raised birds, fed conventional feed is really no different than what the big guys are doing so you can't really expect anyone to pay anymore for them than the prices you would find at a chain grocery store unless they have a special place in their hearts for local business.

For locally grown poultry, there is essentially no competition. I can not think of anyone within a 40 mile radius doing this. I work in agriculture sales and am fairly well networked in the area because of that. I flat out cannot think of one outfit offering farm fresh birds in my area.

I gave the birds the option to go outside and use the grow out pen as the coop if you will. When the door was open, they had no desire to go outside. Finally i got tired of the risk of predation and trying to coax them out there. So instead I just shut the door to the outside. I would say my birds are vastly different to commercial farms. First off, this batch of birds averaged 3.5 square ft/ animal in the grow out pen. I plan to continue that. Find me any commercial poultry house that a lots that area to a chicken. I told all of my customers that my doors are open to them any time they would like to see the barn or their chickens. You will not find Tyson or the like offering that.

Our area is very good about supporting local. For example, our small town of 800 has a gas station, 2 hair salons, a furniture store, a hardware store, an appliance store, a flower shop, a bar, two restaurants, 3 insurance places, a coffee shop, two doctors offices, a gym/rec center, and a grocery store.

I am not knocking finding niche markets in the slightest. That's great that you can sell your birds for that price. However, That wouldn't work in my area. The nearest urban area where i may be able to capitalize on that is an hour away. Personally, I don't believe organics to be any safer or healthier than GMO products. Most of my customers are farmers of GMO corn and soybeans themselves. If i tried selling organic or even non GMO fed chickens, I would likely lose some of these orders.

 

[Parront]

The nearest urban area where i may be able to capitalize on that is an hour away.

Here in Prescott AZ, a big city, Phoenix, is less than 2 hours drive. I started an AirBnB in the 100-year-old bunkhouse on our property and it is full every weekend with city people who want to see chickens. (And get out of the heat in the mountains). They will drive out to your place, and pay to stay.

 

[iwltfum]

For locally grown poultry, there is essentially no competition. I can not think of anyone within a 40 mile radius doing this. I work in agriculture sales and am fairly well networked in the area because of that. I flat out cannot think of one outfit offering farm fresh birds in my area.

I gave the birds the option to go outside and use the grow out pen as the coop if you will. When the door was open, they had no desire to go outside. Finally i got tired of the risk of predation and trying to coax them out there. So instead I just shut the door to the outside. I would say my birds are vastly different to commercial farms. First off, this batch of birds averaged 3.5 square ft/ animal in the grow out pen. I plan to continue that. Find me any commercial poultry house that a lots that area to a chicken. I told all of my customers that my doors are open to them any time they would like to see the barn or their chickens. You will not find Tyson or the like offering that.

Our area is very good about supporting local. For example, our small town of 800 has a gas station, 2 hair salons, a furniture store, a hardware store, an appliance store, a flower shop, a bar, two restaurants, 3 insurance places, a coffee shop, two doctors offices, a gym/rec center, and a grocery store.

I am not knocking finding niche markets in the slightest. That's great that you can sell your birds for that price. However, That wouldn't work in my area. The nearest urban area where i may be able to capitalize on that is an hour away. Personally, I don't believe organics to be any safer or healthier than GMO products. Most of my customers are farmers of GMO corn and soybeans themselves. If i tried selling organic or even non GMO fed chickens, I would likely lose some of these orders.

All that's well and good - I'm just trying to give the best pointers I can as someone who has also started two different small-scale poultry businesses in two different states in less than ideal conditions.

I live outside a rural town as well, with 300 residents, no grocery store within an hour travel, no stop lights, one gas pump, one restaurant - a pizza place that's only open between June and September, and a seasonal gift shop (i'm not trying to have a competition by stating this, just trying to draw a comparison). People told me I wouldn't be able to sell chickens the way I was doing it because of the exact reasons you just outlined. I say go with your principles every time - which are obviously different than mine, and rightly so.

I know your birds were better taken care of and managed than they would have been in a commercial poultry house, but if the commercial industry was that bad at taking care of chickens, they would not have a monopoly on the chicken industry - they have spent decades perfecting the barn system and know their limits and they are currently changing many of their ways to suit an increasingly more knowledgeable consumer base.

That's awesome that local business is a priority to your customers. Maybe your way of standing out is your localness. To be a face that sells chickens directly to the customer and also the face of the person that feeds and tends the birds is unique on its own.

 

[Compost King]

I process the birds that my wife and I eat, but i have a yardbird plucker and an 8x10 meat cooler on the property. All the dirty work is done outside and the clean work in the 35 degree cooler. my problem is I shiver when I work not sweat haha. These birds I hauled to a processor since I was selling them and want to be legal. Plus 40 birds and now 125 would be way too much work for me on my own haha. I drop the birds at the processor around 8 am and by 2 pm they are ready for bagged, chilled, and ready for pickup. Having same day pickup is nice. I just spend a few hours running errands and grab my birds before heading back home.

I actually do the dirty work inside but I skin my birds and part them out. I just have the killing cone outside and the rest is done in my kitchen. Its still as hot (if not hotter if the crock pot is going) in my kitchen. I do not AC the kitchen my ferments turn out better if I keep it hot in there. I do it in the kitchen because there are too many flies outside