Meat birds by the numbers

After the butchering was done, we had an opportunity to compile our costs, weigh the birds and look at some statistics.  It's always a good thing to look at our costs year by year and try and figure out ways to do things a little better.  Making things more efficient and cost-effective - it's what we try to do.  We made a few notes of improvements for the next batch of birds.

Nice looking birds

Dates:

• Day we purchased the birds:    12/3/2012 (They were two days old when they got to our house)
• Day we slaughtered birds:        02/9/2013
• Days old at slaughter:               69 days old or 9.86 weeks old

Costs:

• Purchased 50 birds at $0.40 per bird:   $20.00
• Waterer                                                   4.80
• Propane                                                 10.00
• Heat Lamp Bulbs                                   13.00
• Fencing                                                  20.00
• Ziploc bags                                              5.00
• Feed (14 Fifty pound bags @ $17.48)  244.72

Total Cost:                                                    $317.42

We lost 3 birds out of the 50 birds due to drowning in a rain storm, so we had a 6% mortality rate.  This could have been prevented with a little forethought and planning.

• Total cost per bird:                                            $  6.76
• Feed consumed per bird:                                     14.89 lbs
• Feed cost per bird:                                            $  5.21
• Feed cost per pound:                                         $  0.35

Total Cornish Cross meat birds carcass weight:      210.75 lbs total for 47 birds
Average weight of Cornish Cross meat birds carcass: 4.48 lbs  (exclude giblets)
Total cost per pound                                             $   1.51

Comparison: (from an Internet Search 02/11/2013)

• Normal price Wal Mart cost per pound              $   1.78 (not the same bird - ours is a pastured bird that is hormone free, antibiotic free)
• Sale price at Wal Mart cost per pound               $   0.99
• Normal price Trader Joe's cost per pound          $   2.49 (organic bird)

Homegrown Chicken

Conclusion:
You cannot raise your own birds for the price that Wal Mart sells them when they are on sale.  Their selling price is less than our cost.  Kind of amazing when you think about the transportation involved and overhead and labor costs that Wal Mart has in bringing that chicken to your grocery cart.  I didn't even factor in my labor to the total costs.  Wal Mart's chicken producers are operating under economies of scale.  Remember that from your college Economics class?  They move such a huge volume of birds, they enjoy volume discounts on feed and most other input costs that we could never even attempt to match.  While you can never compete with them on price, you most definitely can on quality.

To be completely honest, the Wal Mart bird and my bird are two separate creatures.  It's an apples to oranges comparison.  Our Maker's Acres birds lived out on grass under sunshine and fresh air.  The Wal Mart bird lived out his life in a confined space inside a building - a smelly building.  He also had hormones and antibiotics pumped into him.  Our birds never saw hormones or antibiotics.  In comparing to an organic bird at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, our birds are a little cheaper.  The fact of the matter is that real food - wholesome food costs more than the factory chicken you find at your typical grocery store.  We should be discriminating with things we put in our bodies and I'm pretty sure I don't want growth hormones and antibiotics and pathogens that are potentially in the factory fowl. 

I'm biased, but I just like our birds better.  If ease and price is what you are looking for, Wal Mart is the place for you.  We like knowing when we sit down at the supper table, that the meat on our plate was raised right here on our farm and we know from Day 2 to Day 69 everything about him - the food he ate, the life he lived, how he was treated, the fact that he had no medicines or hormones added to his feed or body, and the sanitary conditions in which he lived and died.  To us, those are some intangibles that are hard to put a price to.  Not to mention the fact that our birds taste doggone good.  As the Zac Brown Band sings, I like a little bit of Chicken Fried! (Even better when it's our chicken)