Noreen Claire Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 If you buy/sell local, pasture-raised, organically-fed, whole chickens (Cornish roasters, to be exact) from a local farm, about how much do you pay/charge per pound? I would like to start buying from local farms more often (chicken, beef, pork - we already have local milk delivery) but I'm not sure if I can justify the expense. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
school17777 Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 I just looked at the price for the closet farm to me and a whole chicken is $4.75/lb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noreen Claire Posted May 15, 2017 Author Share Posted May 15, 2017 I just looked at the price for the closet farm to me and a whole chicken is $4.75/lb Thanks. Local-ish to me is $5.75/lb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 We are close to $6. I buy 1/4 pastured cow and pig but I can't afford the chickens. It's crazy! We are thinking of just growing our own. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airforcefamily Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Chickens I pay $3/lb for whole pastured birds. They're so expensive that I only use them for soup when the bones will be simmered for hours. For everyday meals I get less expensive chicken in bulk. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom@shiloh Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 We've raised meat birds and sold them in small amounts. When I checked for local prices, $3/lb was the best deal I could find so that's what we sold ours for. I think that's pretty expensive, but we were able to sell all of ours. To be quite honest, I wouldn't pay that much. I don't think it's worth it. Why do you want to do it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSNative Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 We are close to $6. I buy 1/4 pastured cow and pig but I can't afford the chickens. It's crazy! We are thinking of just growing our own. Have you considered raising meat rabbits? So much easier than chickens. We use rabbit instead of chicken because the taste is similar enough. (Though rabbot tastes better imo) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Honestly if you're wanting to buy local, I would concentrate on "organic" less and "local, pasture raised" more. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to truly be considered an organic outfit and a lot of people don't want to deal with it on the certification. Here it's in the $5-6 per pound for a certified bird last I checked. But with the price of the feed and everything else, they can command it. Organic feed is much more expensive, and feed prices vary by locality. We raise our own chickens and although at first I wanted to be all about the "organic" it just wasn't worth it. I'm with mom@shiloh- it's just too pricey and no one want to pay that long term. Plus, when you're buying chicken fed organic feed made from Purina Mills, does organic give you the same feeling that you thought it would......ifywim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noreen Claire Posted May 15, 2017 Author Share Posted May 15, 2017 Honestly if you're wanting to buy local, I would concentrate on "organic" less and "local, pasture raised" more. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to truly be considered an organic outfit and a lot of people don't want to deal with it on the certification. Here it's in the $5-6 per pound for a certified bird last I checked. But with the price of the feed and everything else, they can command it. Organic feed is much more expensive, and feed prices vary by locality. We raise our own chickens and although at first I wanted to be all about the "organic" it just wasn't worth it. I'm with mom@shiloh- it's just too pricey and no one want to pay that long term. Plus, when you're buying chicken fed organic feed made from Purina Mills, does organic give you the same feeling that you thought it would......ifywim? These chickens aren't organic, just 'organically-fed". This was just the first place that I found semi-local. I'm going to keep looking. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Have you considered raising meat rabbits? So much easier than chickens. We use rabbit instead of chicken because the taste is similar enough. (Though rabbot tastes better imo) Interesting, I hadn't thought about it. We have laying hens, and they are pretty easy, so we assumed the roasters would be as well (just need to construct a chicken tractor). Plus they only live 8-10 weeks, right? We have gobs of rabbits on our property. Open up a door or drive up the driveway and they scatter everywhere! Where do you purchase rabbits from for raising? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Marmalade Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 DH has a co-worker who raised chickens and sells them to us for about $25 a pop. They are huge birds! 7-8 pounds for sure. Every once in a while there will be one a little bigger. They make the best chicken stock and roasted chicken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 $3.50lb up from $3.25lb last year. Turkey is the same. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSNative Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 Interesting, I hadn't thought about it. We have laying hens, and they are pretty easy, so we assumed the roasters would be as well (just need to construct a chicken tractor). Plus they only live 8-10 weeks, right? We have gobs of rabbits on our property. Open up a door or drive up the driveway and they scatter everywhere! Where do you purchase rabbits from for raising? You can look online. 4H clubs will often have contacts for you. We actually got ours off a homeschool site. As with chickens you have the initial investment for equipment. We started with a three hole hutch and got 2 does and 1 buck. We got New Zealands to start with and have added Californians. They are super low maintenance - especially if you make the rabbit watering system detailed here. Its a fun project with kids and fyi - flex seal spray is your friend. lol. http://theadventurebite.com/rabbit-watering-system/ Rabbits are quiet and their poop doesnt smell as much as chicken manure. And you can throw it right in the garden. Plus they are easier to keep safe. We have lots of predators and struggle to keep the chickens safe. We have way fewer issues with the rabbits. These are two good sites to get you started. https://riseandshinerabbitry.com/2012/10/21/what-breed-of-rabbit-to-raise-for-meat/ http://www.raising-rabbits.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 (edited) We raised them once, not organic, and it cost us $1.80/lb. Organic feed is expensive, and they eat a lot. For the farmer to make a reasonable profit they'd probably need to charge at least $4.50-$5.00/lb. Love my layers. Roasters were a horrible experience, and I'll never do it again. Edited May 16, 2017 by Amy in NH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom@shiloh Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 Just some information to include on this thread for anyone considering raising meat birds..... We didn't buy organic feed. I calculated that it cost us about $7/bird to raise our birds. We do the butchering ourselves, but if you don't, you will probably need to add $2-3/bird for butchering. That's just the basic cost of the birds, not including any payment for our labor. We keep our birds 10-11 weeks and they run between 9-12 pounds each. There's a lot of meat on them and they are delicious, but I can't honestly say they taste much better than the stuff I buy at the store. They do have more meat on them than a store bought chicken, so one bird will feed my family of 7 at least twice. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splash Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 My husband and I looked into doing this but found it wasn't cost effective for us. I'm not going to do butchering myself so would have to pay someone to do it and I can buy organic pastured chicken cheaper than we could raise them. We do our own beef cattle and have had laying chickens before,though not currently. We can raise the beef cheaper than the chickens. Kimberly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My4arrows Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 Around here it's $5-7/lb. Organic feed is expensive here. We do organic layers and the feed is twice as much as non-organic. We'd need to charge $6 per dozen to make anything for selling those and neighbors are selling them for $7/dozen. We are going to be starting meat birds and DH is considering doing non-organic feed for them. I'm co spidering starting to grow and mix our own feed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 (edited) These chickens aren't organic, just 'organically-fed". This was just the first place that I found semi-local. I'm going to keep looking. Thanks! Sorry- I was referring to the feed!! All chickens are organic. ;) But there are some questionable things on organic feeds. I actually stopped using it across the board for all of our critters. Edited May 16, 2017 by texasmom33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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