ninnymary
Garden Master
Oh I'm glad Bay. I know the benefits of raising your own animals for your own consumption. But it seems like a lot of work for whatever you can get for them. Good that it's working out for you.
Mary
Mary
October Crazy-Hip Replacement
- Thread starter baymule
- Start date
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- #82
baymule
Garden Master
I get $6 per pound. For a 6 pound dressed chicken, that's $36.
Most of them weigh over 6 pounds. I am astounded that people are willing to pay so much for chicken. I started with just a few and 1 customer. Their order paid for what we kept. That 1 customer has upped their order each year. Now I have added a few more customers, still very low in numbers. If I get enough customers, I will buy a drum type chicken plucker. It does in 30 seconds what takes 30-40 minutes to do. Plus the time it takes me inside the house to fine pick the chickens. That would be a huge labor saver. Raising the chickens is lucrative, i just need to refine my labor efforts. We raised 100 this year, sold about half, bartered with quite a few and kept the rest for us and DD and family. With a few tweaks and refinements, this could grow to a nice additional income. Don't want to grow too fast or too big, small is good for us. If this continues to grow, I may go USDA. Under their rules there are 2 tiers of home production. Tier 1 is 2,000 chickens, Tier 2 is 20,000 chickens. Tier 1 is fine with me! I need to check into specifications as to what facilities are needed, I'm sure it is more than a table under 2 shade trees. LOL LOL
ninnymary
Garden Master
Oh heck no! Lol. I'm going to get rid of my preschoolers and start raising cornish hens! 
hahahahaha
I'd also run to go buy that feather plucker!! Run Bay!
Mary
hahahahahaI'd also run to go buy that feather plucker!! Run Bay!
Mary
Carol Dee
Garden Master
Bob raised them (only about 2 dozen) one spring/summer. YUCK. In the garage & then a pen in the old dog run. Smelly birds. Processing was messy. Feathers everywhere in garage, driveway and my kitchen sink. Then he dumped innards etc. in trash can NO BAG! (he is a fool sometimes) It was warm out. We got a bad case of maggots in the can that I finally had to clean up. Lots of soap, water and bleach. Gag. NEVER GONNA HAPPEN HERE AGAIN!
Hard to believe people pay that per. pound. But knowing what goes into them, I understand the price.
Hard to believe people pay that per. pound. But knowing what goes into them, I understand the price.
ninnymary
Garden Master
What an experience Carol! I think if you could set up a station to do everything in far away from the house would be the best way to go. It would be efficient for clean up and keep the smell away. People with a few acres have the ideal space. Of course getting water to the far reaches of your land might be a problem but not insurmontable.
Mary
- Thread starter
- #86
baymule
Garden Master
They are in a chicken tractor, moved daily. They eat the grass and their feed. I ferment their feed , I use buttermilk as a starter. They eat enormous amounts and I think they poop out twice as much as they eat. Law of physics does not apply.
People who eat my chicken say it’s the best they ever had. There is something to the fermented Feed. I ferment the corn for the pigs too, the meat is outstanding. The Dirty Birdies get so big that they stand up, take a step or two and plop back down. I raise them to a greater size than grocery store chicken. They are messy, that’s why I move them daily. They are also fertilizing the poor soil so the grass can grow better.
I raise a premium product. My price is about half of what I find online for pastured poultry. But I’m still dumbfounded that people pay that much. My original goal was paying for what we ate and gave to DD and her family. It’s going beyond that, we’ll see where this goes.
People who eat my chicken say it’s the best they ever had. There is something to the fermented Feed. I ferment the corn for the pigs too, the meat is outstanding. The Dirty Birdies get so big that they stand up, take a step or two and plop back down. I raise them to a greater size than grocery store chicken. They are messy, that’s why I move them daily. They are also fertilizing the poor soil so the grass can grow better.
I raise a premium product. My price is about half of what I find online for pastured poultry. But I’m still dumbfounded that people pay that much. My original goal was paying for what we ate and gave to DD and her family. It’s going beyond that, we’ll see where this goes.
- Thread starter
- #87
baymule
Garden Master
@Carol Dee you did have a bad experience! They are work, but a great way to pack the freezer in a very short time.
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- #88
baymule
Garden Master
I took the day off. I did morning and evening chores and in between, I did a whole lot of nothing. We visited some neighbors, it was nice to not be in a hurry to get home and start or finish something that needed to be done. I haven't stopped in 4 months.
- Thread starter
- #89
baymule
Garden Master
BJ went to the appointment with the surgeon today. Everything is good, we go back in 6 weeks. He is not using the cane anymore. We had several things to do, when we got home, he was a little tired, but he is doing great.
- Thread starter
- #90
baymule
Garden Master
I've made the decision to have knee replacement surgery next fall. That gives me the spring and summer to raise feeder pigs, Cornish Cross Dirty Birdies, garden and can, freeze, sell the proceeds. I'll be able to wind everything down to a level that DH can handle while I recuperate. I'm ready to get this done, do my physical therapy and get on with living withOUT the pain.
