# What to charge for farm raised chickens



## RW kansas hogs (Nov 19, 2010)

We will be raising chickens to sell to the public and i was wondering what to charge people for them, By the pound or a lump sum per chicken. They are not organic and they will be the hybrid's for fast growing. Nobody in my area sells chickens so this could a good thing or bad, i'm willing to try


----------



## suelandress (May 10, 2002)

Will you be processing them?


----------



## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

Around here $3 a lb is about the norm for whole chicken.. pieced out is about double that. But it all depends on your customer base. I am a believer in selling more for less than sitting on product for more. If you will sell more for a flat rate per bird, then do it that way..


----------



## RW kansas hogs (Nov 19, 2010)

They will be processed but whole birds, i am a little rusty with cutting them into there proper pieces. Thank god for dvd's and DYI books.


----------



## stefrobrts (Oct 12, 2010)

You need to figure out what it costs you to raise those birds. I've heard it works out to about $2 a lb, but you need to see how fast your birds grow and how much they eat. Be sure you end up charging enough to make it worth your while. Some farms around here get $4 a lb, they do the processing and hand over a chicken ready to cook. They sell out well before slaughtering time - by the time they butcher all the birds are spoken for. In our area, you get licensed to butcher on a certain day, clean and cool the birds, and the customers have to come pick them up within 48 hours - so you have to sell the birds ahead of time so people are ready to come pick them up on 'processing' weekend.

I'm planning to do this myself next year so I've spent a lot of time checking out the local market and competition. I think I can start at $3 a lb to build up my customer base. It sounds like a lot, and some people will always want to buy the cheap birds at the store, but you need to convince them your quality, and that the health and humane treatment of the birds (vs factory farming conditions) is worth the extra money.


----------



## RW kansas hogs (Nov 19, 2010)

The company i'm getting the chickens from says it will take 10lbs of feed to get the birds to butcher size, Which they estimate is 65 days. Plus i'm factoring in a few mistakes along the way (human error is bound to happen).

The only competition i have is the two crocery stores in town, I plan advertiseing thru the local radio station & giving the DJ a few birds to try so he can pass the word along. Once i figure out a price to stick with the only thing i have left to do is figure out how many chicks to get.


----------



## stefrobrts (Oct 12, 2010)

You might do pretty good. I've got a lot of competition in my area. Luckily since they only take 8 weeks to grow out, if you find a big demand it's easy to ramp up production. Good luck!


----------



## Rusty'sDog (Oct 14, 2010)

While you are giving one to the DJ, give one to your preacher too. More people will believe his word than the DJ's word. Just a thought.


----------



## majik (Feb 23, 2005)

We just had a batch of birds processed. The slaughterhouse weighed and "priced" them for us. Apparently, we charge $3.19 a pound. That makes me feel better about all the money we spent on feed. Of course, we don't raise them to sell, and they're all in the freezer, but I bet we could get that for them if we wanted. The are Cornish X and all over 8 pounds. And delicious!


----------



## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

A friend of ours raises meat chickens for sale, cornish cross from the hatchery raised on pasture. They started out selling by the pound but it was a pain weighing each one up individually and doing the math when most people buy several birds, even 10 or more at a time. So he averaged them out and now sells all at one price per bird.


----------



## RedneckPete (Aug 23, 2004)

Post an add on your local Craigslist and see if you can sell them. It doesn't matter if you don't have birds to deliver, if you don't get a single call, lower your price and try again. It will give you a good idea what the local market will support.

Pete


----------



## stefrobrts (Oct 12, 2010)

MO_cows said:


> A friend of ours raises meat chickens for sale, cornish cross from the hatchery raised on pasture. They started out selling by the pound but it was a pain weighing each one up individually and doing the math when most people buy several birds, even 10 or more at a time. So he averaged them out and now sells all at one price per bird.


That's a good idea. I imagine people might like that, knowing right up front what it will cost instead of waiting to hear what they weighed.


----------

