Okay, my uncle has given me the "assignment" of trying to find out if it is more cost effective to raise chickens for their eggs and meat or to go to the store and buy it from there!

See well I am a picky eater and I am big on chicken adn eat if for every meal if I could! My uncle thought it might be cheaper on him and my aunt if I raised chicken for their meat instead of buying it from the store.

well............

I have searched the web for costs and I have ended up no where! This is like my last resort!! Will someone please help me answer this question for me!!

If it is more cost effective which breeds are the cheapest and the best for both?

If you will would you please e-mail! My e-mail is

GirlfriendHMK@cs.com

Thank you!

Heather

NO! It is by no means cheeper to raise your own birds.

Well, not so fast there. . . You must understand that what you would raise is not the same as what you buy in the store. Store chickens are raised in industrial conditions, medicated, and pressured to maturity. Most store fryers are about six weeks old when they go to the processor. These birds, raised in automated facilities and mass-processed, are sometimes cheap, but often not. You must also compare realistic prices. If a store chain decides to make chicken its loss leader for the week and sell industrial fryer quarters for 69 cents a pound, it would probably not be feasible to compete at producing factory chickens at that price, since that may be close to the cost of production even for the big producers. Monitor the cost of not-on-sale chicken in your area to get a better idea of the real price you're looking to match or better. If you look at the regular price of nice heavy fryers, you will find that these (without broken legs and bruised places) will cost considerably more than the mega-packs of pieces or quarters.

In other words, your home-raised chickens will be better than what is available in the stores, and will be worth more to the right customers. Finding and keeping those best customers satisfied is an important part of raising broilers successfully at home.

What you would be raising at home would be a better and more healthy product. Your own chickens will be given feed that you bought for them and scraps and water you supplied yourself. They will receive more personal care and consideration.

When we raise broilers for our customers, we normally charge about $1.50 per pound of dressed weight. It is not unusual to find better quality factory chicken in the store for this price or even more, like $1.69 per pound. Now if you consider that the $1.50 includes our profit, which we think is considerable, then it is quite realistic to conclude that you might well produce a superior home-raised batch of broilers for less than the regular price of whole factory chickens at the grocery store, if you only look at your own cost of production. You don't have to pay yourself a profit, after all.

What we found was that if we raised, say, 50 broilers at a time, we could make in the neighborhood of $60-90 on those birds, and put 5-8 of them in the freezer for ourselves at essentially no cost. We had better meat for less than you could buy scary store chicken.

You must keep careful track of all your inputs to be sure that you are making the money you think you are making. Don't fudge on your costs. Put it all down. If you manage your birds well and have a dressing plant nearby that will process for a reasonable cost, or if you are willing to do this skillfully yourselves, you will have to put up the money for the first batch of birds, then the capital they generate should cover the expenses for the next batch and pay some profit.

Lots of people who contribute to the Coop site would be happy to help you as you plan for and carry out your project. Just ask. Good luck to you.

Where I live, chicken is very cheap. Eggs are less than a dollar a dozen and chicken meat is also very inexpensive.
Building our coop was expensive. About $1,000. But it's a really nice shed. The coop at my old house was maybe just $100 in wood and wire.
I don't raise my chickens for meat, but keep in mind the time spent plucking and preparing them. I've never done it, but I hear it takes some time. That would also make it more cost-effective to buy the meat in the stores.
I think I figured out that it cost about $16 a month to feed my 24 hens. So far I've been just giving the eggs away, so I don't even break even. I guess I could make a small profit each month if I decided to sell the eggs.
But then there's the time spent cleaning the coop and caring for injured chickens.
Overall, if you're going for expense, I think it's cheaper to just buy eggs/meat in the store. But if you're looking for QUALITY, it's nice to know what you're eating. And it's nice for me personally to know that my hens have a good life. I feel sorry for factory raised chickens.

what i read is its really an issue of do you want the hormones and antibiotics that are in commercial chickens. i wont get specific as to the side effects of that chemical soup but if i had young kids or was considering kids i would eat very little commercial chicken. their is LOTS of info on what com. chickens our subject to.

Scratch, Do not believe that there are hormones in chickens in the Markets. The breeds mature very fast and hormones would not speed the growth, so don't worry about that. Antibiotics are used, but there is a withdrawal time before slaughter, so no worry there. The worst is not in the growing, but in the processing and packaging! I do NOT eat chicken from the grocery store, but cannot avoid it in restaurants (if I do choose a chicken entree.) It is not because of the processing, as proper cooking makes it perfectly safe, but it is because it is tasteless without all kinds of coating and seasonings and has no meaty character, as home grown chicken, that weighs 4 or 5 pounds dressed, of MEAT, not just skin, soft tissue, and bones! A good chicken needs little or no seasoning, has great flavor and texture and a solid portion of meat in ONE PIECE! Home grown is truly best, and not surprising that it may cost more--CJR

I pretty much agree with everone. Some cost can be reduced by free ranging (in moveable cages or just letting them roam), But like home grown tomatoes nothing can beat a home grown bird.

If raising for eggs the average hen will lay about 24 dozen eggs per 100 lb. of feed consumed. This would make the $12.00 feed average out to $.50 per dozen eggs.

All I can add to this that my grocery bill has gone down! We add animal feed into grocery budget, but keep track of spending. Excluding the cost of the coup structure itself (it will last indefinately with proper maintainance), we are coming out ahead. It is costing us $28.00 monthly in laying ration, grit, shells... to feed our flock of 44 birds. 18 are in lay, another 15 are about to come into lay and there are still 9 cockerals that are ready to go to the freezer. My roosters are too much fun to even think about losing! We get an easy dozen large to Xlarge eggs a day, people offer $1.50 for them. I can use 3 homegrown breast or leg quarters for a meal for 7 with leftovers where it took 4-5 storebought. The flavor is no competition. People drive by on the main road and offer to buy live birds, name my price. Right now it is buy 2pullets for $8 each and get a cock free (freezer is FULL). Right now, unless on sale, breasts can be bought for $1.49/lb, drumsticks for $0.89/lb. Boneless&skinless is double+ that. Yeah, I'd say it is worth it. Best Wishes! Grace in MS

I live near Orlando, Florida and I have seen the normal price for skinless/boneless chicken breasts go for over $5.00 per pound! Eggs {Eggland's Best brand, an excellent brand} go for about $1.79 per dozen. So for me, this raising chickens thing is like FOUND MONEY!!