5 ms·

I occasionally raise chickens on my small farm. I sell them for $25 each, which barely covers my costs. When looking at the books, I lose money on the operati

I occasionally raise chickens on my small farm. I sell them for $25 each, which barely covers my costs. When looking at the books, I lose money on the operation overall, because I put some of the birds in my own freezer. To make a profit, I cannot afford to eat my own chickens. Costco and other food retailers creates an unrealistic idea of what good food actually costs. People tell me $25 is too much. I explain my cost structure and the differences in conditions and quality, but it does not seem to make an impact.

ameixaseca 4y ago
How many chickens you raise on average? I wonder if scale would help bring the costs down (not down to $5, obviously).
zach_garwood 4y ago
Wow, people complain that $25 is too much for a whole chicken? At the grocery, you pay about $3 per pound for butchered chicken. So, I'm guessing a whole bird is about 10 lbs (is that accurate?), which would make your price about $2.50 per pound. Maybe I'm just used to city prices, but that seems very reasonable to me.
- dustyleary 4y ago
  "Eating" chickens aren't nearly that heavy. I don't know about egg-laying chickens. We usually eat animals that are "children" or "adolescents", because they are more tender or taste better. The article mentions that Costco's rotissery chickens are 3lbs.
  - zach_garwood 4y ago
    Looks I vastly overestimated how much a chicken weighs. We had chickens when I was growing up, but I guess they seem a lot bigger and heavier when you're only three feet tall.
- cnasc 4y ago
  Broiler chickens are 4-5 pounds when slaughtered, and only 60-70% of the bird is meat
1123581321 4y ago
I’m deeply sympathetic. You’re around (not at) the top of the range for small farm organic whole chicken. People should be expecting to pay perhaps half that at the low end. So you have a differentiation/specializing challenge on your hands but any tirekickers expecting $5 should simply not be counted in your potential market. We had a friend’s whole chicken business fail because she tried to price competitively with the grocery store instead of educating her customers. Those per unit economics don’t have a prayer of making it up in scale under $10 or so.

ameixaseca 4y ago

How many chickens you raise on average? I wonder if scale would help bring the costs down (not down to $5, obviously).

zach_garwood 4y ago

Wow, people complain that $25 is too much for a whole chicken? At the grocery, you pay about $3 per pound for butchered chicken. So, I'm guessing a whole bird is about 10 lbs (is that accurate?), which would make your price about $2.50 per pound. Maybe I'm just used to city prices, but that seems very reasonable to me.

dustyleary 4y ago
"Eating" chickens aren't nearly that heavy. I don't know about egg-laying chickens. We usually eat animals that are "children" or "adolescents", because they are more tender or taste better. The article mentions that Costco's rotissery chickens are 3lbs.
- zach_garwood 4y ago
  Looks I vastly overestimated how much a chicken weighs. We had chickens when I was growing up, but I guess they seem a lot bigger and heavier when you're only three feet tall.
cnasc 4y ago
Broiler chickens are 4-5 pounds when slaughtered, and only 60-70% of the bird is meat

1123581321 4y ago

I’m deeply sympathetic. You’re around (not at) the top of the range for small farm organic whole chicken. People should be expecting to pay perhaps half that at the low end. So you have a differentiation/specializing challenge on your hands but any tirekickers expecting $5 should simply not be counted in your potential market. We had a friend’s whole chicken business fail because she tried to price competitively with the grocery store instead of educating her customers. Those per unit economics don’t have a prayer of making it up in scale under $10 or so.