Price of Butchered Meat Birds

My Mistral Gris, after a rough start, in early May are doing very well.  I'll be sending 50 to the butcher in mid July and should start thinking of what to charge for a butchered meat bird, frozen and shrink wrapped.

They will have been pasture raised on conventional feed.

Any ideas?  No idea of the final weight.

Around my neck of the woods I've seen (and sold) for anywhere from $3.50/lb. - $4.+/lb for specialty cuts.  What can you get around where you are?

We sold some farm raised CGs at $5 per lb.  MGs take more effort to obtain and more expense.  I'm thinking more in the range of $6.50 to $7 per lb.

No one around me raises meat birds, as far as I can tell; if they do they are home butchered for personal use, not taken to the butcher then sold.  My butcher will take finished birds to Vancouver on his freezer truck for my (beef) customers to collect from his store if I want.  The birds he sells are bio dynamic/organic cornish xs so different from mine, he asks $6.50 a pound!

I know this is an exact question I struggle with every time someone asks me if I had an extra chicken or turkey for sale.

I did find a place north of me not to far, that sells their birds (roaster, cornish, specialty cuts)  seems pretty close to $4/lb across the board.... with it being slightly higher for some real special stuff.   even for the turkeys. 

I think its a fair price?? $4/lb....  especially when you start counting in all the expense involved in raising and then paying for someone to butcher

*Sigh* I wish we had a processor here, we don't.  Will watch this thread with interest.

With the cost of the chicks, feed and processing, $4.50 a pounds seems fair.  Last year my meat birds were between $28. and $32.00. Seems high to most people, when you can go to Costco and buy 3 for $21..00  But mine are so much better

People who are buying home raised chicken are I think willing to pay more than they do at Costco.

We are really lucky to have a processor so close by (1 1/2 hours away) that does such a beautiful job.

Here in my area they are selling for 2.95 and 3.50 a pound
so if you can get 5 to 6 that would be great

I think what city people (Kamloops, Vancouver) will pay is different from what local farm people will pay. Processing though is expensive.

Thats true Heda 
Hey have you harvested any of the white Chanties?
How was their weight and taste

Sweetened wrote:*Sigh* I wish we had a processor here, we don't.  Will watch this thread with interest.

You and me both. Why are there no processors in SK?

Here is what the Tasteless Chicken Producers get paid for live chickens when the get to the plant
 
 BASE MINIMUM PRICE: $1.7165 /KG (live)
• Base price for A-118 is a 0.05¢/kg increase from the A-117 base price of $1.7160/kg 
(live). The change is due to a decrease of 1.95¢/kg in the Ontario live price formula and
the removal of the 2.00¢/kg discretionary, one-time adjustmentfrom A-117.
• The A-118 base price is 2.75¢/kg over Ontario’sinitial posted live price and is consistent 
with the pricing agreement between the CFS, Lilydale Inc. and Prairie Pride Natural 
Foods Inc.
• Processors will pay for all DOA’s and the first 1.5% condemned parts (trim).
• Payment will be based on barn average weight.
• Contact your processor for weight specific pricing ranges.
NOTE:
• Growers, please pay close attention to your agreed upon weights. 
• If you have any questions regarding the above information please do not hesitate to call 
the board office.
c.c. Lilydale Inc.
Prairie PrideNatural Foods Inc.

Here in the Kelowna area most growers are selling for between $3.99 and $4.50/lb for free range or pasture ranged poultry. (whole chickens)
Parts are all over the map, breasts though are usually going for the 7-8$/lb
Certified organic is 1-2$ more /lb.
Speciality Stores of course are selling higher.

I usually pay 4.50 a pound and yes they are worth every penny.....so yummy

Wow, to me this is amazing and wonderful that some are being recompensed in a good manner for the hard work involved in raising birds to the slaughter age. Guess how to find the niche in the marketplace would be the big thing. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

That's exactly it Cynthia - I get the best price sending the birds to Vancouver to my regular beef customers who already know what they want in their meat. If I just sold locally people don't care and they don't care that they are processed at a licensed facility. So just not worth it to me.

Appway I haven't processed any White Chanteclers yet - my whole heritage bird program is about 3 months late due to a very late completion of my new chicken house. I've only just started hatching now! Next year I guess....

Geeze, this is an annoying thing and has always got my goat!!  I can't stand this view of lack of value of a bird that has been raised outside of the mass produced chicken growing food mills, where chickens are grown by the thousands.  It really bugs me.  I am hearing such a incredible difference in what the value of the bird is.  Why do some of us get so little money for the birds we raise and sell, and others are well paid.  I know I was going to take roosters to be processed this fall to a place closer than the 1.5 hours drive, but geeeze, the price of rooster processing has gone up by $2 a bird.  With the price of feed going up too, I won't be taking all my cockerels to the closer place.  I will make a nice drive and go that extra mile.  Blah.  I know I will have more cockerels for my freezer than I can use during a year, so surely would too, like to see some of my government inspected, ready for freezer roosters too, just to offset some prices.  But as you say Heda, how on earth do you find those clients?  Really?  I would like to know.  So others please speak up.  How do you find your clients that are local to pay the "proper" price for that bird.  We need to know these things.  Good topic Heda, and with your 50 meaties coming up for processing, you NEEEEEEEED to know how to sell these birds.  But then too Heda, thoughts of just waiting for when the guy takes your meat to your meat customers, and then getting your proper payment for your work?  These homegrown birds should be worth more, look what goes into them, and how they are cared for, and the LENGTH of time to raise a heritage breed.  The average age of a heritage breed would be between 20-24 weeks?  I know I won't now process my orpingtons before 24 weeks.  Remember the thread that I put on our forum and pictures to prove it, of the amount of mass put on the carcass of the buff orpington cockerels in that last month of maturing (from 20-24 weeks).  It was shocking and really amazing what happened in those few weeks.  Would love to hear more comments....I think this is a very valuable thread and there are many, many others in the same boat, as we think about having our summer work making us some money back, and nice birds for our dinner tables.  I know my kids are committed to the mamma homegrown now :Phave an awesome day, CynthiaM.

I've stayed quiet, but I'm going to tick everyone off.

I absolutely,
100%,
would NEVER...
pay for,
or charge
that much
for chicken meat.

EVAR.

Ever.  They try to sell it at the grocery store for that price and I won't pay for it there either, I also won't pay $10 for a commercial carcass because I know my roosters come out to around $5 to raise to butcher (even as non meat birds).  If the grocery stores are charging that for their commercial, mass produced crap, the farmers who farm them are NOT getting paid that, they get paid less.  I do NOT see why charging commercial prices is a disservice.  You are all very lucky to have found clientele willing to pay that, and I am not of the mind set that it's better for me to never sell them than to sell them at commercial, non-'organic' prices.  THIS is the reason why there's still a massive market for commercial meat.  THIS is the reason people aren't WILLING to get in on small farms and THIS is the reason organic producers 'sell less' but make more.  They have found some ridiculous niche market of some people who can afford AFFORD the choice for good, high quality food, rather than the struggling families who can't.

Everyone, EVERYONE has the RIGHT to AFFORD the choice for good food.  People eat commercial crap because commercial crap is given to them at a reasonable price that allows them to pay their power bill in order to cook their dinner and pinch a few pennies. Are there loaded people out their who are too cheap?  YES.  But those people DO NOT out number the people who simply cannot AFFORD the choice between 3 days of meat and 1 day of meat.

If you think for A MINUTE people WOULDN'T choose similarly priced ORGANIC HEALTHY SMALL FARM FOOD over commercial crap, you are OUT of your cotton picking minds. People will continue to NOT choose sustainable agriculture as long as it is TWICE THE PRICE of commercial.

My Sis in law, who lives in Quebec says that old roosters fetch a premium price there. Why? Good chefs know the value of an old rooster to make a top quality broth!

I think it is all in the marketing!

Schipperkesue wrote:My Sis in law, who lives in Quebec says that old roosters fetch a premium price there.  Why?  Good chefs know the value of an old rooster to make a top quality broth!  

I think it is all in the marketing!

That's a whole other can of worms. NOW, if I'm selling to a restaurant, I would charge premium prices, because they are going to charge premium prices and even though people should be able to AFFORD to eat good quality food, that doesn't mean they should be able to AFFORD to eat out. Eating out is a luxury.

In advertising, you don't tell The oil companies they can buy 1 month advertising packages, you up the price and tell them they can buy 6 month or 1 year packages, because they can afford to, and that's just what you do.

Sweetened wrote:

Schipperkesue wrote:My Sis in law, who lives in Quebec says that old roosters fetch a premium price there.  Why?  Good chefs know the value of an old rooster to make a top quality broth!  

I think it is all in the marketing!

That's a whole other can of worms.  NOW, if I'm selling to a restaurant, I would charge premium prices, because they are going to charge premium prices and even though people should be able to AFFORD to eat good quality food, that doesn't mean they should be able to AFFORD to eat out.  Eating out is a luxury.

In advertising, you don't tell The oil companies they can buy 1 month advertising packages, you up the price and tell them they can buy 6 month or 1 year packages, because they can afford to, and that's just what you do.

These aren't being marketed to restaurants. The soup roos are in the grocery store for families to buy. By 'good chefs' I am not just talking commercial chefs!

Prices are really high in the stores and the reason is People will buy it
It is so funny I was talking to my Sister in the states and was telling her that chicken here is 3.90 and up a pound in the stores She said she just bought chicken and was complaining because it was .49 cents per pound instead of the .39 cents it always is. I have always wondered why is chicken so much higher here than in the states
same as milk they pay 1.99 a gallon down there.
Oh well I guess our Higher prices is because we live in such a beautiful country

appway wrote:Prices are really high in the stores and the reason is People will buy it
It is so funny I was talking to my Sister in the states and was telling her that chicken here is 3.90 and up a pound in the stores  She said she just bought chicken and was complaining because it was .49 cents per pound instead of the .39 cents it always is. I have always wondered why is chicken so much higher here  than in the states
same as milk they pay 1.99 a gallon down there.
Oh well I guess our Higher prices is because we live in such a beautiful country

cuz they're allowed to use hormones in both their milk and chicken there, and are HEAVILY subsidized compared to canada.
It's disgusting.
Thankfully in Canada hormones/steroids in milk and poultry are illegal. It's been illegal in Poultry since the 60's I'm not a dairy farmer so I have no idea when it became illegal for that.
My inlaws are always buying milk and poultry in the US, you couldn't pay me to eat that.

I thought that also on the Chickens But
http://ncegg.org/the-hormone-myth/
1.Hormone use is illegal. In the United States and many other countries, extremely strict controls are placed on the use of hormones and hormone-like substances in animal feeds. In no case is the supplementation of hormones approved for poultry. While it might be alleged that illegal use of hormones might occasionally be practiced, as will be made clear below there is no logical reason to use these compounds in poultry production.

Also if you look into it more it also says that Canada does import chicks from the states to raise in Canada