[Rosemary]

I've never properly costed the meat birds.

I also find that they basically eat and poop. I've never had any go off their legs but they are not active birds. In fact they are the dullest birds ever - which is good 'cos you can't get attached to them.

We plan to do more next year - at least one properly costed batch, then reassess. The 70 mile round trip to pick up the chcks and take them for slaughter may be the deciding factor.

[Womble]

The 70 mile round trip to pick up the chcks and take them for slaughter may be the deciding factor.

That's interesting - where did you take them to slaughter?  (surprised you could find someone to do this for small numbers).

Can you give a rough feel for how the finances panned out? e.g. did you feel you were in or out of pocket at the end of the day c/w buying 'quality' supermarket birds?

Cheers!

[MiriMaran]

Am interested in this thread, but just wanted to say Womble I LOVE your profile photo - I know I've already said it, but just had to say it again!!

[Rosemary]

That's what Womble looks like, MiriMaran. Honest, I've met him. 

The Hubbards went back to Jamesfield; a day old cost £1.20 and to have them killed and dressed (roughly) cost £1.60, so there's £2.80 to start. I had three 70 mile journeys, so 210 miles (one to pick up the chicks, one for the killing and one to pick up the dressed birds). If you cost that at 40p per mile, which is HMRC mileage rates, that's £84.  If you take my time for the journeys at £6 per hour, that adds £24. On a batch of 10 birds that's £13.60 before food and bedding. Doesn't take a genius to work out that it's not even breaking even.

Since the majority of the cost is fixed, doing bigger batches woudl make it more cost effective, as woudl killing and dressing ourselves.

Andrew reckoned a bird cost £6 each, for buying and feeding, but it doesn't include time or travel to pick up.

Now I've written it down, I think we need to rethink this.

[Womble]

Oi you two!



It's a piccie of Rhum, our Black Rock, when she had been out in the rain all afternoon (hence the bad hair day!).


Anyhow, Wow Rosemary - that's frightening!  If we ever get round to meat birds, it will be one batch a year, grown in the polytunnel over winter. As for breeds, perhaps there's more of an argument for hatching your own chicks there - perhaps by running a meat cock with your layers?

It's a question for another thread I guess, but it does make me wonder whether the costs of smallholding make it an expensive luxury / hobby rather than viable alternative lifestyle. For example, a house with enough land for pigs seems to cost about £100K more than the same house without (yet farmland is only a few £K per acre  ). Now you can buy an awful lot of sausages for £100K! 

Yours, dissilusioned with the dream,

Womble.

[sandy]

I suppose economists don't do smallholdings!!! I think the lifestyle value outweighs the cost, I mean, people have pet's anyway and get no return so to at least be able to eat them or their produce is something, same with gardening, so, maybe not pound rich but life rich!!!!

[xnbacon]

Would also love to see the costings of Tesco's less than £3 chicken! and it was a Red Tractor one.  I don't think £3 would cover the cost of feeding one of mine, and I don't buy premium feed.  Surely someone must be making a loss on that? (doubt it's Tesco's though, sorry very cynical) - perhaps they are ex-battery hens?

[MiriMaran]

There are so many things the big supermarkets sell they I just don't understand how they can sell so low.  How is it I can buy school shoes for my boys for £7 - is it because their peer group in some far flung country are making the shoes?!