What are the costs of raising broiler chicken?

Answer 1

This is a complete economical question without an easy answer. In short: it all depends on several factors.

1. What breed, variety, or line are you raising? Some require special diets, environment needs, or care.

2. What kind of environment are you planning on raising the birds in? Birds with lots of room and access to the outdoors will grow much differently than birds who are raised inside, with limited light, and limited amounts of space. Also, this affects theri body-fat content, too (i.e. flavor of the meat). Also, the population of birds per area greatly affect performance.

3. What kind of diet are you going to feed them? High protein diets can be bought commercially at cheaper prices, but you may not get the end result you wanted from your bird. High-protein feed, like that bought at Farm & Fleet or your local Kent dealer, are conidered "hot" feed, meaning it comes out the same color it went in. Hot feed causes the birds to pack on the pounds faster but is not as healthy as "cool" or "cold" feed such as corn. A mixure or rotation of hot and cold feed should be used for optimum performance.

4. Also, are you wanting to make a profit? It costs a lot more for a hobbyist or fancy-farmer to raise broilers because there is not the high-effiency and roll-over of larhe-scale production. However, these small-scale birds tend to be leaner, have less body fat, and taste better because small famers can keep their birds longer and healthier, without the intensive use of antibiotics.

Consider this. For the best performing broiler in a commercial production, it takes aprox. 2 lbs. of feed for every 1 lb. of muscle gain. For small-scale production, you should consider a slightly higher amount of feed-to-gain ratio, such as 2.5-to-1 or even 3.5 or 4.5-to-1 depending on the above items.

Please do not be discouraged by this! Raising chickens has great rewards. Your broilers will be healthy, happier, and better tasting than anything you can get in the market.

--Orange 88

Answer 2

Chicks cost anywhere from $0.99 to $2.00.

Adult birds may cost $5-12.00. Hope I helped