Chicken prices

[tallyho8]

Spring is on the way and I am about to order some more baby chickens to replace my dwindling stock. Day old chickens are running about $4 each and I will surely lose some before they are 2 weeks old. Then I have to feed and nourish them for months and have all the pleasures of preparing them to be eaten before we can have a chicken dinner.

Then I read the local ads and my local grocery has 10 pound bags of leg quarters for $1.99 on sale. 19 cents a pound and I pay $4 for a one ounce chick. How the he!! do they sell chicken this cheap?

 

[Diggin It]

I just know I'd rather pull cellophane of one than feathers.

 

[MossRoad]

 

[MossRoad]

Spring is on the way and I am about to order some more baby chickens to replace my dwindling stock. Day old chickens are running about $4 each and I will surely lose some before they are 2 weeks old. Then I have to feed and nourish them for months and have all the pleasures of preparing them to be eaten before we can have a chicken dinner.

Then I read the local ads and my local grocery has 10 pound bags of leg quarters for $1.99 on sale. 19 cents a pound and I pay $4 for a one ounce chick. How the he!! do they sell chicken this cheap?

I've thought of raising my own chickens for meat. However, a fully cooked 3lb chicken is $5.00 at our local grocery stores. Pretty darn tasty, too. Chick for $4 VS on the table and no work involved for $1 more.

Only thing I can think of is they are not making any profit on that chicken in the store. They're using it as a gimmick to get you into the store where you'll buy other things while you're there.

 

[Jstpssng]

I hear this every Thanksgiving after raising turkeys all summer. A day old poult costs anywhere from 10$ up, and you are sure to lose a couple. By the time I get them raised to slaughter I have about 60$/bird... and the local grocery store sells them in November for around .39 $/lb. Yet the difference in taste is like night and day. Besides, I started raising them after my brother had a heart attack; and one thing his cardiologist told him not to eat was store bought turkeys.

As for chickens; it costs me around 10$/bird to raise them up to around 8 lbs. That includes having them killed, processed, and frozen. Unlike a store bought chicken I can actually taste mine, without adding all sorts of chemicals and spices. I can't even taste the difference between store bought chicken and pork, they are so bland.

I just finished off a drumstick from one of last year's birds before reading this and it sure was tasty. :licking:

 

[Frankenkubota]

Recently read there are more than 25 billion chickens on this planet.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I'm pretty leery about buying frozen chicken parts, in fact don't buy them except to make dog food. For ourselves, we buy the "Smart" chickens; they have never been frozen nor given antibiotics. They fry up and taste great. Expensive, yeah, will run maybe $12.00 or so per chicken, but it's worth it...and beats the heck out of KFC.

SMART CHICKEN

 

[fried1765]

I've thought of raising my own chickens for meat. However, a fully cooked 3lb chicken is $5.00 at our local grocery stores. Pretty darn tasty, too. Chick for $4 VS on the table and no work involved for $1 more.

Only thing I can think of is they are not making any profit on that chicken in the store. They're using it as a gimmick to get you into the store where you'll buy other things while you're there.

I think what you suggest is Exactly what is often done.
Called .... "loss leader"!

 

[fried1765]

I hear this every Thanksgiving after raising turkeys all summer. A day old poult costs anywhere from 10$ up, and you are sure to lose a couple. By the time I get them raised to slaughter I have about 60$/bird... and the local grocery store sells them in November for around .39 $/lb. Yet the difference in taste is like night and day. Besides, I started raising them after my brother had a heart attack; and one thing his cardiologist told him not to eat was store bought turkeys.

As for chickens; it costs me around 10$/bird to raise them up to around 8 lbs. That includes having them killed, processed, and frozen. Unlike a store bought chicken I can actually taste mine, without adding all sorts of chemicals and spices. I can't even taste the difference between store bought chicken and pork, they are so bland.

I just finished off a drumstick from one of last year's birds before reading this and it sure was tasty. :licking:

Eight pound chickens?
As (removed) might say.....dems big chickens!

 

[Oaktree]

I hear this every Thanksgiving after raising turkeys all summer. A day old poult costs anywhere from 10$ up, and you are sure to lose a couple. By the time I get them raised to slaughter I have about 60$/bird... and the local grocery store sells them in November for around .39 $/lb. Yet the difference in taste is like night and day. Besides, I started raising them after my brother had a heart attack; and one thing his cardiologist told him not to eat was store bought turkeys.

As for chickens; it costs me around 10$/bird to raise them up to around 8 lbs. That includes having them killed, processed, and frozen. Unlike a store bought chicken I can actually taste mine, without adding all sorts of chemicals and spices. I can't even taste the difference between store bought chicken and pork, they are so bland.

I just finished off a drumstick from one of last year's birds before reading this and it sure was tasty. :licking:

Where do you get turkeys for 39¢/lb? I haven't seen anything anywhere near that price in many years, even on sale the week before Thanksgiving.

While there is a difference in taste between "store" chicken and home-raised, I can't say I have any real preference for one over the other, and as many have noted it's way cheaper to buy it at the supermarket. I'm sure they inject all sorts of stuff to keep it moist, but I haven't noticed any ill effects health-wise.

My wife keeps a few chickens for eggs, but they're mostly just expensive pets. The subject of making them meat birds is best not brought up, even in jest. :laughing:

Only thing I can think of is they are not making any profit on that chicken in the store. They're using it as a gimmick to get you into the store where you'll buy other things while you're there.

Weekly sale items are often loss leaders, but week-in, week-out prices rarely are. In most supermarkets perishables (meat, produce, bakery) are where the profit is, the margin is much lower on grocery items.