Poultry Farming

[jwcinpk]

Is anyone involved in active poultry farming? A local company is soliciting farms to build chickenhouses for both hen and pullet operations (Cobb). I was kind of looking for some input from someone who has been involved in this before.

 

[RonR]

First off, I have very little first hand knowledge of this.

I would be very leary of the setup being offerred and would want to talk with someone who's actually dealt with the company you go with before you sign.

Those places might make a few $$$, but they are smelly, require 24/7 attention, and are a lot of work.

Other than that, I recommend you not plant the chicks too deeply.......

As you can tell, I'm not much help with this............

Ron

 

[CDsdad]

I haven't heard of Cobb. If I was going in the poultry business, it would be pullets or broilers. I ain't fooling with eggs or hens.

Lots of poultry farms around here. I worked for a poultry company in college, my dad worked for them for 20 years. They weren't the most employee friendly company in the world and the growers almost always hated them. I'd talk to someone who worked for or grew for the company.

As far as being a lot of work and a few $$$$. I know plenty of folks who have retired onto their poultry farms. They let the 8-5 job go and work the farm. These aren't old people either. If I had the land, I'd have broiler or pullet houses now. It is an everyday job, but not all day.

 

[CharlieTR]

There are a lot of chicken growers here started up by Pilgrim's Pride.
Not sure how the contract works but you might want to contact the chicken growers association. Also that company should be able to give you contact information of the growers they contracted with so you can hear they side of things.

 

[kje383]

How big of a building do they want you to put up? Is there any money in this?I know i would give up my city job to work on my own place if i could make a living. kje

 

[jwcinpk]

Some numbers to crunch:
Building (Hen) 300,000.00
(pullet) 226,000.00
Equipment (Hen) 220,000.00
(pullet) 158,000.00
Generator 5,000.00
Plastic Slats (Hen) 50,000.00
Electrical (Hen) 32,000.00
(pullet) 27,000.00
Grading and Gravel 35,000.00
Incinerator 6,000.00
Fencing 9,000.00

Hen Total 676,000.00
Pullet Total 458,000.00

Payout

Hen 13776.00 month 165,312.00 year
Pullet 9,973.33 month 119,680 year

Company finances bulding and provides everything except electric, water, taxes, insurance, repairs, etc.
They provide chickens and feed
10 year contract

Building payments 5900.00 month 10 years pullet
9% apr 4700.00 month 15 years

8500.00 month 10 years hen
6800.00 month 15 years

Their estimates your cost per month 2180.00 hen
2045.00 pullet

 

[mjarrels]

Poultry is big business in the Valley here but also risky. Bird flu issues in the last few years caused million of birds to be killed to reduce spreading.

mark

 

[knute_m]

Poultry is big business in the Valley here but also risky. Bird flu issues in the last few years caused million of birds to be killed to reduce spreading.

mark

Many blame the poultry farms, but often with averted eyes or in lowered tones, hesitant to incriminate neighbors or friends.

A hundred miles away in Richmond, Jeff Corbin, senior scientist and deputy director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Virginia, said he does not understand the hesitation to pin blame.

"It's infuriating that people are saying we don't know what's causing this," Corbin said.

The river is "choked with nitrogen and phosphorus pollution," which "makes these fish live under stressful conditions all year," he said.

Along Route 340, Stonewall Jackson Memorial Highway, roadside signs for chicken farms alternate with churches and country markets selling lures and spinners.

Just south of Luray, George Gochenour took a break from shoveling 10 months' worth of chicken droppings from his 28,000-chicken breeding farm. By week's end, he estimated, he would have 350 tons to give to a farmer down the street.
Fish kill heralds a troubled Shenandoah - The Boston Globe - Boston.com - Nation - News

As Mark said, poultry is big business in the Shenandoa Valley of Virginia and the Potomac Highlands of WV.

There are also more and more fingers being pointed toward the poultry industry and the water quality of the entire basin feeding the Chesapeake Bay. I think we are going to see some very stringent rules put in place in the next couple of years.

Knute

 

[JerryG]

Cobb is a premium company that typically pays its contract growers more than most integrators. The poultry houses of today are nothing like houses of even 10 years ago. The air is rotated about every 5 minutes and there is hardly any smell emitted from them. They are computer controlled for the cooling, heat and ventilation. I have a neighbor whose house is a short distance from the fan end of my houses. They have said that they wouldn't even know that there were poultry houses there, if it wasn't for hearing the fans come on while they are in their yard. When a problem does occur, a large part of them are called into the operator by the computer or alarm system. If you have any specific questions that you would like to ask, PM me and I will try to answer them.

 

[CDsdad]

I forgot you were in the chicken business JerryG. Who do you grow for and what knid of houses?

 

[kje383]

How big of a operation do you have to have to make a living? Are turkeys any better or worse than chickens? kje

 

[JerryG]

I grow for George’s Farms. They are the 8 largest integrator in the U.S. with Tyson being the largest. Both companies have their headquarters about 35-40 miles for my place. I have what is call tunnel houses. They are climate controlled both summer and winter. It is hard to make a living growing broilers right now. The hen farmers fair much better. In this area the turkey people are the ones that are making the most money.

 

[kje383]

What is the differance between broilers, pullets and hens? I saw a lot of chicken house's between talahina and mountain home.kje

 

[CDsdad]

Now this is in south MS and different places may runs different schedules.

Broilers go in houses as bitties and get eaten 7-10 weeks later.

Pullets go in as bitties and are raised to be "pulled" from the pullet houses and go on to be roosters and hens.

Hens and roosters go from pullet houses to laying houses where eggs are collected. Hens are swapped out once a year on average from laying house. Roosters come and go more regularly as breeding brings out the meanness in them and they tend to thin each other out.

Down here there are separate processing facilities for hens and broilers. Most broilers make breast, legs, wings, thighs,.. whole chickens. Hens are processed into soup products and other things.

I've worked at egg hatcheries, feed mill and grain elevator facility, and briefly as a service man on broiler and pullet houses. Growing would be better than working for the chicken company.

 

[40Kchicks]

I guess you already know it takes big money to start a chicken operation. I'm amazed that Cobb will help with the financing. That was one of our biggest hurdles was getting financing.

We have had two small barns for six years now growing for Foster Farms. This summer I built 4 60X500 barns and we are going to place broiler chicks in them in November. Something we learned was that a farm should be sized big enough to be able to hire some help. After years of being stuck close to the farm my wife had had enough. That’s the main reason we expanded our operation. We really do enjoy the lifestyle but a person really needs to be informed before getting into this business.

Eric

 

[JerryG]

Broilers go in houses as bitties and get eaten 7-10 weeks later.

10 weeks! None of the companies around here go over 8 weeks. Either they want a bird for roasting or they aren't putting the weight on very fast. I would sell my farm in heart beat if I had to keep them for 10 weeks.

 

[CDsdad]

That's 7-10 weeks from hatchery to table JerryG. They do average 6 weeks on the farm. Another week or two processing, in store, in home and spoils off the shelf.

 

[JerryG]

That's 7-10 weeks from hatchery to table JerryG. They do average 6 weeks on the farm. Another week or two processing, in store, in home and spoils off the shelf.

I didn't catch the to table part. I have my flocks for 8 weeks, but others around here also have 4 week Cornish hens and 6 week birds. I don't think that I have ever heard of anyone stating the placement to table before. I know that a lot of birds are put in cold storage for some time and that would greatly effect the placement to table times.

 

[billbill1]

I used to work with a guy that came from a family that ran an egg farm. What a mess that was!! I think the building was provided for them and the chickens were completely changed out every 6 to 8 weeks. I'm sure improvements have been made since then but it was noisy and smelly. Not something I'd want to do. There were 4 hens in each cage and some of them didn't have a feather left on their body. It was kept lit 24/7 so the chickens laid around the clock. I would think that there would be a demand for the fertilizer.

 

[mundamanu]

There is a very active Yahoo group dedicated to commercial broiler growers. The url is http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/broilers/

Most of the discussion is off topic, but the most active posters are active growers and there is a lot of discussion about the business end of things, especially the grower's relationships with their integrators. Many of the posters are unhappy with being growers, but many are also happy. It seems to me that a lot depends on what integrator you are growing for.