Episode 70. Beginning pastured poultry farmers have a common question: “What are the margins in raising pastured poultry?” In other words, “will it work?” The margins in your pasture-raised broiler business is what’s left over after you pay for expenses. The margin is the profit that goes back into the business. Mike Badger answers that listener question in this episode by showing you how to calculate the cost of the raising a broiler.
This question has been answered before by Mike and Grady Phelan. In episode 28, Mike and Grady walk through calculating price in different housing systems and at different scale. Listen to PPT028 How to set broiler prices that show a profit.
Pastured Poultry Headlines
Pastured Poultry Nutrition: A European study, “Fatty acid composition of breast meat in two lines of slow-growing chickens reared conventionally or on pasture by Teodora Popova” concluded that the the pastured poultry production model contributed to higher omega 3 and lower omega 6:3 ratio. The study looked at the effect of genetics and pastured poultry model and concluded that the pasture had a greater impact. The lines of birds were La Belle and Bresse Gauloise. Read the report.
Speckled Sussex Hatched: Mike sourced, incubated, and hatched a small batch of Speckled Sussex chicks. 20 chicks are in the brooder right now. The Speckled Sussex is a dual purpose breed with a great disposition. Hens lay a large egg. It’s an all around great homestead bird. More info coming soon. The Badger’s love this breed.
Muscovy Ducks: Mike is currently evaluating Fertrell’s non-soy protein crumble by custom feeding a group of Muscovy Ducks from Fifth Day Hatchery. Stay tuned for updates on the ducks and the feed.
What are the margins on pasture-raised broilers?
Listener Alex is contemplating a move to back to the farm and simply asks, is pastured poultry feasible and is there enough margin to support a family?
Mike walks through the basic formula for figuring out how much it costs to raise each pound of pasture-raised chicken for a group of 250 birds to a 4 pound carcass. The big variables are feed cost, feed conversion, and labor, but you need to start somewhere. This exercise yields a conservative and ideal price per pound that can be adjusted for local markets and goals.
Episode 52 of PPT is recommended because it shows how Mike uses Pastured Poultry to make a living. Spoiler alert: it’s not all from raising and selling chicken to consumers.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Fighting Farmer 22 – complementary farm enterprises.
Fighting farmer 21 – Value-adding poultry.
