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<blockquote data-quote="simme" data-source="post: 1676590" data-attributes="member: 40418"><p>A few facts about chicken farming.</p><p></p><p>The most physical work is removing the dead chickens from the house. Mortality is high in the first couple of days. But at that point, a five gallon bucket will hold hundreds of baby chicks. Mortality is fairly low during most of the growout and then picks up the last two weeks when the chickens are larger. Then you can barely fit 5 dead chickens in that 5 gallon bucket. They "ripen" quickly in the environment. Walking many trips through a 500 foot house full of chickens - stepping over feed line and drinker lines without tripping, picking up and carrying out 6 pound dead chickens is work.</p><p></p><p>In my lifetime, I remember always hearing that there is no money in farming. Farmers barely get by. Struggle to pay their bills, lose their farms, go bankrupt, etc. Sometimes that is true. Everyone could use more money. Human nature to think that the guy up the chain is getting all the money while the farmer does not get his share. In my area, there are cattle farmers, chicken farmers, grain farmers, a few dairy farmers and tree farmers. Based on appearances, who is doing the best? Who has the most reliable income? Who is most often expanding? Looks to me like it is the chicken farmers. Sure ain't the dairy guys. Sometimes, you have to give the trees away to get them gone. An 8 house chicken farm can pay near $500,000 per year to the farmer. Then he has to pay himself, employee and expenses.</p><p></p><p>The farmer signs a contract with the terms. Generally something like base pay of $0.055 per pound of chicken with a premium added or subtracted based on cost of production. If the grower is top notch in performance and equipment - culling, ventilation control, ammonia control, temperature control, rodent control, height of feeders and drinkers as the chickens grow, litter quality, etc etc, then cost of production is generally lower in his houses due to better feed efficiency and conditions. If he only picks up dead chickens every three days, does not repair equipment as needed, never raises the feeders and drinkers as they grow, keeps houses cold initially to save on gas, keeps houses hot later to save on electricity, does not maintain evaporative cooling, inside of house is as wet as his cow hay feeding area, then his chickens don't perform as well and he receives less money. For a given week, all growers that sell on that contract (same type of chicken and houses) have company cost of production calculated per pound of chicken produced. Pounds of feed to produce a pound of chicken is the big factor. Growers that produce a pound of chicken at a cost lower than the average cost for the week make more money for the company and they get extra pay for that as specified in the contract. Growers who produce chicken at a higher cost of production per pound make less money for the company and they get less as well. So the grower is competing against the average cost for the week - essentially the other growers that week. Good management and good luck - more money. Bad management or bad luck - less money. I think that is fair - being rewarded for better results. Raise better cattle and get paid more for them. Raise the same cattle with less input cost and keep more money from them. Sort of same principle. Sort of like paying people for what they produce instead of paying everyone the same regardless of what or if they produce. </p><p></p><p>Newer houses are more efficient - equipment, lighting, ventilation, heating systems. Older houses can be upgraded to compete. Some companies have different contracts for older houses that have not been upgraded. They compete in their own group, but those contracts pay less. Grower can choose to not upgrade, save money on expenses, receive less money, but may be dropped down the road. AND, there may be so called free government money for energy efficiency upgrades or covid relief funds - equal opportunity for all to share in the government excess.</p><p></p><p>Most chicken farmers here also have cattle. "Free" fertilizer for the pastures and hay fields.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="simme, post: 1676590, member: 40418"] A few facts about chicken farming. The most physical work is removing the dead chickens from the house. Mortality is high in the first couple of days. But at that point, a five gallon bucket will hold hundreds of baby chicks. Mortality is fairly low during most of the growout and then picks up the last two weeks when the chickens are larger. Then you can barely fit 5 dead chickens in that 5 gallon bucket. They "ripen" quickly in the environment. Walking many trips through a 500 foot house full of chickens - stepping over feed line and drinker lines without tripping, picking up and carrying out 6 pound dead chickens is work. In my lifetime, I remember always hearing that there is no money in farming. Farmers barely get by. Struggle to pay their bills, lose their farms, go bankrupt, etc. Sometimes that is true. Everyone could use more money. Human nature to think that the guy up the chain is getting all the money while the farmer does not get his share. In my area, there are cattle farmers, chicken farmers, grain farmers, a few dairy farmers and tree farmers. Based on appearances, who is doing the best? Who has the most reliable income? Who is most often expanding? Looks to me like it is the chicken farmers. Sure ain't the dairy guys. Sometimes, you have to give the trees away to get them gone. An 8 house chicken farm can pay near $500,000 per year to the farmer. Then he has to pay himself, employee and expenses. The farmer signs a contract with the terms. Generally something like base pay of $0.055 per pound of chicken with a premium added or subtracted based on cost of production. If the grower is top notch in performance and equipment - culling, ventilation control, ammonia control, temperature control, rodent control, height of feeders and drinkers as the chickens grow, litter quality, etc etc, then cost of production is generally lower in his houses due to better feed efficiency and conditions. If he only picks up dead chickens every three days, does not repair equipment as needed, never raises the feeders and drinkers as they grow, keeps houses cold initially to save on gas, keeps houses hot later to save on electricity, does not maintain evaporative cooling, inside of house is as wet as his cow hay feeding area, then his chickens don't perform as well and he receives less money. For a given week, all growers that sell on that contract (same type of chicken and houses) have company cost of production calculated per pound of chicken produced. Pounds of feed to produce a pound of chicken is the big factor. Growers that produce a pound of chicken at a cost lower than the average cost for the week make more money for the company and they get extra pay for that as specified in the contract. Growers who produce chicken at a higher cost of production per pound make less money for the company and they get less as well. So the grower is competing against the average cost for the week - essentially the other growers that week. Good management and good luck - more money. Bad management or bad luck - less money. I think that is fair - being rewarded for better results. Raise better cattle and get paid more for them. Raise the same cattle with less input cost and keep more money from them. Sort of same principle. Sort of like paying people for what they produce instead of paying everyone the same regardless of what or if they produce. Newer houses are more efficient - equipment, lighting, ventilation, heating systems. Older houses can be upgraded to compete. Some companies have different contracts for older houses that have not been upgraded. They compete in their own group, but those contracts pay less. Grower can choose to not upgrade, save money on expenses, receive less money, but may be dropped down the road. AND, there may be so called free government money for energy efficiency upgrades or covid relief funds - equal opportunity for all to share in the government excess. Most chicken farmers here also have cattle. "Free" fertilizer for the pastures and hay fields. [/QUOTE]
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