Feeder Pigs

[Nyboy]

Bob a lot of the expensive you list would also be there with out animal land, water, taxes. I am talking 1 hog not whole farm full hogs. Bay had Purchase price, food, fencing, fuel and butchering not sure what else. Still 4x price store bought?

 

[bobm]

While it is true that the land, taxes, HO insurance would still be there no matter what you do with the land. In accounting one has to assign the BEST rent price of these items for the constant costs weather it is used for hog production or recreation or ??? Uncle Sam,State, County. City does regarding your taxes and what is allowed as a tax expense deduction. Do you own the building where you have your dog grooming business ? If you do, you can depreciate the building over 27 years. So you may be overpaying on your taxes if you don't take the depreciation. How about your truck? did you buy it for your business' exclusive use ? you can depreciate it as well as expenses for it too. How about your dogs that you purchased for breeding purposes ... those are depreciatable as well as their other costs too. How do you assign a profit for the sale of their offspring to figure out what profit that you actually put in your pocket if you can't figure out your true expense costs Etc.

 

[Nyboy]

LOL Bob I don't eat my dogs, was just wondering price of 1 home raised ham vs store bought ham.

 

[ninnymary]

Nyboy, since Bay already had her land and most of her supplies to build the pens, I would think it was just the price of the piglet and whatever feed she had to supplement with. But let's wait and see what she has to say.

Mary

 

[ducks4you]

nope
Chicken feed is ~$10.00/50 pound bag and I do go through it.
UNLESS you graze your meat animals exclusively, the costs do add up.
BUT!!!!, the taste is fantastic and I KNOW what my birds eat (including the leftover pork chops from the other night!)
For the rest of us, if you know a small livestock breeder, you can split costs at butchering time and fill your freezer. This was the retirement business of the 2nd owner of my property. HE was the one who split the property, 45 acres left as farmland, 5 acres surrounding the home, so that he could buy young steers in the early spring, fatten them on less than 1/2 the property (grazing), making hay (which cost $) on 3 acres to put up for the next spring's feeding.
On butchering day he would paint the name of the buyer of each of the 5 steers, and then they would pay him and collect their meat at a local meat locker.
He was making money, but he did have an overhead.
I understand from my neighbor that he hasn't had beef like that before or since.

 

[Devonviolet]

Man! You really laid it out like it IS, @bobm!

Yes, when you figure the ACTUAL cost of producing food on a small scale, it costs more than you would pay in the grocery store.

But, as you mentioned, part of the equation is the quality, of the end product & knowing your food was raised humanely & fed non-toxic feed in relative cleanliness.

Because of all the factors, that you correctly mentioned, I would never try to raise meat animals, to market as a living. I think Baymule is in the same page as me on this. I raise food, for our own use, mainly so I know where my food came from & that it is non-toxic & safe. If I can sell some of what I grew, to cover my costs - awesome!

But, to sell food, for a living . . . ain't gonna happen on Devonviolet Acres!

We butchered our own pig, to save on our costs. I figured that saved us $145! So, for us, it was well worth it. My processing costs ended up being $2.10/lb. I know Baymule paid more than that, since she had the butcher do all the smoking & processing.

Butchering the pig was a lot of work. But, I would definitely do it again! Now, I just have to convince DH to let me build a pen where the smell won't run us or our neighbors out of house & home.

​

 

[seedcorn]

Processing is a huge cost in larger animals. In past it was 2X what the animal was worth. Why I quit.

I looked at chicks last week to raise, $3 each. By the time you feed them, you are in red vs. store bought. In fact, if we want fried chicken, just go to place that does a good job, buy it-much cheaper.

 

[baymule]

Cost of piglet $60.00
Cost of feed $190
Processing cost $229.80

Total out of pocket
expenses $479.80

Hanging weight 159 pounds

Cost per pound $3.02

This does not include cost of facilities, farm insurance policy, my time, and all those other items @bobm listed.

@Nyboy I know I can catch pork chops in a family pack on sale, cheaper than $3.02 a pound. But I don't know ANYWHERE I can buy smoked, lean, thick cut bacon for $3.02 a pound. I am very happy with the whole process from buying the piglets, slopping around in the mud and pig poo, to cooking delicious bacon last night. Pork chops are thawing in the refrigerator tonight for supper tomorrow night.

 

[Nyboy]

Bay I am surprised at $3.02 about same as store bought. I thought home raised would be higher since store bought deals in large numbers. Can you call your meat organic ?

 

[Nyboy]

Is there a big difference between butchering a deer vs hog ? Both 4 legged mammals. I really like the idea of cruelty free meat.