Cost & Economies of Raising / Butchering Your Own Meat ??

[Nifty]

I obviously have a bit more experience with the economies and costs associated with raising chickens for eggs / meat than I do with other animals. When I'm asked about chickens (eggs / meat) my response is usually: You can't compete on cost / pound or cost / egg with the huge commercial factories that have HUGE economies of scale. You can of course compete with quality, knowing how the animals were treated, and knowing exactly what they ate.

My question: Is this the same for all other animals used for meat? Do the pros / cons scale up with larger animals?

I ask because my city-slicker friend has this dream of owning a cow, or doing a cow co-ownership and letting the cow graze in the grassy hills and then he ends up with really cheap, high quality meat (he focuses on the really cheap aspect).

So, after purchasing, raising (feeding, care, etc.) and paying someone to do full processing, where do people usually end up, especially ones like my friend who just want a single cow, a couple pigs, etc. I'm guessing it is probably just like raising chickens for eggs / meat as it relates to cost, quality, etc?

What's your experience and your thoughts?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I think it really depends on your location and feed available. If your friend has lots of space and pasture, he very well may be able to raise very cheap beef! I raise my own meat chickens and lamb, and I know I pay more raising my chickens than I could buy them in the store. BUT, if I were to buy free-range pastured chicken from a local farmer, I am probably raising it cheaper than I could buy it that way. I think I can raise my lamb cheaper than I can buy lamb in the store, and certainly less expensive than if I bought pastured lamb from a local farmer. I have to buy in a good chunk of my feed, since I have a small acreage. If someone has to buy all the feed and pay someone to butcher, they may be ending up spending more than storebought, but like you said the better quality meat and knowing how your animal lived and what it ate is priceless!

I've never raised a hog, but Freemotion is the queen of glean, and she raises hogs on almost all (or totally all?) free food! You can't get cheaper than that! And OFG does similar feeding, and she butchers her own. Butchering (and wrapping) can be one of the most expensive parts to raising your own meat, so if you can do that yourself you really save a good chunk of money!

 

[jodief100]

With my chickens, what I sell in laying hens and eggs pays for the costs of raising what we eat. We process 30-50 surplus roos a year. We don't eat the goats because we can sell them for more than what I buy beef and pork for.

My friends are the same with thier pigs as I am with the chickens. They have three sows and one boar. What they sell the piglets for pays for the 3 they put in the freezer (3 teenage boys in that family).

I doubt you will get really cheap, but you may get equivalent to the store prices for better quality.

You really can't compete pricewise with fattening cows in a lot feed situation where they stuff them full of corn and soybeans bought by the hundred ton for 20% of what you pay per pound.

 

[elevan]

I'm working on my first steer calf for meat. 100% grass fed / hay fed (no grain).

Initial cost: $50
Milk for bottle feeding: FREE
Medication to bring him back to health when he went downhill: $50 (I'm adjusting because I didn't need whole bottles of stuff)
Grass Feeding: FREE
Hay for winter: $280
Processing Fee (approx): $55 + $0.45#

He'll weigh about 1,000-1,200 # when we take him in as grass fed.


For me quality outweighs all else even though my situation is giving me beef at a great cost. Now, if I were feeding grain costs would be much higher.
I also live in an area where I can get hay at a great price.