Confession...

[sleuth]

If you really don't want to raise animals for meat then don't.

Just grow veggies and fruit and trade for meat if you want.

Ah, but I do... it's got to save some $$$, right? and you get healthier meat.
It's convincing the family that is the hard part, and figuring out the best way to avoid the bloodiest aspects of it.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Well, I hope you never have to then. But really, its not a bad skill to obtain for emergency situations....you never know.
But speaking on a practal level, I was once in a situation where I had more birds than I had time to process and I was employed full-time and wasn't quite as skillful as I eventually became with processing....and I happened to have an asian aquaintance that I struck a deal with. I told him if he would clean all my birds, I'd give him 1/3 of them and I'd get 2/3s. It was a good arrangement for us both. He was better at it than me and I suddenly had less expenses and lots of meat. Just a thought.
Regarding bones in meat.....I usually remove bones and boil them down to make broth, which I can and that only leaves me with lots of stew meat to put in bags in the freezer.

 

[Emerald]

If you really don't want to raise animals for meat then don't.

Just grow veggies and fruit and trade for meat if you want.

Ah, but I do... it's got to save some $$$, right? and you get healthier meat.
It's convincing the family that is the hard part, and figuring out the best way to avoid the bloodiest aspects of it.

It really doesn't with chickens(at least I dont' think so) I raise them for the eggs and we are paying about 60 a month on feed for those monsters. and I get about 8 to 10 dozen a week on a good week and about 6 to 8 on bad week. I dont' even try to calculate the cost per dozen anymore. I figure I spent that much or more when I had a dog and my dog didn't give me eggs. haha

 

[Wannabefree]

My kid runs away when I tell her it's slaughter day. She doesn't mind eating the birds, just doesn't want to partake of the slaughter. The meat birds she was ready to see gone. We raised 10 CornishX last year, she never named them, and by the end of 8 weeks she hated those birds The last week she kept asking when they were going to "get evicted." Keep in mind, it's aeenager i'm talking about, but she is about as soft hearted with animals as my 8 year old niece. Straight up animal lover....but CornishX's just bring out the worst in all of us before it's over So, there's an option for you.

 

[Denim Deb]

Confession...

I don't want to raise chickens or rabbits for meat for 3 reasons:
1. The kids want to name all the animals and it will be hard to explain why Lucy went missing. And Bobbie. And Gertrude. And Matilda. And...
2. I don't care much for butchering and I can't imagine it would be cost-effective to pay someone else to do it.
3. I don't like to eat meat on the bone and it's hard to raise a boneless chicken. If you're going to suggest butchering my own chicken and making it boneless, see #2.

OK, that made me laugh. I wanted to post a link, but was having problems. It was for a Gary Larson cartoon-boneless chicken ranch.

 

[Hinotori]

There. I got it for you.

 

[Emerald]

 

[Denim Deb]

Thanks!

 

[pinkfox]

OMG LOL!

in terms of meat...if the processing/fees are an issue figure out what meats you like most and outsource...
eat alot of beef talk to the farmer down the road about buying half his cow...they drop it off at the butcher you pay the agreed upon price to him for the cow and the greed upon price to the butcher and pick it up done (the price is usually comparitive to grocery stores when doing it "large scale" liek that and you know wht your getting)
for chickens, having aprcessor do 4 or 5 her and 8 there is NOT cost effective..so find a local butcher and find out where his bulk rates start...it may be that the price becomes worth it at 25 birds, it may be youd have to raise 100 birds at once to make it worth it...but its worth finding out then raise em all yourself and do a bulk processing that way...again depending on how many at once and your local prices it usually works out a little more than the grocery store but not by much And their quality doesnt even compare...

for the things you cant raise in big enough numbers (say it only becomes cost effective if you raise 500 chickens at a time) find locl folks to barter with...
there raising chickens your good with cars...ill to your oil changes in exchange for this many chickens, or this many dozen eggs....
hubby good at building stuff...barter building with the pig farmer the next county over for half a hog ect...

honestly, i realy dont think raising your own meat (and heck host of the time veggies) is realy going to save you much money especially in the beginning...BUT your comparing quality...

 

[FarmerJamie]

Hi, don't know where you live in Ohio, but I know several processors in central and eastern who will do chicken for $2-4 per bird, depending on how much you want them to do for you.

My meat birds cost me $10-12 total each. Cost effective? Don't compare against store-bought factory chicken. There is a company nearby that is selling "farm-raised" chicken for about $40 per bird when you price it out by pound. Same cornish-x's, same processor, more or less the same feed (I asked them). $10 versus $40 seems cost-effective to me.

With regards to #1, every kid is different, even mine had mixed reactions, by the third batch, all was well.

you can do this.

Probably more cost effective if you can find birds that are good for both meat and eggs, right?
When looking for a "processor" what would I look up in the directory? Butchers, Meat processors?

The bird selection really depends on your circumstance. I have full-time employment and signification volunteer work outside the home. My situation lends itself to quick-in/quick-out with batches of Cornish-X's of 30-50 birds each. 8-10 weeks from chicks to a freezer full of succulent meat. Some folks are "on the farm" 24x7 and prefer the long and slow of dual-purpose birds, butchering some every few months or as needed. I'm treading lightly here, because everyone has their own opinion. Only you can decide what's right for your situation.

I have contact info for one processor near Ashland, Ohio, and another near New Philadelphia. If you'd like, I can PM them to you.