Alrighty, so just wanted to give some pricing updates and post some photos. The “chicks” (they’re huge but I guess they still technically are chicks) have finally taken to foraging around a bit more. We have stopped free feeding them (on the advice of a friend), which has forced them to get off their lazy bums and walk around. Day by day they’re venturing a bit further from their shelter around their pen, pecking for bugs and vegetation. I’m glad, I was worried they would just grow fat in place and not be able to move any longer. They’ve got about 3 more weeks until we process, I’m anxious to weigh them.
So far, our total investment is $56: $22 purchase, $34 in feed. Our cost per bird now at 5 weeks is $4.67. I’m very happy with that, and I’m even more anxious to see what our final cost per bird and cost per pound figures end up at.
I also learned that the reason they look so scraggly and naked and ugly is because they’re bred to have fewer feathers, for easier plucking. You learn something new every day.
