Let’s Raise a Chicken

I recently received a promotion from one of my suppliers advertising eight way cut cases of chicken for thirty nine cents per pound. As I stared at the flyer I couldn’t help but wonder how it is possible to purchase a chicken for so little.
Let’s figure that you and I want to start a small chicken production. We learn that an average chicken takes 4 months to reach maturity and eats an average of .25# of food per day. This means that a chicken will have consumed roughly 30# of feed by the time it is butchered. It seems reasonable that a chicken would require at least thirty seconds per day of time to feed and attend to. Multiply thirty seconds by 120 days and the chicken has cost 1 hour of labor by the time it is ready to be butchered. Now we have to feather, bleed and gut the bird before cutting it into 8 portions. For an adept butcher this process would take 15 minutes of hard work. Figure that we pay someone ten dollars per hour to care for and feed the bird and now our labor cost is $12.50
Let’s factor the feed at ten cents per pound and add $3 to the total price. This brings the cost of the chicken to $15.50. This is assuming the chicken is raised and butchered in the same place. We know this is not often the case- so let’s add .25/# for packaging, shipping and refrigeration. Now our four pound chicken has cost $16.50 to produce. We have not even touched on materials, utility costs, medicine, supplements etc.
How is it possible that I can buy a four pound chicken for $1.56? Think about that next time you are browsing the butcher case.