More Complications

After trying for several days to contact the nearby hatchery I wrote about in my last post, I realized that they were not going to be an option.  When I called the only number listed on their website, I got a recorded message that said, the number was not set up to take calls.  What??  After two days of that, I sent an email.  No reply there.  Then I did an internet search for an alternate phone number.  I found one, but it was for a construction business, but at the end of the message they gave a local phone number for the hatchery.  I called that number only to get the message that the customer had not set up a voice mail box.  As a last resort, I called the number for the construction company.  I wanted to at least try to leave a message and maybe get current information for the hatchery through that other number.  However, the voice mailbox for that number was full.  After 3 days of trying to get in touch with the hatchery, I had to move on.

Starting over, I began “shopping” hatchery websites.  There didn’t seem to be anything near me that caters to “back yard” chicken production.  I finally had it narrowed down to three well known hatcheries.  The prices were all going to be much higher than I had budgeted for, doubling the price per pound of my birds.  Now I had another decision to make.

For all my calculations, I had never considered the value of my time in raising these birds.  The savings in USD alone made it well worth the time I was spending.  And I enjoy the experience.  But now I would have to factor in more than just “paid out”, because if it was just a matter of cash outlay, I could buy chicken at my local co-op for the same price per pound that I would now be paying to raise birds.  Maybe even less, depending on any chicks lost in shipping.

Weighing cost against cost, tilted the scale in the favor of not raising birds.

Weighing environmental and ethical questions tipped the scale in favor of raising birds.

Adding my time to the equation tipped the scale back in favor of not raising birds.

But in the end, adding considerations of quality fresh food raised with love, and the fact that I do enjoy raising chickens helped me to decide in favor of continuing to raise meat birds.

Now the question became, how can I tip this very balanced scale more in favor of continuing to raise chickens?  In other words, what can do to make it much more economical again, and less time consuming, since those were my two biggest debits on the ledger sheet.

The answers to those questions came down to design, and flexibility in my budget.  I’ll leave those topics for the next post.