1000 Chicken Operation

https://chatgpt.com/share/6973cfc3-c534-8010-9447-a4f246576d1f

10 lb for $15 at Walmart - [1]

$40 is small scale ineffiiciency.

Joel Salatin

Joel Salatin cost is - not released, only projected - [Joel Salatin has never publicly released a full, audited per-bird production cost breakdown. What exists are partial disclosures, interviews, talks, prices, and extension budgets explicitly modeled on his system. From those, we can reconstruct a tight, defensible cost envelope, but not a ledger-accurate number.] [2]

Real labor cost (normalized)

About 3–5 minutes per bird total across lifecycle

At $15–$20/hr equivalent:

➡ $1.00 – $2.50 per bird

Basic economics: $12 per chicken cost and $24/chicken gain.

For a 4.5 lb chicken.

Pasture (Salatin-grade) vs Industrial Broiler Cost (Summary)

Assumption

• Pasture-raised (Polyface/Salatin-grade) production cost (all-in, farm-level): $15 per bird (your planning assumption).
• Industrial broiler: use a widely-cited industry benchmark for total wholesale cost per pound.

Industrial Cost Benchmark (Wholesale-Level)

• Aviagen "Broiler Economics" (Dec 2025) reports:
  • Total wholesale cost per pound: $0.99/lb
  • Revenue per pound (spot): $0.95/lb

Per-Bird Equivalent (Example)

If you assume a typical whole-bird equivalent carcass weight of ~4.5 lb:

• Industrial cost per bird ≈ 4.5 lb × $0.99/lb = $4.46 per bird (wholesale-level)

Comparison Table

System	Cost basis	Cost metric	Notes
Pasture-raised (Salatin-grade)	Farm-level production cost	$15 / bird	Includes pasture system labor + infrastructure + processing + feed (grain-supplemented)
Industrial broiler	Wholesale-level benchmark	$0.99 / lb	Industry composite "total wholesale cost per pound" (not retail)
Industrial broiler (per-bird example)	Wholesale-level benchmark × assumed carcass wt	~$4.46 / bird	Example only; depends on carcass weight assumption

Takeaway

• Using these benchmarks, pasture-raised at $15/bird is roughly ~3× the industrial wholesale-equivalent cost per bird (e.g., $15 vs ~$4.5).
• This is why pasture-raised competes as a premium category rather than as a commodity substitute.