WOW! Haven't posted since December 31st of 2011! Sorry for being gone so long but not sure I've been missed too much
How has everyone been doing?
Getting back into it this year, finally have finances built up enough to afford feed. 700 chukar eggs at $0.62/ea and 700 pheasant eggs at $0.65/ea. Don't know if thats good prices or not but cheapest I could find from the people I have worked with in the past. Few years ago I was charging $7.25 for 50/50 pheasant and $5.25 for chukar. Now, game farms are paying $10.00 for 50/50 pheasant and $8 for chukar. Charging customer about $21-$22 for pheasant. Not sure how long people can keep going to farms to hunt. Went with some friends last weekend for a 6 bird hunt and it was $130. I think alot of people have quit raising birds after feed costs skyrocketed because most game farms ran out of birds about Feb 1st last year and sounds like they are having the same problems again this year, especially for chukar. The litle Budha is 3 1/2 years old now so she can start helping me out back and loves seeing the birds.
A lot of work to get done after not using the pens for a couple years. Raised about 350 chukar this year, and as soon as they were out the door, the rats moved in to their brooder house. Had to gut and redo all of the insulation plus some flooring where they chewed through. Go that all done now and time to address the pheasant pen. I'll try to get some pics at some point to show how the farm looks today.
Also, got a broken Digital Bradley Smoker from a buddy last weekend. Got her fixed by Wednesday night and gotta see this weekend how it compares to my MasterCraft. Since you guys got me into smoking a year ago, I do it any chance I get. Problem is the wife doesn't like smoked food. She'll be on her own this weekend
Author
