Pasture-Raised Poultry: The Economics of a 200-Bird Flock

A pastured poultry enterprise is one of the fastest, most transparent ways to test whether small-scale farming can actually pay you back. Broilers finish in 8 weeks. Capital costs are modest. And you get a real answer — dollars in the bank — inside a single season. This is a full enterprise budget for a 200-bird batch, drawn from my own numbers and those of three operations I have advised.

Why 200 birds is the sweet spot

Below 100 birds, fixed costs (a mobile coop, a feed bin, a processing setup) don't spread out enough to make the labor worth it. Above 500 birds, most states require some form of licensed processing that a homestead scale doesn't justify. A 200-bird batch — run 3–4 times a season for 600–800 finished birds a year — sits inside the federal Producer/Grower Exemption (1,000 birds/year, on-farm processing, direct sales only) in the United States, which is the single most important regulatory line for a small operator.

Two hundred birds also fits a standard 10×12 ft mobile coop moved once daily on a rotation of roughly a half-acre over eight weeks. That's a scale one person can operate in 30–45 minutes a day.

Infrastructure: what you actually need

The one-time capital list for a serious 200-bird setup:

• Mobile coop — build for $600–$1,200 or buy for $2,500–$4,000. A field pen (Salatin-style) works; a Suscovich-style skid-tractor works better in rougher terrain.
• Feeders and bell waterers — plan for 1 feeder per 25 birds and 1 waterer per 40 birds. Budget $300–$500.
• Brooder — an insulated 4×8 ft box with radiant heat plates. $250 in materials.
• Processing setup — plucker, scalder, kill cones, chill tank. Budget $2,500–$4,000 for a functional homestead-scale rig, or pay $3.50–$6/bird at a poultry processor.

All-in one-time capital ranges from $3,500 (DIY, custom processing) to $9,000 (bought coop, own processing setup). Amortize this over five seasons of 600 birds and you're looking at $1.00–$3.00 per bird in depreciation.

Feed: the number that dominates everything

Feed is 60–70% of the cost of every pastured broiler in America. A Cornish Cross will eat about 15 lb of feed over its eight-week life to reach a 4.5–5 lb dressed weight. At $0.35–$0.55/lb for a quality non-GMO or soy-free ration in 2026 markets, that is $5.25 to $8.25 per bird in feed alone.

The three levers that move the number:

1. Feed conversion ratio (FCR). Good genetics + clean water + shade + daily moves keeps FCR at 2.3–2.5. Poor management pushes FCR to 3.0+, adding a full dollar of feed per bird.
2. Bulk buying. A ton at a time saves 15–25% over 50-lb bags.
3. Slower-growing genetics. Freedom Rangers eat 10–15% more total feed but tolerate more pasture and often finish with a higher-value carcass.

Labor: the honest hours per week

A tightly run 200-bird batch takes about 4–5 hours of labor per week outside of brood and processing weeks:

• Daily coop move + water + feed check: 25–35 minutes.
• Weekly water line clean, feeder refill from bulk bin: 60 minutes.
• Brooder week 1–3: add 15 minutes per day.
• Processing day: 8–14 hours for a two-person crew.

Total labor across the eight-week cycle plus processing: roughly 55–75 hours. At a modest $18/hour opportunity cost, that is $1,000–$1,350 in labor value for the batch — a number to respect but not to charge on your P&L until the operation can support paying yourself.

Processing and the regulation question

The federal 1,000-bird Producer/Grower Exemption allows on-farm processing of birds you raised, sold directly to consumers, restaurants (in some states) and retail (in others), without USDA inspection — but state rules vary widely. Some states allow up to 20,000 birds under a Special Permit; others require inspection above 250. Call your state department of agriculture before your first batch, not after.

If custom processing costs $4.50/bird and you're doing 600 birds a year, that's $2,700 you could keep by doing it yourself — which pays back a $3,500 processing rig in a season and a half.

Sales: where the margin lives

Retail pricing in 2026 for pasture-raised, on-farm-processed whole birds is $6.50–$9.50/lb depending on region and channel. A 4.5 lb bird retails at $29–$43. If you sell at $8/lb through a farmers market or on-farm pickup, that's $36 gross per bird.

Channels ranked by margin (highest first):

1. Direct farm pickup and CSA — no distribution cost, best price.
2. Farmers markets — good price, ~$40 in market fees + 4 hours labor.
3. Restaurants — reliable volume, but $2–3/lb lower than retail.
4. Wholesale/retail store — lowest price, only worth it above 600 birds/year.

The full P&L for a 200-bird batch

A realistic, honest budget for a well-run 200-bird batch, all figures per batch:

• Revenue: 195 finished birds × 4.5 lb × $8/lb = $7,020
• Chicks (200 @ $2.75): $550
• Feed (3,000 lb @ $0.45): $1,350
• Brooder heat, bedding, supplements: $140
• Processing (DIY: bags, ice, blades, propane): $260
• Marketing, market fees, fuel: $250
• Depreciation on capital (per batch of 4/yr): $500
• Total costs: $3,050
• Gross margin: $3,970 / batch — roughly $20/bird before labor.

Run three batches a season and you're looking at $10,000–$12,000 in gross margin — for what most operators clock as 200–225 hours of work. That is $45–$55 an hour, at a scale a single person can run alongside another job.

When to scale — and when not to

The math above holds up to about 1,000 birds a year — the ceiling of the federal exemption. Above that, you enter licensed-processing territory: another $60,000–$150,000 in facility investment, or per-bird processing that eats $4–6 of your margin. Most operators who cross that line do so only because they've built enough direct-market demand to guarantee sales.

If a 200-bird batch pays as promised, do not immediately double it. Do it three more times, refine your processing speed, lock in bulk feed pricing, and prove your market will absorb the volume at the same price. Pastured poultry is one of the few enterprises where discipline, not ambition, is the shortest path to real income.