Cost to raise one chicken is the number that decides whether poultry farming is a business or an expensive habit — and almost no grower can state theirs from memory, because the cost lives in five places: the chick invoice, the feed tickets, the bedding, the energy bill, and the labor and repairs that never get attributed to a bird. This page builds the per-bird cost from those parts, with a worked example, the sensitivity that matters most, and the record-keeping that turns the calculation from an annual archaeology project into a weekly readout.
The Cost Stack for One Chicken
| Cost Line | Per Bird (Example) | What Drives It |
|---|---|---|
| Feed | ~$5.34 (10.69 lb at $0.50/lb) | 85%+ of total cost — driven by feed price and conversion, per the feed chart |
| Chick | ~$0.20 | Hatchery price, quantity breaks, seasonal availability |
| Bedding | ~$0.05 | Material type, litter depth, reuse practices |
| Energy (heat, fans, lights) | ~$0.15 | Climate, house tightness, fuel price — see the ventilation-linked litter guide for the tightness connection |
| Repairs, labor, meds, insurance allocation | ~$0.20 | House age, crew size, health events, coverage |
| Total per bird raised | ~$5.94 | At ~$6.12 per bird sold after 3% mortality — the gap is birds you fed but did not sell |
The Two Numbers That Decide the Answer
- Cost per bird placed vs cost per bird sold. The example raises at $5.94/bird placed but sells at $6.12/bird — mortality spreads the cost of birds that ate feed and produced nothing. Every point of mortality is a per-bird cost increase: 6% mortality instead of 3% adds roughly $0.19/bird on the example flock.
- Cost per pound produced. $178,050 ÷ 186,240 lb = $0.96/lb — the same number as the break-even price, because it is. This is the figure that compares to what your contract pays per pound, and the only one that survives a change in flock size.
What Moves Cost per Bird Most
Ranked by impact on the example: feed price ($0.05/lb moves cost ~$0.45/bird), FCR (0.01 improvement saves ~$0.03/bird), mortality (each point adds ~$0.06/bird in the example), and average weight at catch (0.4 lb light spreads fixed costs over fewer saleable pounds). The profit margin guide covers the same levers from the revenue side; the feed cost guide covers the leak side of the largest one.
Tracking Cost per Bird in Poultry Log™
When expenses are tagged to the flock they belong to, cost per bird computes itself — weekly, not annually. The cost per bird guide covers the metric in depth; the profitability dashboard carries the trend across flocks; and the budget template forecasts the next flock's cost per bird from your own history. The record that makes all of it possible is the one built during the walk, not after settlement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to raise one chicken to market weight?
On the worked example — 30,000 Cobb 500 birds to ~6.4 lb at $0.50/lb feed — about $5.94 per bird placed and $6.12 per bird sold after 3% mortality. Your own number depends on feed price (the dominant line), conversion, mortality, and your fixed-cost allocation; the break-even guide builds the same stack per pound.
Why is cost per bird sold higher than cost per bird placed?
Mortality spreads the full cost of birds that ate feed but produced nothing saleable. At 3% mortality the example sells 29,100 of 30,000 birds; at 6%, 28,200 — roughly $0.19 more per saleable bird on the same cost base. That gap is why mortality control is a cost discipline, not just a health one.
What is cost per pound, and why does it matter more than cost per bird?
Total flock cost divided by pounds produced — $178,050 ÷ 186,240 lb = $0.96/lb on the example. It survives changes in flock size and average weight, which per-bird cost does not: a flock catching 0.4 lb light has a higher cost per pound on the identical spend, and that is the number contract payment per pound is compared against.
- 2026-10-06: Comprehensive rewrite. Cost-stack table, placed-vs-sold distinction, and ranked sensitivity analysis — replacing the earlier boilerplate version.
- Earlier version: short first-person note on tallying costs.