Pasture raised chicken $32/whole chicken

Here in Southern California, I got my recent email from one of the CSAs I follow specializing in pasture raised meats.  After being sold out for a while and only supporting their pre-sold 'shares', they finally had pasture raised whole chicken (and parts) for sale.

I haven't been paying attention recently, but the price caught my eye, $32/for a chicken.

$32 for a 3.5-4 lb chicken.   Aka, $8/lb roughly.

I spot checked my other CSAs, yep, $196 for a 6 bird box.

Last time I check, sometime last fall they where roughly $24 or $6/lb.

I think the place I get my organic chickens from had them for $4-5/lb last year. But they aren't selling yet this year. Are chickens 'in season' where you are? That could affect the price. (I admit I also buy...inorganic? ...chicken meat, because it is less expensive, and available all the time.)

The cost is why, when I get an organic chicken, I use all of it -- and feel comfortable doing so. Meat, bone broth, schmaltz for tamales (I know, I'm mixing cultures), gribenes for potlucks. The ones I get don't come with organ meats, which I appreciate; I'm not ready for those. They sell the feet separately - I have a pack in the freezer for making some stiff, awesome, chicken stock, like my great-grandmother used to.

That might be part of it.  I think the last outage was due to the slower winter months, but we're kind of year round.

If that's true though, I would expect some heavy production coming up as everything locally has been growing and green since mid-January

Our Kroger's has organic chicken for $3.49 a pound, but recently, when we were in Memphis, they had their already roasted Simple Truth organic chickens for $9.99, and these are like 5-pounders, so to get them cooked, it is just $2 a pound. 

If chicken were that expensive, I wouldn't be eating them.  For $32, I could purchase enough beans and limed-corn to satisfy my protein needs for a week.  For $32, I could buy a nice-sized brisket and put it into the Barbecue pit for 16 hours for Texas BBQ.

For $32, if you are over 50, you can go to our local Humane Association and buy a dog or cat and still have change left over.  So, that chicken better come with a leash and collar and be able to give a paw on command.

The pricing might be regional also; I would think CA prices would be higher than my Midwest prices just as they are for many other things.  I will be buying a bulk order of chicken this fall for the first time; the price for whole birds is $4.75/lb.