I thought someday is like to breed puppies...but...

[SoORchick73]

Chicken math has done me in! I LOVE watching my broody hens hatch eggs. I think I want to invest in an incubator and start hatching and selling eggs. The whole process is so exciting and fun. A hobby (outside being a baby nurse and mom of 4 -- this is right up my alley!) Do folks actually make money off this using an incubator (considering the cost of electricity? break even?) Id love to try it for a bit.
1. DIY incubator - yes or too much work
2. Breeds that sell best
3. Time of year matter?
4. Your favorites to hatch and keep
5. Where do you get hatching eggs??
6. .....deep gulp of morning coffee. sorry so many questions at once
7. Hatch rates in bator vs broody - I've only experienced latter
8. This is real important. Will someone help me explain to my husband why...why I need to add a few more to our flock of 30 (hey, we will replace some newbies and sell some! yeah??) I love the experience of chicklets hatching, then going to their new much awaited homes!
9. How much do you ask per chick? Per laying hen? Per pullet only weeks from laying...

Thank you!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

1- DIY 'bators can be very rewarding, theres a sense of pride that goes along with getting life to grow in something you made yourself. But, they can be a lot of work, depending on the set up you choose. That being said, there are lots of great choices for manufactured incubators out there. You'll have to do some research, weigh the pros and cons and decide which would be the better route for you.
2- Breeds that sell best: mostly depends on what people are into in your area. Craigslist, or some other local sales network, is a good way to gauge what's popular where you are.
3- favorites are hard to pick, they're all cute as little fluff balls, and you'll probably want to keep them all
4- I usually hatch eggs from my own flock, but occasionally I drive somewhere and pick them up or have some shipped to me. Shipped eggs are tougher to hatch and can be costly, but its exciting when you master them and have a good hatch!
7- my experience is that broodies typically have a better hatch rate, which makes sense, considering theyre made for hatching eggs. But, I get pretty good hatch rates in my incubators. The more you incubate, the better you get at it.
8- well, YES! You have to replenish your flock at some point! Layers age, things like predator attacks happen and sometimes broodies don't do their jobs as they should. A back up incubator is a great thing to have around if you need to finish off eggs or your flock is dwindling.
9- I typically sell chicks for $5 each the first week or so after they hatch. Depending on breed and which coop theyre in, I bump the price up as they get older. Some of my flocks free range, so I don't put as much feed into them, so I can ask a little less. I can always get $15 each for pullets and newer hens. Older hens might go for $10 each or less depending on the circumstances. I don't usually sell just pullets or hens, I do a ton of hatching and with that comes quite a few boys. Selling them in pairs or trios helps find homes for those extra guys.

I don't always make money, sometimes, but most of the time I'm happy if the chicks I hatch pay for their feed. But, like I said before, keeping them all is a hard thing not to do. When I just bite the bullet and sell, I do pretty good. I have 2 'bators running pretty much year round, with a few breaks in between, so I always have to sell at some point and not all the chicks I keep back end up being good enough to join my breeder flock. My incubators use very little electricity, so I don't even really factor that into cost. Of course, I say you should definitely get yourself an incubator. Theyre too much fun not to have around. Hubby will understand once he sees that first batch of adorable chicks

Good luck!

 

[dheltzel]

What part of the country are you in? The breeds in demand can vary a lot by area of the country. I find a lot of demand for "hipster" type laying breeds that are well known on the internet but unknown to the "old timers" I know that frequent the poultry shows. In other places, I bet meat production is a lot more prevalent than here.

The area also dictates the selling price, everything in more expensive in some places.

 

[SoORchick73]

Thanks you two! Now I'm very curious as to what a hipster breed is LOL It will be a fun adventure...

 

[cmfarm]

Chicks tend to sell the best in spring (Late February through early July) here. And then there is a small window in early fall. We are in Central Texas and it seems that once it starts to get really hot no one wants to buy chicks anymore. Breeds that tend to sell the best are the classics like RIR and Barred rocks, as well as buff orphingtons and silkies. People really like the interesting breeds and those with neat eggs colors, Like EEs, Marans and olive eggers. I have never hatched with broodies so I don't really know too much about that. I like to move chicks quick so I sell the more common breeds for $2.50 and rare breeds for $5-$10 each. POL pullets have been selling for around $30 each this year in the area. I really enjoy selling things (even though it can be a hassle at times) so like to hatch and sell lots of chicks.

 

[WalnutHill]

Chicken math has done me in! I LOVE watching my broody hens hatch eggs. I think I want to invest in an incubator and start hatching and selling eggs. The whole process is so exciting and fun. A hobby (outside being a baby nurse and mom of 4 -- this is right up my alley!) Do folks actually make money off this using an incubator (considering the cost of electricity? break even?) Id love to try it for a bit.
1. DIY incubator - yes or too much work
2. Breeds that sell best
3. Time of year matter?
4. Your favorites to hatch and keep
5. Where do you get hatching eggs??
6. .....deep gulp of morning coffee. sorry so many questions at once
7. Hatch rates in bator vs broody - I've only experienced latter
8. This is real important. Will someone help me explain to my husband why...why I need to add a few more to our flock of 30 (hey, we will replace some newbies and sell some! yeah??) I love the experience of chicklets hatching, then going to their new much awaited homes!
9. How much do you ask per chick? Per laying hen? Per pullet only weeks from laying...

Thank you!

1. I built a DIY incubator this spring and have just passed 300 eggs set, turkeys and chickens.
2. Very dependent on the area. If you have a large Asian population, Black Australorps. Rhode Island Red cockerels sell well for meat. Bantams for people who can't keep outdoor chickens.
3. I couldn't sell any chicks until June when it was warm enough not to need special brooding facilities.
4. Turkeys are my favorites, but Easter Eggers are a close second because they are mystery birds.
5. Most of my chicken hatching eggs come from my chickens, but Craigslist/local classifieds are a good source too. Turkey eggs I had to ship cross country.
6.
7. Incubator only, 50-75% average.
8. An aging flock doesn't lay well, so you have to get replacements. Why not make them yourself?
9. Chicks $5, POL $10-12, Laying $15, old layers $5-7, worn out stew hens $3-$5. I do well bundling old hens in 25, 50 or 100 so I can get rid of all of them rather than have them cherry picked.

 

[SoORchick73]

Wow I had no idea people kept chickens indoors! :O Learning so much from these replies. I'm in Southern OR, not a large area. Thanks to all of you that replied, I do very much appreciate it!

 

[SoORchick73]

1. I built a DIY incubator this spring and have just passed 300 eggs set, turkeys and chickens.
2. Very dependent on the area.  If you have a large Asian population, Black Australorps.  Rhode Island Red cockerels sell well for meat.  Bantams for people who can't keep outdoor chickens.
3.  I couldn't sell any chicks until June when it was warm enough not to need special brooding facilities.
4.  Turkeys are my favorites, but Easter Eggers are a close second because they are mystery birds.
5.  Most of my chicken hatching eggs come from my chickens, but Craigslist/local classifieds are a good source too.  Turkey eggs I had to ship cross country.
6.  
7.  Incubator only, 50-75% average.
8.  An aging flock doesn't lay well, so you have to get replacements.  Why not make them yourself?
9.  Chicks $5, POL $10-12, Laying $15, old layers $5-7, worn out stew hens $3-$5.  I do well bundling old hens in 25, 50 or 100 so I can get rid of all of them rather than have them cherry picked.

Thank you for all your replies. I am fascinated that you have so many to sell at a time. I live on 3 acres and worry about my chickens eroding our property. We are on hilly acreage and I feel like they are destroying their "favorite" places. My husband has raised a voice of concern over this...but they can't *really* tear down a whole hill right?? I suppose it wouldn't be as noticeable if they worked other areas but they tend to focus on certain spots. I also had no idea that people liked to purchase RIR cockerels for meat. I had a coworker trade her aging hens to some Hmong strawberry farmers for some strawberries. The things you learn...

 

[WalnutHill]

Thank you for all your replies. I am fascinated that you have so many to sell at a time. I live on 3 acres and worry about my chickens eroding our property. We are on hilly acreage and I feel like they are destroying their "favorite" places. My husband has raised a voice of concern over this...but they can't *really* tear down a whole hill right?? I suppose it wouldn't be as noticeable if they worked other areas but they tend to focus on certain spots. I also had no idea that people liked to purchase RIR cockerels for meat. I had a coworker trade her aging hens to some Hmong strawberry farmers for some strawberries. The things you learn...

My customers from Mexico, Central and South America and those from Eastern Europe snatch up all my excess cockerels.

My Asian customers prefer the black chickens, the blacker the better. I rarely have black chickens, however.

I would love to trade old hens for other farm products. But I'm almost the only farmer around.

 

[bobbi-j]

A couple of things to consider: Your local market and what you need to do to ship chicks. I don't know what the rules and regulations are for shipping, but you do need to figure that out before you start hatching and selling. (I realize you probably already know that, but there are people in the world who jump into something with both feet before researching, and then have no idea what to do when they need to do it,) You also need a plan for the ones that don't sell, and for the older hens that you'd be replacing with the younger ones. Do you have enough room, time and money to keep them until they die on their own? (You've already mentioned that they are decimating a hillside - and once that's been stripped of vegetation, they will move on to the next green area to destroy) How many coops do you have? How big? Will you need to spend money on more coops for them? Can you process them yourself? Do you have someone willing to take them off your hands? Are you in an area where other people raise chickens? Or where chickens are easily kept? These are just a few things that you need to keep in mind. I hope you can make it work for you.