selling chicks

I would suggest finding out if you have a market for them before hatching any out.

I'm addicted to hatching, so I incubate and hatch as many as I can fit in the incubators. I sell my chicks to the local feed store for $1 each and she sells them for her profit. If I didn't have the feed store to take my dittles, I wouldn't hatch so many. Do not hatch without having a home for them. Maybe just hatch a few and see if they sell.

i'd suggest finding local poultry swaps ahead of time, and stick around and see what sells and how much... 

i just took 6 roos, 4 purebred silver grey dorking (culls) and 2 easter egger roos, sold all 6 before i even got the tarp off the truck for $5 each. found out everyone else was asking $15+. but then again, i went home with no birds, some took theirs back with em.  

i take birds to the sales to get rid of em. usually the culls, mutts and oddball breeds.  i'll take what i can get. usually $10 -15 for hens depending on breed, $5 for roos and between $5-10 for chicks depending on breed and age.

the sellers with chicks didn't do as well as those with half grown birds IMO.  so grow them out 4-6 weeks, then take to a sale, charge a bit more to cover some feed, and watch the hens leave fast. so you get more for girls, a bit less for boys, but it all balances out. 

last month in just 2 sales i made enough to cover 3 months of feed for my assorted cochin bantam and dorking flocks selling 9 roos, 7 hens and 4 chicks.

currently 23 adult birds, 12 about 6-8 weeks old, 16 under a week, and 40+ in the incubator due on sunday. oh and 24 month old quail and 7 adults.

Hi JTR,

Little story about selling them..... I decided that I'd like to have different colored eggs instead of just the pain brown ones I usually have. Back in Dec I ordered pullets from McMurray, cuckoo marans, ee's and blue andralusians. I figured I'd keep 2-3 of each and sell the rest. In the meantime I picked up 12 day olds from Tractor Supply for my broody hen. A few days before they were to be sent McMurray announced on FB that they had some extras and I picked up a package of 25 brown egg layers (chicken math ). I grew them out to 4 weeks (McMurrays) and 6 weeks (Tractor Supply pullets) and took them to the swap at our local Tractor Supply store on their chicken swap day. I sold the young 4 week pullets for $10 each or 3 or $25.00. I sold the 6 week old birds from Tractor Supply for $12 each. I came home with 5  4 week olds and 3 6 week olds. After all was said and done I sold 54 and still had 8!  I'll take these 8 to a future swap.  My expenses were the chicks, 1 1/2 bags of chick starter, electricity, gas to go to swap & set up fee. I already had a heated brooder and all accessories and didn't need to spend on these.  I figure I had about $3.50 each into the chicks plus my time. To me it was well worth doing. I came home and ordered more chicks to come in each week for the next 3 weeks. This is coordinated with different chicken swaps in my area. I figure after this time interest declines in the summer but I'll keep my options open. I'm not sure what you can get in your area for chicks that are a few weeks old but it definitely is worth checking out. Just my 2 cents worth. Hope this helps