Starting a poultry farm, What are your thoughts?

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So, if the land could be rented for more, you actually have costs that aren't really figured in there, as the farmer is getting something in return other than cash.

I let the neighbor cut a couple acres of alfalfa on my property, usually for nothing. He also runs an excavating and trucking company. I was doing a drainage project today when he came to cut. I asked him if that alfalfa was worth five yards of pea gravel and he said he'd bring it over tomorrow. Free gravel? Not really, but it sounds good.
 
It "could" be rented for more, but when the person is a friend and a nice person, that seems to mean a little more than a few dollars. The main point is, if he mixes his own feed he will save money. Why buy corn at a feed mill for over $6 a 50 pound bag, when cost per bushel is only $3 something and that's all farmers are looking to get from it. Same thing with soybean and alfalfa. The fish meal he will have to go to the mill for, as far as I know, but if he grinds enough, like we do, you can get a bulk discount. Even pretend feed costs is $250 a month, still a lot cheaper than $500+
 
Yaay Loch'! I'm so glad all the family has 'embraced' chicken-ness.
Good luck with the poultry farm. I don't have any good advice to offer --- good luck and have fun.
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Lisa
 
There really is little to no profit in chickens. I will say this though, I once told an old guy "there ain't no money in chickens." He jumped down my throat and swore... He then said, "I KNOW there is a LOT of money in chickens, cause I put it there!" Unfortunately, that is how it works. The only folks making money is the really big guys. Saying that, you can sometimes break even with selling your chicken's eggs or chicks. But really, it is just for fun.

Dave
 
Something ALL of you are forgetting, this is AMERICA, it can be done!!! If you want to be in the chicken business than do it. Every single one of the big hatcheries started with nothing. Why can't you? In The good old U.S.A. we can be whoever we want to be. My advice, debt is is dumb and cash is king. Start off small and FIND a way to make money. You can do it!!!
 
This is a great thread! And also something we've been contemplating. We have over 100 acres, a love of chickens and a good source of income other than the farm. But I'd like to make some money on it. I'm trying to convince my husband so any other advice or pointers would be awesome!
 
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I agree here. Find a few breeds you really like, get quality stock, breed to stype and sell the excess birds to other dedicated hobbyists. There's 70,000 here. www.bestfarmbuys.com is another good site, fewer idiots and no spam.

That's what DH and I are doing with chickens. We got all of our cochins from private flocks and we plan to do some small scale breeding. I'd like to get a blue roo for blue/black/splash breeding and also keep our partridge strains going, maybe supplement from another breeder down the road for an outcross. We're not in this for money. We're in this because I want chickens and DH likes cochins and our DD likes chicks. Everyone's happy
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Trust with the chicken network that BYC has created, if you get good stock and breed good stock, word of mouth will be excellent advertising for you. It was people on here that assured me of the quality that another Michigan breeder had and other BYC'ers that liked the look of my non-hatchery cochins.

Good luck
 
I've been around poultry since I was able to walk. I turned the once family hobby into my own personal endeavour around the age of ten. Around the age of 12 or so I began selling to locals, and then selling hatching eggs here on BYC. I was making money, but between all the personal time it took me to take care of 100+ chickens, and feed cost. I was very lucky to be breaking even.

It's ALOT of work, and I can tell you this, just from running a small, small hatchery. Most of my money came from A)Hatching Eggs and B)Fully Grown Laying Hens
But when you think about it, it takes a chick five months to start laying! You can imagine the amount of chickens I had running around
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But now it's my senior year, and I didn't really have time to do it, along with school, and my afterschool job. I regret my decision to break it up and sell everything at least three times a week, but I know it's best for me in my situation.

No matter what you decide to do, enjoy it! I learned so much and enjoyed doing it. It's alot of fun if you can manage it correctly
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Best of Luck

-Austin
 
That's wonderful, Austin. It really is. It's great that you spent so much time and effort working with the birds and you may come back to it someday. Lots of us do. Anyone reading this though also has to keep in mind that say in Austin's example, breaking even when you are a teenager living at home is not even remotely the same thing as breaking even and making enough money to survive when you are on adult and it is an actual business where you are paying the payment on your home/property and all the other expenses for running a business. This thread was started a while ago, but I think the OP said their family was thinking about actually buying a farm to do this. In my opinion, making enough money to actually have this be the primary source of income and make payments on a property, is very, VERY difficult.
 

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