Any money buying hatching eggs, hatching out and selling chicks? If so what breeds?

[flipflops]

I am curious if there was enough money to be made in buying hatching eggs, maybe from rare or certain breeds, and incubating and hatching out chicks and selling them? I love chickens so much and didn't know if this was something that might produce a little extra income for supporting my chicken and pets!? Sorry if this question has been asked tons before!

 

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

If you want to hatch say, a hundred, you could inquire of your local farm supply store. Ask them the regulations surrounding 'chick days'. They would have to be different kinds.

 

[flipflops]

Would rather do a particular breed that may sell well or have high demand? I didn't know if maybe silkies, or rare large fowl like biel, Barnevelder, jubilee or lavender orpingtons, Faverolle etc might do well?

 

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

Would rather do a particular breed that may sell well or have high demand? I didn't know if maybe silkies, or rare large fowl like biel, Barnevelder, jubilee or lavender orpingtons, Faverolle etc might do well?

Well, that can be tricky. It's not really a money-making deal unless you really know how to put yourself out there. Word of mouth is almost always the best way to advertise.
Take it from a large fowl person, bantys are a breeze to house. You can fit more in your space. The problem is, they are not commercial. Small eggs, small carcass.
Do a little research. Find out what Cackle hatchery sells the most of. Look hard before you leap.

 

[ZachyWachy]

I want to do the same type of thing(but only so that I can get more birds!) but am only planning on doing it in my general area, cache valley. Anyway, I would say that you could make money with any breed, it is just easier with the more popular breeds because you don't have to be known as well. I would say to start local/ online. Maybe you can get some really good breeding birds and sell to some of the hatcheries themselves! The good breeding birds is really important though. That is what I think would work, also showing your birds, the better your birds can actually be ranked, then the more some people will want them, if they want better quality birds. However, if you don't have the money to get good breeding stock, then you can get the best you can and breed for better as well as sell locally.
Good luck!

 

[rebrascora]

If you are talking about small scale, I would say it is almost impossible to compete with the hatcheries especially if you are buying hatching eggs in to incubate, rather than breed them yourself.
The following are some things that occur to me off the cuff that you need to consider....

I would imagine that the majority of people want sexed pullets rather than straight run or the option to return/exchange any cockerels. It doesn't sound like you would be in a position to offer that option.

If your hatching egg supplier isn't local, you are likely to have a lower hatch rate due to eggs being scrambled in the post.... that will really eat into any profits.

If it was financially viable to do it, the breeder who is supplying the hatching eggs, would probably be doing it themselves to make money.

You have to be prepared to deal with the casualties that will almost certainly occur from time to time because the more you hatch, the more likely you are to have some sick/malformed chicks.... are you going to want to spend time trying to fix them and will people want to buy "gimpy" ones or be prepared to cull them?

Are you going to offer them vaccinated?

Can you ensure your power supply? If you are talking about rarer breeds, the eggs will be more expensive and a power outage at the wrong time could really wipe out your profits.

Are you prepared to deal with difficult customers wanting refunds etc for chicks that die, which might be as a result of their poor management or maybe poor quality breeding stock, which would be difficult to establish once the chicks leave your care?


I have to say, it has to be kinder to the chicks to be hatched and sold locally rather than sent out mail order, with all the associated stress, so from a welfare perspective, more people doing this has to be a good thing. Whether there is any chance of a profit in it is another matter.

Good luck

Barbara

 

[CraigT]

You could also look into your local FFA etc into what is commonly used in the show arena and focus on producing show quality birds and breeding...