Beginning a Poultry Farm/Hatchery - Thoughts and advice?

[SourRoses]

I'm not sure if it still applies, but when I was young, I read some advice in a fiction series that had some generally good tidbits at times (ok, it was a horse series ), that stuck with me.
Regarding the plethora of horse farms in Kentucky. It went something like...

The farms that built up slowly, gaining experience, bloodlines, and reinvesting the profits back into the farm infrastructure, they survived the downturns and stood the test of time.

The farms that were launched quickly, mostly on credit, so that they had to turn a profit quickly or fail... well, they failed.
Any one incident (fire, illness) or period of economic downturn could be the end, and the owners were ruined.

Now I'm not sure if this still applies to the modern world. I got all my business education from horse books
Some startups nowadays seem able to launch on a wing and a prayer and somehow make it. Do we know how many fail?
Rather than saying "don't", I'm encouraging you to consider how. Huge investments from the get-go may not be logical.

Here's where, in my own life, I try to find a super logical, strategic thinker to bounce things off of.
I think @U_Stormcrow might fit the bill. Consulting fees may apply (hehe).

 

[Silexian]

You seem to have a good plan. You are correct in offering breeds were you are not directly competing with hatcheries and farm and home stores. Peoples interests in colored eggs is staying fairly steady. So another good business idea. In my operation. Even though more people now prefer silver barnevelders over gold. The desire for a dark egg layer, to add color to their egg baskets. Is outweighing the feather color preference, for now. So even though I prefer the gold barnevelders and have put a lot of work into them. I have found some quality silver barnevelders. So I will start offering silver along with my gold barnevelders. Demand will determine how much I expand or shrink the two flocks. Wishing you the best in your business venture. It will definitely be a roller coaster ride. Hopefully you get to put your arms up and yell with excitement. More than you have to lean over the railing.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I had to shut mine down. Not enough demand, couldn't get the prices I needed to break even after accounting for taxes licensing and all the rest. Ultimately not worth the hassle. Perhaps not the best resource to go to for advice. But yes, the above is true. Risk big, potentially lose big.

 

[raingarden]

My concern would be shipping. How to efficiently get birds out. What's the nearest hub? Does everything go to Salt lake or Denver adding an additional day in transit? Do you physically have to deliver them to the airport? I was shocked to learn that Privett makes the 2 hour drive to Lubbock Texas to get chicks on planes. Do you have staff and time to do that? Most of the big hatcheries are off the beaten path so they make it work but the coordination has to be a full time job. I'd start with just shipping hatching eggs and whatever you can sell locally. Work hard on quality and prove your birds worth.

We used to ship fancy goldfish from Hawaii all over the country. Once we were set up with FedEx they would pick the boxes up at our door. Overnight to the West Coast and Second-Day everywhere else. Without FedEx we would not have had a business.

So I started my breeding career with labrador retrievers. I raise and breed them but I will be honest. The cost to raise quality labs or dogs in general is astronomical. With that being said, I have found a love for another animal... chickens.. I am thinking of turning them into a business.

I'm sure the cost of a good lab makes dogs look like a pretty darn good business to a chicken breeder.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'll add further that start up costs now are about as high as I've ever seen, not much better than last year (except lumber prices) - so the time to recoop your investment will be that much longer, or insurmountable over a reasonable time frame should prioces return to near prior levels. Gasoline has fallen (so transport costs are down). When the war finally ends in the Ukraine, feed prices should return to normal. AI winds down in the US? Egg supply will come back.

OTOH, if this is the "new normal", it may look completely brilliant to get in now and sell a premium product, assuming you can capture enough of the local market to sell ll you produce.

My crystal ball is notoriously unreliable.

 

[Prairie Hills Homestead]

My son and his wife live in Bozeman. If you get started I may buy some. My In-laws have chickens, (a bunch got wiped out though, I think it was dogs.) I brought some of her eggs home last March and hatched them out. I will be headed back this March since I am to be a grandmother.

Oh! I am sorry for their loss. I will have chicks in March. I am just not sure which variety or how many of what.

 

[Prairie Hills Homestead]

We used to ship fancy goldfish from Hawaii all over the country. Once we were set up with FedEx they would pick the boxes up at our door. Overnight to the West Coast and Second-Day everywhere else. Without FedEx we would not have had a business.


I'm sure the cost of a good lab makes dogs look like a pretty darn good business to a chicken breeder.

You have no idea.. HA! Each one of my adult dogs cost anywhere from 4000-8000 in their training and health clearances. That being said, I raise amazing pups. Plus it takes 2 years to be able to breed and they can only have 4 litters and everyone decided to breed their covid pups and sell them at 1/2 to 3/4 what the good breeders sell at so we couldn't sell our own dogs without dropping the price insanely. It hurts!

 

[Prairie Hills Homestead]

I'll add further that start up costs now are about as high as I've ever seen, not much better than last year (except lumber prices) - so the time to recoop your investment will be that much longer, or insurmountable over a reasonable time frame should prioces return to near prior levels. Gasoline has fallen (so transport costs are down). When the war finally ends in the Ukraine, feed prices should return to normal. AI winds down in the US? Egg supply will come back.

OTOH, if this is the "new normal", it may look completely brilliant to get in now and sell a premium product, assuming you can capture enough of the local market to sell ll you produce.

My crystal ball is notoriously unreliable.

I definitely understand that one! I am grateful to have the ability to build the coops and runs and I can always re-use them. I am also extremely grateful for a local farmer who mixes his own chicken feed and it is inexpensive and amazing. Straight from his own land and crops.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

You have no idea.. HA! Each one of my adult dogs cost anywhere from 4000-8000 in their training and health clearances. That being said, I raise amazing pups. Plus it takes 2 years to be able to breed and they can only have 4 litters and everyone decided to breed their covid pups and sell them at 1/2 to 3/4 what the good breeders sell at so we couldn't sell our own dogs without dropping the price insanely. It hurts!

We were in the same boat rabbit wise when it came to not being able to sell good quality for what it should have been. Heck, we couldn't even give ours away cause everyone was buying petshop mixes

 

[Prairie Hills Homestead]

We were in the same boat rabbit wise when it came to not being able to sell good quality for what it should have been. Heck, we couldn't even give ours away cause everyone was buying petshop mixes

Oh man, for sure! I used to sell my papered dogs at 1200 each, now we're down to 800. It is sad but I have too much invested to just quit