California - Northern

Ok help! If you guys had to pick 8 breeds what would they be and why? I am looking for something I will be able to easily sell hatching eggs from and well mostly because I love them all lol. But my wonderful, understanding, (haha) husband says 8 pens,


BREEDS
Easter eggers/olive eggers
Black copper Marans
Gold laced orps
Partridge brahmas
Jubilee orps
Crele orps
Croad Langashtan
Barnevelders
Piña pintas
Biefeleder
Well, it depends on
a. How much you are willing to spend
b. how long you are willing to wait
c How long do you want to be able to have "preium" hatching eggs?

You have some very expensive eggs there. And some that we do not know how fertility will be in the breeds.
Stay away from OE/ee if you want to sell eggs. The other thing you have to think about is how many hens do you need for 6-12 eggs in 4 days? for some breeds that is a lot of hens, for some its not. The genetics of getting an olive egg all the time are tricky after the first generation.

FCBM people always want but it is a competive market, so you have to really know your birds and want to work with them. But they are a long term investment if you have dark eggs and are willing to cull hard. ( each year the eggs get lighter, so at some point people don't want it even if it was a 7-8 hen if your girls are 3-4 years old) I have an easy time selling chics, but egg sales are middling. FCBM eggs are notorious for being hard to hatch if shipped so people are leery and you get annoyed new people all the time.( if you want to sell oe eggs you could put a few blue layers in here) If you are looking to sell Marans, you might do better with another color that has a dark egg, IF you can get them, like birchin. But if the egg is not that dark, it is another story.

Orphs have staying power but don't lay terribly well. You could do a few rare colors and do a orph basket people might like, give you some variety but not have to have 10 hens of each breed like you might have to to get a dz eggs in a shipping window. I cant speak to what colors will stay popular, but jubilees are very popular now, that could mean by the time yours lay the markets tapped.

Brahmans are popular, but can take a year to lay, and don't lay well, so you will be sitting on those forever. Silkies are bad enough! I would not recomend it! I have some hens 14 months old still not laying, little suckers!

Croads will again depend on if you can consistantly reproduce egg color. The egg picture you posted was not what I saw on the site, so I'm dubious about how well it reproduces that bloom. But I do not know enough about bloom to know how consistant it is. There is a HUGE market out there, and there is not a lot of people doing this, so it could stay around for a while. Plus langshans seem like they need love.

Barnies I know nothing about, depends on color.

Pina Pitas I don't know about either.

If you buy biebs now, you will not make your money back, if that is a concern. They are in the bubble where prices are still high, but a lot of people have them, so once those birds start laying ( before yours will) the market will go waaay down. I like autosexing birds, and these guys are large enough to eat your boys, so I'm going to get some, but i'm waiting till they are in my price range. Autosexing birds seem to sell better as chicks then eggs, however, so i'm unsure about the egg prospects.

The colored orphs and biebs are more fad birds. Look at Sweedish flower hen eggs or Cream Legbars , for example to see what happens with gff import long term egg prices. But that might not matter if you are not thinking about it as a business. Or even a hobby that will pay for itself. If you want a hobby that will pay for itself, look for popular birds that have unique aspects that are not over popular or have already been a flavor of the month and has settled in to a reasonable but not crazy price point that is stable.

If you are going to sell those birds, however, be ready to show em or breed twards something specific. You need a reason to have people buy your eggs and not someone elses eggs ( deb is a good example of this even if she does cook a lot of her eggs)

OK, that is my chickens as a smal business speel.

Id go for croads, biebs, pp and an orph variety pack if I was doing it for me.
 
Last edited:
Ok help! If you guys had to pick 8 breeds what would they be and why? I am looking for something I will be able to easily sell hatching eggs from and well mostly because I love them all lol. But my wonderful, understanding, (haha) husband says 8 pens,


BREEDS
Easter eggers/olive eggers
Black copper Marans
Gold laced orps
Partridge brahmas
Jubilee orps
Crele orps
Croad Langashtan
Barnevelders
Piña pintas
Biefeleder
EEs\OEs and Marans are easily sold locally as chicks. The others may be harder because they are rare and many do not know what they are.

Pick the ones that interest you the most. Are you going to work on improving them?
 
You know....... Netflix streams Star Trek.... for only something like $8 a month, no commercial interruption, one after the other..... but I am just sayin'..... I have had insomnia issues off and on for about 2-3 months now. I am on Season 6 of Star Trek The Next Gen. (again) I look at those actors and can't come to terms with the fact that that series is 20 years old...... that means I am THAT old! lol
I love Star Trek the Next Gen! It's my favorite of all the Star Treks!
 
Well, it depends on
a. How much you are willing to spend
b. how long you are willing to wait
c How long do you want  to be  able to have "preium" hatching eggs?

You have some very expensive eggs there.    And some that we do not know how  fertility will be in  the breeds.  
Stay away from OE/ee if you want to sell eggs. The other thing you have to think about is how many hens do you need for 6-12 eggs in 4 days?  for some breeds that is a lot of hens,  for some its not.  The genetics of getting an olive egg  all the time  are tricky after the first generation.  

FCBM  people always want but it is a competive market, so you have to really know your birds and want to work with them.  But they are a long term investment if you have dark eggs and are willing to cull hard. ( each year the eggs get lighter, so at some point people  don't want it even if it was a 7-8 hen if your girls are 3-4 years old) I have an easy time selling chics, but egg sales are middling. FCBM eggs are notorious for  being  hard to hatch if shipped  so people are leery and  you get annoyed new people all the time.( if you want to sell oe eggs you could put a few  blue layers in here) If you are looking to sell  Marans, you might do better with another color that has a dark egg, IF you can get them, like birchin.  But if the egg is not that dark,  it is another story.

Orphs have staying power but don't lay terribly well.  You could do a few rare colors and do a orph basket people might like, give you some variety but  not have to have 10  hens of each breed like you might have to to get a dz eggs in a shipping window.  I cant speak to  what colors will stay popular, but jubilees  are very popular now, that could mean by the time yours lay the markets tapped. 

Brahmans are popular, but can take a year to lay, and  don't lay well, so you will be sitting on those forever.  Silkies are bad enough!  I would not recomend it!  I have some hens 14 months old still not laying, little suckers!

Croads will again depend on if you can consistantly reproduce egg color.  The egg picture you posted was not what I saw on the site, so  I'm dubious about  how well it reproduces that bloom. But I do not know enough about bloom to know  how consistant it is.  There is a HUGE market out there,  and  there is not a lot of people doing this, so  it could stay around for a while.   Plus langshans seem like they need love.  

Barnies I know nothing about, depends on color. 

Pina Pitas  I don't know about either.  

If you buy biebs now, you will not make your money back, if that is a concern.  They are in the bubble where prices are still high, but a lot of people have them, so once those birds start laying ( before yours will) the market will  go waaay down.  I like autosexing birds, and these guys are large enough  to eat your boys, so I'm going to get some, but i'm waiting till they are in my price range.  Autosexing birds seem to sell better as chicks then eggs, however, so i'm unsure about the egg prospects. 

 The colored orphs and  biebs are more fad birds. Look at Sweedish flower hen eggs or Cream Legbars , for example to see what happens with gff import  long term egg prices.  But that might not matter if you are not thinking about it as a business.   Or even a hobby that will pay for itself. If you want a hobby that will pay for itself, look for popular birds that have unique  aspects that are not  over popular  or have already been a flavor of the month and has settled in to a reasonable but  not crazy price point that is stable.

If you are going to sell those birds, however, be ready to show em or  breed twards something specific.   You need a reason to have people buy your eggs and not someone elses eggs ( deb is a good example of this  even if she  does cook a lot of her eggs) 

OK, that is my chickens as a smal business speel.

Id go for  croads, biebs,  pp and an orph variety pack if I was doing it for me. 
Wow thank you for taking the time to answer :) I appreciate your info
 
The original series is on Hulu+.....Get that girl educated!

Ron
lau.gif
She loves watching series so it shouldn't be too hard to talk her into it! Two of her favorite series are Dr. Who and Psych.
 
Ok help! If you guys had to pick 8 breeds what would they be and why? I am looking for something I will be able to easily sell hatching eggs from and well mostly because I love them all lol. But my wonderful, understanding, (haha) husband says 8 pens,


BREEDS
Easter eggers/olive eggers
Black copper Marans
Gold laced orps
Partridge brahmas
Jubilee orps
Crele orps
Croad Langashtan
Barnevelders
Piña pintas
Biefeleder
What a tough decision! Of course, you know my vote goes to Croad Langshans! Beautiful, mild mannered birds with beautiful eggs and tasty meat!
love.gif
Don't forget that you are going to need a grow out pen or two, also! Maybe that's something that you don't want to mention to your DH until the 8 breeding pens are done!
wink.png
 
What a tough decision! Of course, you know my vote goes to Croad Langshans! Beautiful, mild mannered birds with beautiful eggs and tasty meat!
love.gif
Don't forget that you are going to need a grow out pen or two, also! Maybe that's something that you don't want to mention to your DH until the 8 breeding pens are done!
wink.png
Haha yes exactly haha
 
I'm getting colored orps for $20/egg now. How much do you think it would go down by next spring? I want to have the chickens pay for themselves. And I like them of course so even if I could just get $50/dozen or so I would be ok with that. As far as the colored layers people seem to like them. And they're cheaper so any I don't sell I'll eat or sell for eating eggs. I didn't do a great job of getting ahead of the fads but don't need to make. Million either.
 
I do not think you'll be getting 50/dz next year. Well, maybe on an assortment because it would be more fun to order it that way. But not on jubilees. They are going to hit the point where there are eggs everywhere in 6 mths or so? They are beautiful birds and really popular. And with real popular everyone who kept a rooster will be selling eggs. I could be wrong, I Have always been a consertive estimator of demand. And orphs are a bird everyone should have some of...
 
Quote: My first thought was also it was an expensive list. But I don't understand why you recommend staying away from the OE/EE. My laying hens are almost all EE's. They're very good layers. I only have one true Olive Egger (possibly another but she's only 4 weeks and I'm not sure yet) and she's still a baby so I won't know what her/their egg color will be but she came from a pretty nice dark egg for a blue, covered by my Ameraucana roo so I think she'll make a nice colored egg. I plan on putting them in the Marans pen, covered by a BCM roo from very dark eggs to deepen the color. I plan on moving the BCM hens that don't lay dark enough (I want really dark) or are too light in the leg feathering, in with the layers who are all covered by my Ameraucana roo. My egg customers love the colorful egg carton. I want to add a couple Ameraucana's or another blue egg layer (Emps?) because all my EE's lay a variety of green eggs. I have one that lays a very light blue. I'm hatching a couple of hers now hoping that breeding her back to my Ameraucana roo will deepen the blue? Does that work?

One thing I love about having an Ameraucana roo with my layers is he brings so much to the table for variety in your egg cartons. Having Marans and Ameraucana roo's you can cull heavily on your Marans by moving them to the layers with the opportunity to make Olive Eggers but if not perfect, in the egg cartons they go!

I also breed LF Polish and they're my only white egg layers and who don't get mixed with anyone else. They lay a decent size egg and are probably my most consistent layers!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom