Can I make a profit doing this?

[John Knight]

Hi friends,
I've been wondering whether I could generate some income if I got maybe a 50 egg incubator, bought some fertile eggs online of high quality chickens (can't have a rooster here) then raise the chicks to pullets then sell them online? I don't whether the cost i could sell the pullets for would cover expenses, much less generate a profit. What do y'all think?

 

[Skipper81]

Electricity for incubator
Food for pullets
Buying fertile eggs
Look up hatch rate on shipped eggs
Chicks that don't make it after hatch
Need heat light for chicks
The ones you fall in love with and keep (lost sale) lol
How much can you get for pullets

Sounds like you should be getting islandic chicken eggs
I'm gonna start a project like that in May with islandics and Dominique's
What's the plan for cockeral chicks because you said you can't have roosters and your selling pullets

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

The best way to make a million dollars in the chicken business is to start with two million dollars...

Lol

Good luck

Gary

 

[John Knight]

Skipper I figured the only thing I could do with the roos that didnt sell would be to give them away. I'm certainly open to ideas. So Icelandic and Dominique are expensive chickens that might make it profitable? Thanks for your reply

 

[Skipper81]

Dominique's aren't expensive I'm just going with them because they are on watch list not many pure breed ones left

 

[happyhens1972]

The best way to make a million dollars in the chicken business is to start with two million dollars...

Lol

Good luck

Gary

 

[keesmom]

Hi friends,
I've been wondering whether I could generate some income if I got maybe a 50 egg incubator, bought some fertile eggs online of high quality chickens (can't have a rooster here) then raise the chicks to pullets then sell them online? I don't whether the cost i could sell the pullets for would cover expenses, much less generate a profit. What do y'all think?

Not likely.

Have you incubated eggs before? There's a learning curve there. Then if you are incubating shipped eggs there's no guarantee they will even hatch. A 50% hatch rate for shipped eggs is good. I've had some that were 100%, but have also had some that were 0-10%. And that was in a Dickey cabinet.

Then of those that do hatch on average 50% will be female. That doesn't mean half will be. I've had 80-100% cockerel hatches many times. What do you plan to do with all the males? In many places, including here, you can't even give them away. We butcher our surplus cockerels.

As for selling online, do you mean craigslist? If you plan on shipping you should look into the requirements for that, including NPIP testing.

There's no guarantee you'd even make back the money you spend on eggs let alone the cost for electricity, feed, etc.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Skipper I figured the only thing I could do with the roos that didnt sell would be to give them away. I'm certainly open to ideas. So Icelandic and Dominique are expensive chickens that might make it profitable? Thanks for your reply

You've gotten lots of good input on this and your other thread.
I think the way to start calculating is to find out if you have a market.
How much would they be willing to pay? Then figure out how much you'd have to pay for eggs. From there you can calculate any potential profit. Electricity to generate heat costs much more than people realize.
Then you have to ask yourself why someone would buy birds from you and not from the original breeder.
Another thing is a 50 egg incubator doesn't have the capacity to build in much profit.
I have one of the rarest breeds. I sell hatching eggs for $4, chicks for $12, mature trios for $250 and I just barely break even. But after investing tens of thousands of dollars, I'm not going to give birds away. I'll eat a pullet or cockerel before I give it away for $10.

 

[John Knight]

IC, thanks man

Not likely.

Have you incubated eggs before? There's a learning curve there. Then if you are incubating shipped eggs there's no guarantee they will even hatch. A 50% hatch rate for shipped eggs is good. I've had some that were 100%, but have also had some that were 0-10%. And that was in a Dickey cabinet.

Then of those that do hatch on average 50% will be female. That doesn't mean half will be. I've had 80-100% cockerel hatches many times. What do you plan to do with all the males? In many places, including here, you can't even give them away. We butcher our surplus cockerels.

As for selling online, do you mean craigslist? If you plan on shipping you should look into the requirements for that, including NPIP testing.

There's no guarantee you'd even make back the money you spend on eggs let alone the cost for electricity, feed, etc.

Spot on keesmom, thank you

 

[John Knight]

You've gotten lots of good input on this and your other thread.
I think the way to start calculating is to find out if you have a market.
How much would they be willing to pay? Then figure out how much you'd have to pay for eggs. From there you can calculate any potential profit. Electricity to generate heat costs much more than people realize.
Then you have to ask yourself why someone would buy birds from you and not from the original breeder.
Another thing is a 50 egg incubator doesn't have the capacity to build in much profit.
I have one of the rarest breeds. I sell hatching eggs for $4, chicks for $12, mature trios for $250 and I just barely break even. But after investing tens of thousands of dollars, I'm not going to give birds away. I'll eat a pullet or cockerel before I give it away for $10.

I dont even know how I made a duplicate thread, but I certainly appreciate your advice on both canoe