Can you MAKE MONEY with chickens?

[EweSheep]

Stoneunhenged, I LOVE the way you think! I am very certain that you have similar mindset like Andre Van't Weistande.......so similar in thoughts, the goals, the expectations and preserving the breed.

 

[welasharon]

I am one who has chickens as pets. If I get an egg, okay, if not, okay too. As I remind my husband...the dogs and cats don't lay so well either! Mine are pets...will not be eaten and are treated accordingly. I like the unusual and as I have learned more about the types of chickens out there have begun to be more selective about the kind I want. The more unusual the more expensive...but if that is what I want then that is what I'll get. I am not, however, expecting to make money or even break even any more than I would expect with my dogs or cats. I have them for the pleasure I get from interacting with them and watching them.....and best of all.....they don't get hair on my furniture! LOL
sharon

 

[stoneunhenged]

Quote:
Your points are well taken. But, the cool thing about the internet and modern shipping methods is that they free us from being captives of local markets. Once you buy your breeding stock, it costs about the same to produce a leghorn egg (value: about 10¢ on the local market) as a red shoulder Yokohama egg (value: about $10, at this very moment on eBay). Again, if we compete against commercial egg producers or commodity hybrid chicken breeders we, as the little guys, will always lose money. But, if every small breeder woke up this morning and priced their eggs and chicks to reflect their rarity and refinement, the buying market would adjust and you could be making a well-deserved profit as a reward for your hard work and dedication.

Thanks for your kind comments. Best of luck with your birds.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Your points are well taken. But, the cool thing about the internet and modern shipping methods is that they free us from being captives of local markets. Once you buy your breeding stock, it costs about the same to produce a leghorn egg (value: about 10¢ on the local market) as a red shoulder Yokohama egg (value: about $10, at this very moment on eBay). Again, if we compete against commercial egg producers or commodity hybrid chicken breeders we, as the little guys, will always lose money. But, if every small breeder woke up this morning and priced their eggs and chicks to reflect their rarity and refinement, the buying market would adjust and you could be making a well-deserved profit as a reward for your hard work and dedication.

Thanks for your kind comments. Best of luck with your birds.

I do sell a few hatching eggs via the internet, but I just don't think I'm willing to do it on a larger scale as in shipping chicks and started birds. Maybe if I was even only 20 years younger I'd think about it.

 

[MandyH]

I've found the best way for US is selling chicks, that way I do not have to put so much money into raising them to point of lay. I hatch and sell about 2000 chicks every Spring. I sell to the feed stores around, and from my house. I put ads on CL and the free magazines that come out every week. I deal mainly with rare breeds, but I also have found a couple breeds that sell out here every year. Now it wasn't cheap to get the set up I have because I have my own hatching house that houses my 4 1502 Sprtsman incubators and all my brooders, but I bought all my stuff over time as I made money and I bought all used but in good condition stuff. I still sell lots of laying hens but I don't make a profit off of them like I do the chicks. I also sell a lot of hatching eggs online from my rare breeds.

 

[cashdl]

I live in a rural area where it seems like everyone has chickens and yet I get $4.00 a dzn for my eating eggs and others get more. My hatching eggs, I get $25.00 a dzn. That buys chicken food. I have been able to pay for my original cost of starter birds by selling hatching eggs. I have sold some birds and paid for new ones I wanted. There are ways to make money. You have to first be convinced that what you have to offer is what people want. How about farm raised, pampered breakfast makers. Happy chickens make better and more eggs. A bird that gets to free range has more nutritious eggs. You know what is going into your chickens and can let people know how healthy they are. You can't get that at your supermarket.

You have to be able to tell people why your product is better. Become sales people. Its not hard. Sometimes it is easier to think you can't get more so don't try, than to put out the effert to try to get more. You might be surprised.

Lanae

 

[stoneunhenged]

It's great that people get some cash selling eggs and chicks, but my suggestion is that we don't define success as paying the feed bills. When Enzo Ferrari made his first supercar, he didn't price it to compete with Chevy Novas and he didn't sell it with the goal of recovering his sheet metal costs. He sold it for a ton of money because it was rare and beautiful and he had put many years into refining it. The same is true of your chickens. You're not selling Chevies. Let the big hatcheries sell Chevies. You're selling Ferraris. Price accordingly.

 

[FiveHens]

We do not sell eggs; however, with the money that our chickens save us from not having to buy eggs at the grocery store, they more than pay for their general upkeep (such as food, scratch, bedding, etc.). However, once you calculate in the costs of building their coop & run...well...

However, at our house, they are pets. And as welasharon states, our other pets don't even make an effort to pay for themselves!

 

[stoneunhenged]

Quote:
If you want to do an apples to apples comparison between your egg costs and store-bought egg costs, don't forget to factor in land costs, insurance costs, labor costs, energy costs, pen costs, etc. I don't think there is a single American producing eggs in their backyard at a lower per egg cost than they can pay at the local supermarket. I don't think there is any financial argument for raising your own eggs. I do, however, thing there are many other reasons to keep chickens.

 

[Chick Charm]

It is really hard to make a profit.

One of the stations at the farmers market here in San Diego sells organic chicken eggs for $8.50 per dozen with carton included. Without the carton the eggs are $8.00 per dozen. And yes he has a steady stream all day selling his eggs. I think he told me he has about 100 birds. All his eggs are on the smaller size. I have seen a few of his layers that he will bring in a cage once in a while and they appear to be mutts. He does have a certification for 100% organic feed. The chickens get fed mealworms, and figs and the like as they are on a little cottage farm that grows fruits and nuts. I asked him if he was able to make a profit (even selling at $8.50 per dozen) and his reply was........ "barely".