Can you MAKE MONEY with chickens?

[Mrs. Turbo]

We are paying "out of pocket" for our feed right now. All of our sale money goes to feed, shows, shavings, building material....etc. We spend a lot more than we bring in from the birds. We have the Wyandottes, call ducks, and geese for the joy of raising them and showing them.....the kids like them too so it is a great family hobby.

 

[IamTheChickenWhisperer]

I too make money selling chicks, hatching and eating eggs, even adults. You really can turn quite a profit! But you have to be very careful you dont get talked out of your own private stock...that has happened to me more times than I can count. Ive finially learned to JUST SAY NO!

 

[stoneunhenged]

To get back to the OP's original question: Can the small backyard flock owner make money on his or her flock? My answer below is based on the assumption that 1) you have a real desire to make money rather than lose it and explain away your loss, and 2) you have the intellectual discipline to do a real-world accounting of costs associated with production. If you're counting your labor costs at zero or ignoring the cost of land, taxes, or pen construction, you are not factoring in all the real costs of production.

Here's my answer: Yes, you can make money if you raise the right birds and target the right market.

The wrong birds to raise are any major commercial breed. The wrong market to target is the market for edible eggs. If you raise a common breed or sell eggs for the table, you cannot compete on price against the giant commercial producers, and you are guaranteed to lose money, period.

If you raise high-value birds and reach out to the best markets (whether through eBay, another auction site, web advertising, or whatever) you can make money. Once you build the infrastructure to produce chickens, the only difference between a breed that produces eggs worth 25¢ each or eggs that are worth $10 each is the acquisition costs of the breeding stock. It makes far more sense to buy the chickens that produce the $10 eggs. There are now many breeds in America --Orpingtons, Sussex, American gamefowl, tollbunt Polish, Onagadori, rare marans varieties, etc.-- where eggs routinely sell for that much, and chicks and pairs of birds sell for even more. In these markets you are not competing against giant commercial producers. In fact, because the birds you're selling are so rare, you're competing against almost nobody. There are 308 million Americans. Fifty million of them are on Facebook. 75,000 of them are on BYC. 147 million bidders are registered on eBay. Somebody will buy a dozen eggs from you.

The good news is that not only can these breeds help you make money, they are also some of the most interesting breeds to keep. So, if you got into this because you really like chickens, you will be working with some of the rarest and most beautiful chicken breeds on the planet. That's a nice benefit. It will necessarily be part of your job to educate people on these rare breeds, and you will be doing those breeds a great service.

 

[Henk69]

Sorry couldn't resist.
Haven't read the previous posts but to answer the question "Can you make money with chickens":

No. Because the ink doesn't stick to the feathers.

 

[Buschie's dozen]

If you do it for money, start small then try selling in stores you don't need to get really big, 100 to 150 is plenty but make sure your feed is around .10-15 cent per lb i charge 3-3.50 per dozen and calculate 8 hours of labor in there for 80 also and now i could charge another .20 cents if i wanted depends on area and market make sure your stock is clean and happy other wise keep a few just for you're self and enjoy there are key factors in every market so check around and good luck on average i profit 100 a week.ya not much but year 4500-5400 a year .

 

[BigIslandChicks]

Quote:

 

[stoneunhenged]

Quote:
That is funny.

 

[neilgal]

I raise 9 chickens as a hobby.
all of them lay about 49 eggs per week we eat about 14 eggs per week and sale the rest for $ 2.00 a dozen.
Their feed cost me $ 15.00 for 50 Lb bag it last 3 weeks.

Now, if would buy the same quality eggs in the store it will cost me $ 4.00 - $ 3.00 a dozen.
I get from them approximately $ 12.00 a week between the eggs I use my self and the ones I sale.
Sure there are other other expediences like alfalfa to improve the yolk color special treats etc.
And there are some extra benefits that I get from the like rich garden soil .
The bottom line I almost break even but their my pets and I didn't expect them to make a profit. If I had a dog or a cat as a pet I wouldn't even consider them to pay for their own food.

 

[featherbaby]

Do you know how to make a small fortune in Chicken Farming?


Start with a very large fortune.


HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[saladin]

Quote:
stone,

I'm in basic agreement with you, but there are several items you've not consider, or at least have not written about.

I get about as much for my birds as anybody I guess: $75-150 each depending on the age (Asil only). However, I've been doing it a number of years and am known by my clientele. That took a long time to develop. The clientele is also quite limited. It would be easy for me to flood the market and then the price would fall rapidly based on the law of supply and demand.

It is not like registered dogs in the least, imo. The purebred dog market attracts 2 very different folks: the show people and the braggers. The show people know who the real breeders are. The braggers don't, but they pay high prices for purebred stock: and there are more braggers out there than show people.

Ralph Sherriff, Jr use to sell show ready OEGB for up to $500 a pair, but only show people bought his birds; and, that market is very limited.

Also, different breeds are worth differing amounts. 25 years ago I saw Cubalayas for sale for $25 each. You know what I get for mine today? At most, $25 each and lots of folks know my Cubalayas.

Added to this, chicken breeders, unlike dog breeders, have always done lots of trading and giving. I have friends that would give me any bird on their place if I just asked: and sometimes I do. The same goes if they ask me.

For me personally, it is all about better birds. If I make some feed money, which I usually do, then that is great. I don't want to be like the dog breeders who have ruined every working dog they have touched because it is about the money. I think as long as it is about the birds we'll see improvement. I hope you and I can make some money in the process, but if we don't at least the birds will still exist and be better than they were before we had them.