Can you MAKE MONEY with chickens?

[6Happiness]

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I think you were ripped off. If the person writing the software was dedicated to the cause, it would have been done as volunteer work. I wrote a pedigree registration in Perl with ability to upload photos, transfer ownership, record show wins, do test matings and figure inbreeding coefficients.... and did it for free for the club. The only thing left was the cost of hosting, which is under $100/yr these days with unlimited storage space and more than enough bandwidth. Because gathering info on the HEALTH of animals for the breeders to have the most info about their lines as possible, we let people with non-breeding pets register for free. I'm redesigning it now, but its temporarily on hold because of medical issues and moving to a new house, but the new version has new privacy controls[*], and is 100% free for all users because we do not want people using registration as an excuse to artificially inflate the cost of the animals or re-encourage the corruption we saw years ago. Even at 100% free it does not loose money- enough users value it to make donations which are more than enough to offset the costs. Discretely placed ads, your own online store or being a store affiliate can also offset the cost of hosting.

[*- Funny how, the more competitive and "valuable" the species became, the more a few "bad apples" would use personal info from club member lists and registry records to socially black-list a breeder/their lines, pass home addresses on off to PeTA/ALF, and similar things that go beyond just bullying, and attack the fancy itself and its future]

 

[phasianidae]

Quote:
I have to respectfully disagree, I have sold eggs locally for $2.00 a dozen for about two years know and I have and am making money.

 

[Illia]

The way I see it, the key is in the diet.

If your chickens are in runs or cages or don't have much access to food you don't pay for, you're not going to make much money, regardless if you sell chicks or hatching eggs or the sort.

If you grow your own feed and/pr pasture your birds on more than just grass and dirt, you can make money with even eating eggs. With free ranged/pastured hens, you're spending a LOT less money for feed, bedding, etc. If you grow your own, you're spending only what it takes to grow that food. And if you have a proper cycle going on, you're spending nothing and gaining whatever your chickens make.

For example. . . If you fertilize your gardens and crops with your own chicken's poo and bedding from the coop and even from other livestock you may have, that's a cycle in itself right there. Especially if you even have animals that can be used to till up the gardens/crops either by themselves or by use of draft, there's another plus.

Otherwise, you're still spending money on artificial fertilizer, equipment, etc, but at least you aren't buying commercial feed 24/7.



Another big thing besides diet that helps though is having poultry that are worth it. A breed and color you love, and ones of quality

 

[WallTenters]

Lots of info on this thread... I know we are losing money right now, big time. Buying chicks, building pens, brooding expenses, incubating expenses, the huge gas fees to go to shows or events just to get names on who might have good birds, FEED, bedding, etc. Maybe some day we'll have high enough quality to start selling hatching eggs and we might break even or even make a little.

One thing I didn't see mentioned (of the posts I read on here) was selling chicks to local feed stores. We will actually be doing this for the first time this year. If we hatch 10 out of 12 eggs (conservatively), and sell day-old chicks for even just $1 per chick, that's still $10/dozen. Because it doesn't take any more electricity to run the incubator full of chicks destined for sale than it does to only put in the ten breeder chicks we want to hatch... well... Our incubator has three shelves - so our breeder chicks will be on the top shelf, and pet chicks on the bottom two shelves. Our first order is for 25 pullets, I'm sure we'll trade store credit - but it's exciting nonetheless! We know everyone around here will really appreciate the foraging and cold-hardy Dominique and we hope that each year the birds we bring get better and better.

A couple of friends of myn are going to be buying (at a very reasonable price) extra cockerels we get to raise them out for eating, instead of doing their normal hatchery shipments. I really look forward to getting their feedback on this, and I think they're looking forward to it as well. Many folks around here don't raise meat birds because the cornish x are big red flags for every predator within a thousand square miles that "free chicken" has been set out to pasture. We think the Dominiques will survive longer, and taste even better.

The feed store we are selling our first order to is happy to tell folks they'll have some locally hatched birds for sale - from hens that laid all winter. Even if these chicks are not great representatives of the breed, they will still be a slight step up from hatchery birds, and they'll keep getting better every year as we continue to improve our flock, cull out, etc. Right now we feel comfortable selling our chicks as pet/backyard quality because our hens that have stayed this long are good layers, cold hardy, and are nice gentle birds. The chicks will also be from healthy, happy bug-loving, dirt-bathing hens.

The big plus of selling day-old chicks is there's no brooding them, no feeding them, and they offset the cost of the incubator's electricity to hatch out breeding birds. Plus, I think that as we continue to improve our flock, we will hopefully stir up interest in our local area for the breed we love, which will spread and make this a popular breed again.

 

[trailgurl]

So, Long story short:
1.)If you really want to, you can make a go of getting you chickens to make some kind of profit.
2.) Chickens are chickens. Most people look at them just as a livestock animal. Just because I think cochins are one of the most beautiful creatures on earth doesn't mean that the guy at the chicken sale will agree with me. I really wish he would, but he most likely won't

But, some people will agree-and the only thing we can do is sell chickens at a fair price, and hope we can break even

 

[ultasol]

In some places free ranging can actually increase economic loss. For instance, there are so many hawks here that bantams that are turned out = dead bantams. Also, without spending a lot of money on better fencing, all other birds (large fowl and geese) would be impossible to keep due to dogs (a lot of people nearby let their dogs roam). Losing birds you've put time, work, and money into is a economic loss, and fencing can be a significant investment. Just my two cents.

Free ranging is great, but once predators know where the chicken nuggets are- they'll be back. Some are very wary and hard to catch. It's a catch 22, lower feed cost vs loss of birds...

 

[Teresaann24]

I free range supervised I have lost too many to not keeping a close eye on them. Will never do that again...I would rather spend the money on fencing.

 

[onthespot]

I make money on my birds. I give away a lot of cockerels, or feed them to my dogs. Same with the extra eggs, and still do okay. I feed Purina straight out of the bag, and still do okay. Most of my eggs sell for $3/egg, and most chicks start between $10-20 per chick. I help people choose pullets if that is what they want. I guarantee they can exchange any bird that grows out male that was sold as female, (30 day guarantee only. Bringing me a full grown, crowing roo. no go)

 

[Illia]

Quote:
It's called have a fence and have a guardian, whether it be a dog or an herbivore.

 

[Jake Levi]

Re: Free ranging and dogs, I follow the SSS rule, it works for me, after two bird dogs went through over half my chickens and most of my geese. I've never looked back.

I dont expect to make a profit on my birds, they are a hobby and major interest, but, they do need to be paying their way, have some return on the investment. I have a feed store that encourages in store ads etc, so there is a possibility, the extended family will absorb most eggs , as well as meat birds, cost of having a big family, and a means of support that most dont have.

Still, the cost of high quality brood stock is there and has to be met, selling hatching eggs, and some POL pullets is a way to meet that. Also breeding trios, to do that it requires high quality stock. Luckily with the family I have the best possible place for culls.

The few SQ breeders I know of with Heritage stock do get good prices, BUT, they have put a LOT of money into their stock, I dont begrudge them. I am hearing very high costs for importing even eggs, let alone live stock. I dont begrudge those importers pricing their production to cover the cost of the work they have put into it. The Swedish flowers are gorgeous, but I am more interested in the cold hardy breed they have brought over and I am spending time trying to google it.

Its an expensive hobby that we have, or can be, and having income from it helps a long ways towards keeping it going. I am on a fixed income so that has to be. Thats my bottom line.