chicken business

[Mrs. K]

In the USA - the reason that most commercial eggs are produced inside, in a controlled environment is because only by controlling everything, can someone make money.

If you were in the USA - I would recommend start smaller, say 25 hens, see how it goes, and grow up your business and the number of hens as the years go by.

Mrs K

 

[Mellowmalt]

If you look at the price of eggs or chickens they have gone down considerably over the past 80 years, so much so that smaller operations are just not profitable anymore, only the big ones that can control everything and thus control cost will be able to be profitable.

In my opinion because there is a lot of initial cost involved you would need a minimum of 500 birds to become profitable (no guarantee it would be) and you would have to have a continuous year round operation of raising and selling birds and eggs and thus finding the customers to sell to.

The hardest challenge will be having the space, you will need incubation space, brooder space and freerange space.

It will take 6 months to raise chicks before they even start laying. I can't remember what it costs to feed a bird for half a year, random guess $50? Maybe less. Lets asssume it is $20($3 per month) per bird so to raise them to 6 months old could cost $10,000 before you can even start selling any eggs, let alone the feeders, coop and medication.

Knowing how much cheaper chickens are than they used to be I don't think it is worth setting up a new farm. People that inherit their business from their parents will have a big head start as the initial investment will be low. There arebBig barriers of entry to individual people, only businesses that control their costs succeed, a chicken is treated as an investment, not a living thing. The bigger the business the more costs can be controlled.

and a final note, for an egg operation to be successful the potntial males will ned to be culled. Probably a minimum of 200 males will need to be culled every year which is not something you would think of as the "standard" requirement of setting up an egg business.

 

[Mrs. K]

a very good point about the males - and I think it would be closer to 250-260 out of 500.

 

[abdiro]

If you look at the price of eggs or chickens they have gone down considerably over the past 80 years, so much so that smaller operations are just not profitable anymore, only the big ones that can control everything and thus control cost will be able to be profitable.

In my opinion because there is a lot of initial cost involved you would need a minimum of 500 birds to become profitable (no guarantee it would be) and you would have to have a continuous year round operation of raising and selling birds and eggs and thus finding the customers to sell to.

The hardest challenge will be having the space, you will need incubation space, brooder space and freerange space.

It will take 6 months to raise chicks before they even start laying. I can't remember what it costs to feed a bird for half a year, random guess $50? Maybe less. Lets asssume it is $20($3 per month) per bird so to raise them to 6 months old could cost $10,000 before you can even start selling any eggs, let alone the feeders, coop and medication.

Knowing how much cheaper chickens are than they used to be I don't think it is worth setting up a new farm. People that inherit their business from their parents will have a big head start as the initial investment will be low. There arebBig barriers of entry to individual people, only businesses that control their costs succeed, a chicken is treated as an investment, not a living thing. The bigger the business the more costs can be controlled.

and a final note, for an egg operation to be successful the potntial males will ned to be culled. Probably a minimum of 200 males will need to be culled every year which is not something you would think of as the "standard" requirement of setting up an egg business.

first thanks for all that details .my idea is i to sell the males directly when i fegure ther gender (less then month ) and keep just females to 6 month i know it is harder and cost more than buy a ready ones but the safity first .i have a large place but not that riche to pasture. so whats your advice

 

[U_Stormcrow]

SO, Algeria has VERY mild weather, January's average temp is 52F, August averages 79F. Average annual highs and lows range from a low of 43F (Jan, Feb) to a high average of 90F in August.

Rainfall is low to average, about 26" annually, but its shifted seasonally from what most of us are used to in the US. There are three months (Jun, July, Aug) which average less than 1" of rain in total, while while October to February average 3"+ ea (4"+ in December).

Regarding Organics, I've no idea what's required to sell as "Organic" in your country, or what market premium that might command. Here in the States, that term is highly regulated.

As to use of scraps and composts, I suspect you will find that a flock of 100 will eat far more of those than you are likely to generate, and that it won't significantly reduce your feed costs, unless you have a large scale source for scraps. Free ranging, based on your weather patterns, looks to be seasonally difficult as well.

I'm not saying it can't be done, I am saying that it looks to be a challenge, and that you should reach out to local and national resources to potentially assist with understanding applicable regulations, any licensing and training requirements, business plan design, and potentially financial assistance in become established, tested, and certified (as needed).

In the interim, check your local markets - what's being sold, and for how much??? What can you sell product for?? At the same time, look to your supplies - what's it cost to buy birds? If you raise your own flock from a smaller number, you have holding and opportunity costs from diverting production into growth. There's local predation, disease, performance variations, and the chaos we call weather...

Lots of research to do, and resources/references to explore. Then you can start putting a business plan together and decide if its potentially profitable. For the majority of us, what you propose would not be, but the situation in the US is vastly different than any other countries.

Good luck in your efforts, whatever you decide.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

If you look at the price of eggs or chickens they have gone down considerably over the past 80 years, so much so that smaller operations are just not profitable anymore, only the big ones that can control everything and thus control cost will be able to be profitable.

In my opinion because there is a lot of initial cost involved you would need a minimum of 500 birds to become profitable (no guarantee it would be) and you would have to have a continuous year round operation of raising and selling birds and eggs and thus finding the customers to sell to.

The hardest challenge will be having the space, you will need incubation space, brooder space and freerange space.

It will take 6 months to raise chicks before they even start laying. I can't remember what it costs to feed a bird for half a year, random guess $50? Maybe less. Lets asssume it is $20($3 per month) per bird so to raise them to 6 months old could cost $10,000 before you can even start selling any eggs, let alone the feeders, coop and medication.

Knowing how much cheaper chickens are than they used to be I don't think it is worth setting up a new farm. People that inherit their business from their parents will have a big head start as the initial investment will be low. There arebBig barriers of entry to individual people, only businesses that control their costs succeed, a chicken is treated as an investment, not a living thing. The bigger the business the more costs can be controlled.

and a final note, for an egg operation to be successful the potntial males will ned to be culled. Probably a minimum of 200 males will need to be culled every year which is not something you would think of as the "standard" requirement of setting up an egg business.

Here in the Wiregrass area of SE United States, the only area I can really peak to, I am surrounded by the properties of commercial poultry operations. Tyson, ConAgra, etc. Most of them are shuttered - big "quonset hut" style operations with huge fans on the end for airflow, one next to another, used to rapidly raise chickens for market under tightly controlled condition in minimal space.

They are mostly shuttered here in FL, north of me in AL, and the few I've seen in SW GA, because even with our low land and labor costs, and those commercial economies of scale, they weren't profitable and have been functionally abandoned by the families and farms that used to operate them. Now, they collect rust and property taxes.

The situation in Algeria is likely nothing like what we face here, but it sure seems to be a difficult business, with razor thin margins in the best of times.

 

[ChloeSilkie08]

I would suggest looking into Hatching Eggs. There is a woman on Youtube who pays for goat, cow, chicken, and dog food because she has so many eggs and sells them. I would figure out your monthly feed costs, divide that by how many dozen eggs you think you can sell, then whatever that equals you can just add to the price what your profit you want. I think the money now a days is in hatching eggs. Last year I hatched out over 50 chicks and almost or over 50 dozen eggs and I only made $156.

 

[ralphden]

Choose a legal structure. There are four basic structures. Each has its pros and cons. Check our Comparison Chart of each entity. Choose a company name. Sole proprietorships and partnerships must file with the State of Florida and place an ad in the newspaper in the county where your business is located. Corporations and LLCs must choose a different name at the time of application. Local licenses. Most communities have licensing requirements. Some require a business license, while others require certain professions and types of businesses. You would do well to check out usbusinessonline.com.