It is a common misconception that poultry are inexpensive. Herbert Hoover famously quoted A Chicken in Every Pot and a Car in Every Garage during his campaign This means nothing to us today. Back in 1928 the value of a chicken was higher than most families could afford. A chicken in every pot was a big deal. It wasn't because everyone was dirt poor but because the cost of the chicken matched the production costs. Only the rich could have chicken in their pot on a regular basis because chicken did not come cheap. The only reason you and I think chicken and eggs are inexpensive is because the industry is now so HEAVILY subsidized with government money that we do not see the true costs of production on the price tag. The taxpayer foots part of the cost before we even see the price tag. The small backyard farmer does not get a government check so the price of our chicken and eggs must be based on reality. The average consumer does not share this reality. We cant base our product on the grocery store equivalent. It is a physiological truth that people will not pay more for what they need, only for what they WANT. The challenge is getting people to WANT our product over the government subsidized equivalent. It has to be somehow different or special to justify higher value in peoples minds even if it is priced to break even for us.
If you combine a few different setups and breeds you can multi-market in such a way that will make money multiple ways at the same time with the same livestock and inputs.
Breed a rare or critical breed that gets better than average hatching egg price. Certain rare breeds get at least triple the $12 per dozen you're considering. $12 per dozen is too low. It may be slightly more to get the high quality stock initially but the higher selling price will get quicker pay back. Raise these layers on pasture (if you can) and you can get much better price on the natural or health food market because pastured eggs are much more nutritious. You can get added marketability if you are also helping to save a rare and endangered heritage breed. You can look at this forum and
ebay to see what is considered in high demand or worth more in price. White standard Cornish and good quality Chanteclers are an example of very hard to get hatching eggs.
In addition to layers you can also start a small broiler flock to support a mini-CSA for example. Stay away from Cornish cross for this. There is a French broiler you can get that are famous in Europe and advertised as the best tasting chicken in the world. They are called by a few names poulet rouge, Redbro, Redbro Cou Nu, and JM Hatchery calls them Freedom Rangers. These are a true broiler but unlike the Cornish cross they are hardy and can be kept and bred like other chickens. You could breed and hatch out your own broiler batches from the same breeder flock for at least a couple of years. One rooster to 5 hens will give you about 20 eggs per week at least. Thats 20 broilers to sell each week once they reach slaugther weight. It will be self sustaining, you will avoid the cost of buying broiler chicks. However, their real value is that these chickens can get top price in the right market if you also pasture raise them like the French Label Rouge System. Joyce foods sells them for $19 per 3.5lb bird ($5.41/ lb). They can also be labeled as rustic heritage chickens even though they are as meaty as a cornish cross, so you market them as broilers to some and heritage chicken to others depending on the customer's wants. Learn to process them yourself too and keep the $2-3 per bird cost plus gas to take them to a plant to get processed. Check with your state, many states allow on farm processing if you sell directly from the farm. If not, sell them "live" through a CSA set up and base the live price the same as processed then ask if they want free processing. The processing comes after the sale that way. Joe Salatin does this. Please check first so you're not breaking a law in your area. Don't forget the value of barter. Offer unsold eggs or broilers to a local carpenter for free pine shavings for example. The shavings are a waste product to him so he'll think its a great deal.
If you have the space keep all three in movable pens on pasture. They need less feed when they forage and their meat and eggs bring a better price.
Youll never make it selling what people need, only what they want. People generaly want what they can't have and will pay more for it if it's rare or hard to find. It has to be somehow different or special to be wanted and if they think that other people want it then they will too. Don't undermarket. Start higher and have an angle to justify higher value. You can always lower price if you can't sell. Get the book "Pastured Poultry Profits" by Joe Salatin. He started very small and young as well.
These are not my calculation codes but those on the link in a previous post.
Price calculation from a link above with adjusted figures for rare breed egg layers.
$ 4.00 Cost to get to laying age -- feed/etc
$30.00 FEED 5 ounces of feed per day at $0.00875 per ounce (.14 per lb) X 700 days (2 years)
$ 1.60 Straw for bedding -- this number is estimated (40 bales * $2.00 /50 chickens) (2years)
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$35.60 Direct costs of 1 layer for 2 years
$93.75 INCOME of 450 food eggs over 2 years @ 2.50 per dozen (reality price-do not use government substidized store price unless you too are getting a check from the government, store price does not reflect true value, I get 3.50 for my pastured eggs easily)
$500.00 INCOME of 6.25 dozen rare hatching eggs per year for 2 years @ 40.000 per dozen (high demand but rare and hard to find breed or hard to find show quality hatching eggs)
$558.15 NET INCOME FOR EACH LAYING HEN
The same calculation from the link above for broiler production adjusted for French broilers
$22.75 6.5lb bird at $2.00 per pound (half of what you can get in a good market area for pastured "Poulet Rouge")
20 chickens in a batch
$455.00 total sale value per batch (ie per week)
-$0 broiler chicks (no need to purchase chicks)
-$56.00 feed cost estimate 20lb of feed x $0.14 per lb x 20 chickens
-$0 bedding (on pasture-no bedding)
$399.00 Net profit per batch of 20 chickens
$75.80 PRODUCTION VALUE PER HEN PER WEEK (5 hens)
$1,915.20 PRODUCTION VALUE PER HEN OVER 2 YEARS (estimate a 3 month production season per year)
So, after initial investment, each of your rare breed laying hens has an earning POTENTIAL of $558.15 and each French broiler hen has an earning POTENTIAL of $1,915.20 over 2 years. If you can make a market work for you.
