Decent money

[RooStar Chicken Gang]

Anyone here figured out how to successfully make some decent, or even maybe not so decent but still good cash from your chickens or poultry? Maybe a different animal, as a hobby or a business. Maybe you already did it and gave up maybe Ur still doing it, either way let us know.. or don't.

Or what would be your ideal goal with this if you where to make it happen? Everyone here obviously likes these animals, and working/spending time with them, so how would you go about it.

So far never made any money off the flock here it's been a hobby, have given some eggs away for free to friends, but am thinking it's about time to step it up a bit.

 

[aart]

In general, you have to go BIG to make money.

Yep!

The money I make on selling eggs just pays for the bags of feed. I have a small flock of 16 so it isn’t large enough to make a profit.

This is what I do....for the most part, eggs sales covers feed costs.
After tracking costs for 7 years, I'm still in the red.
yeah, it's a hobby.

 

[MissE]

I’ve found that people would rather pay $1 for eggs at walmart than even $2 for my eggs. When I gave away eggs when the pandemic started people were sure around with their hands out though. It depends on where you live and what the market is. There are a lot of poor folks around my neck of the woods and I’m not giving eggs away for. So I use them myself or trade with neighbors.

Its disappointing that you can't sell them. I sell most of mine, and even at $3 a dozen I can't keep up with the demand. I'm not going to raise the price. Egg sales pay for the feed with a little left over for bedding and other small items. I also give some away to family. I will never pay for the coop this way, but that's ok.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I hatch purebred chicks in my incubators. So I sell chicks, ducks, turkeys, peachicks, now goslings, used to sell quail.
I sell some adult birds, some meat (when we had them usda inspected; otherwise to family), some eggs, and hatching eggs.
The most profitable things for me to sell are purebred hatching eggs and hatched chicks.
I'm able to keep the birds I enjoy and pay for their feed.

 

[Acre4Me]

In general, you have to go BIG to make money.

however, a niche market might net you some cash.

1. Sell washed/sanitized feathers for costume/crafts/fly fishing. I know of one person that would raise pheasants (a few) and sell the long tail feathers for costumes.

2. Get really good at one or a few breeds, that are show worthy and that WIN. I hear serious breeders cull 90-95% of their hatched. Cull does not mean kill-it means to remove, so often the culls are sold as regular chickens.

3. Raw-feed animals. We know of a quail farm that is successful and will sell males to people that feed their dogs a raw food diet.

4. Get certified/inspected...whatever required to sell eggs. Maybe duck eggs as they are more unique. In the states, we have to go through a higher level of inspection to sell to a grocery/bakery/restaurant, but could be a good Avenue.

5. Learn to caponize and sell Capons. Of course, this depends on how your laws are set up.

 

[igorsMistress]

I’ve found that people would rather pay $1 for eggs at walmart than even $2 for my eggs. When I gave away eggs when the pandemic started people were sure around with their hands out though. It depends on where you live and what the market is. There are a lot of poor folks around my neck of the woods and I’m not giving eggs away for. So I use them myself or trade with neighbors.

 

[Acre4Me]

I’ve found that people would rather pay $1 for eggs at walmart than even $2 for my eggs. When I gave away eggs when the pandemic started people were sure around with their hands out though. It depends on where you live and what the market is. There are a lot of poor folks around my neck of the woods and I’m not giving eggs away for. So I use them myself or trade with neighbors.

Yup. So true. I’d rather keep them to give away to people who help us out and/or really appreciate home grown eggs.

a friend offered up goat manure. They will be moving and have gotten rid of all their animals. So, I gave them a few dozen Fresheggs -they were so appreciative bc they miss their chickens. Other people will invite the kid over to an event, or drive the kid somewhere, so they might get eggs (if they want them). Another friend loves loves loves fresh eggs and chickens (but does not have any of their own), so they get eggs as we can spare bc they are a certified electrician and will help us out as needed, etc.

 

[CluckerFamily]

The money I make on selling eggs just pays for the bags of feed. I have a small flock of 16 so it isn’t large enough to make a profit.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I did a quick look at "Cost of eggs in Australia" and came up with this. Your immediate market could be quite different, it can vary a lot.

While eggs from caged birds can sell for as little as $3 a dozen, the cost for free-range eggs has edged up around $6 to $7 a dozen while organic eggs are heading over the $10 mark.
This shows the power of a niche market, you have to make your product special to command a better price, whether that is eating eggs, hatching eggs, meat, or live animals. It doesn't have to be chickens, could be ducks or turkey. Whatever.

As for scale, say you can sell 10 dozen eggs a week for 7 bucks each. But it costs you 5 to produce them, ignoring the initial costs of your facilities and equipment. So 20 a week. If you could produce and sell 100 dozen per week at that production cost that would be 200 per week. And you may be able to take advantage of economy of scale to reduce your production costs some. Or you may need to build bigger facilities.

But how much do you charge for your time, not just taking care of them and collecting eggs but marketing and delivering them? Chickens don't lay the same every week either, that can vary, plus they will stop to molt so you can go months with no or very little production. How loyal will your customers be if you can't deliver every week?

I once knew a couple that sold blue eggs at a farmer's market. They also provided free range organic meat to a specific restaurant, just the way the chef wanted it. They had some other things going on too with hogs. And he had a steady job. I don't know how much they actually made off of their chickens but they found a niche market. They worked hard and their margins were thin but they were living their dream. And he had a steady job.

 

[neo71665]

Wanna make a million with chickens start out with 2 million