Does anyone actually make money breeding chickens?

[Fred's Hens]

It's possible. All the big hatcheries are making enough to hire employees. But look at the volume they are dealing with.

I think that most of us lose money. A few make enough profit to supplement their income. There are not many, except for the big hatcheries, that are supporting themselves entirely with their poultry. But, hey, if you can turn enough profit to justify the time you put in, then any additional income is always nice to have.

I agree. We work very hard and efficiently at breaking even and even squeeze a tiny little "profit". This is having around 300 birds on the ground, on three farms. But, if you were to ever factor in hours spent, well..... just don't. You'd make a whole lot more having a part time job and offering to super-size that order. LOL

There are many benefits. Quality meat and eggs, awesome manure for the gardens, enjoyment of the whole lifestyle, a sense of accomplishing something tangible, helping other people, etc.

 

[EweSheep]

I agree. We work very hard and efficiently at breaking even and even squeeze a tiny little "profit". This is having around 300 birds on the ground, on three farms. But, if you were to ever factor in hours spent, well..... just don't. You'd make a whole lot more having a part time job and offering to super-size that order. LOL

There are many benefits. Quality meat and eggs, awesome manure for the gardens, enjoyment of the whole lifestyle, a sense of accomplishing something tangible, helping other people, etc.

2x and we never made money on our chicks but we do get some income kick back into making more. Its the love of the hobby and the dedication of the breed are what it is worthwhile doing. Once you make a name for yourself when you show, exhibit or known for GOOD birds, it gets around pretty fast. Word of mouth, or correspondences works very well.

 

[DMRippy]

This year, my chickens have been able to pay their way. They have allowed me to buy more birds. Not all the birds I bought this year, but most. Some were just out of their price range

I supplement their feed with spent grains from a local brewery. That cuts my feed bill by about 1/3 or more. I buy from a feed mill by the ton so that cuts my feed bill too. If I have to go to TSC and get feed I have STICKER SHOCK.

$19 for a 50lb bag of med chick starter? I pay $26 for 100lb AND if I get a ton I get a discount per 100lb. I usually buy about $350 every 2-3 months (more if I don't get rid of little roosters quick) That is another thing, I have a roo guy and he will take roos from chicks on up. That REALLY cuts my feed bill. I give them too him, he grows them up and free ranges them and sells them in the fall, that buys Christmas for his kids

If I grew out roos, I could not make it. I can barely get $5 each on the roos and they eat WAY more than that. I am aslo selling my reg hens like EE, Olive Eggers, the ones that are easy to replace, so I don't have to feed the though the winter. Not my MAIN breeder birds.

I need to be selling as many hatching eggs as I can now before winter, but ALAS they are trying to molt

The new pullets should be coming on line soon. That should help.


I hope you guys find ways to make your chicken pay for themselves. I doubt mine will ever pay me, but if they can pay their way, I am WAY ahead of the game.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Donna, and everyone else Thanks for your posts.

After reading through all the comments and thinking about it, I've decided that I can make money with dogs, enough to pay for all the feed/vet bills etc, and still have extra...enough to keep my poultry hobby going. It would be nice to trim down and focus on several breeds, to try and improve them etc. I dearly love to incubate, hatch, raise, and care for my feathered babies, so I'm thinking this is the best bet. Thanks again everyone. : )

~ Aspen

 

[WinklerFarms]

This year it looks like I will come out plenty ahead. You don't need 100 layers to hatch out and sell a lot of chicks. If you have young healthy stock that lay an egg a day or almost you can hatch out plenty of chicks to profit. I also profit from the broilers I raise, but that I started doing to make money. If I wasn't profiting I would stop. Don't get me wrong I love doing it but I cannot afford the time to not make a little something from it.

I guess we all have our own reasons for raising chickens. Mine started out as a hobby but has turned into a business.

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

I agree. We work very hard and efficiently at breaking even and even squeeze a tiny little "profit". This is having around 300 birds on the ground, on three farms. But, if you were to ever factor in hours spent, well..... just don't. You'd make a whole lot more having a part time job and offering to super-size that order. LOL

There are many benefits. Quality meat and eggs, awesome manure for the gardens, enjoyment of the whole lifestyle, a sense of accomplishing something tangible, helping other people, etc.

I agree when you factor in the advantages(compost, bug destroyers, quality eggs and meat) you have to love it.

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

I've tryed eBay in the past without much luck, but I'll try again.

My incubators are all turned off currently, as I don't want to raise chicks through the winter, and it's alot harder to find homes for the chicks. I can sell all the eating eggs I want for $4.00 a dozen, but I can get alot more for selling them as hatching eggs. But you never know if you are going to sell them or not, that's the bad part! LOL

~ Aspen

I think the ebay route is a great idea we have sold alot of hatching eggs locally and chicks as well, we make good money in early spring, before Tractor Supply and the co-op get there chics. I think a couple of little tricks help a lot, in early spring sell your chics for a little more money(before tractor supply gets theres) then reduce price and count on volume. Also I think to many people sell there chickens to cheap, we have to factor in the cost of caring for our birds properly. All this said I still haven't figures out how to make money in the winter months yet.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

TNBEARCHICK - That is the plan for next spring. Get a jump start on TSC and all the other places that carry chicks March-April.

I hatched out a ton of chicks, keets, poults, quail, peachicks, ducklings, and everything else inbetween this year in the right season, but in winter I can sell nothin'!

 

[WinklerFarms]

When I first started hatching in January I couldn't hatch them fast enough. I don't know why but people were buying chicks then. Hopefully they will this winter too but who knows with feed prices. Though at the feed store they are telling me that at harvest time prices will come down a little bit, at least a little locally. I am starting to buy bulk now to save some money, especially for winter

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I'm going to look into buying feed in bulk from a 'local' feed mill. I bet it'd be alot cheaper.

~ Aspen