Does selling chicken/ducks make money??

[jackrooster]

Does selling baby chicks/ducklings and adult birds bring in money ?? I was thinking about hatching them and selling them and some adults.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Yes, I make money selling them, but it all goes right back into the birds. Its a hobby, nothing your going to make a living from.

 

[Tropical Chook]

Not an easy question to answer really because there are so many things which come into play. Sure, if you go big scale then I would imagine you can make money, but as the last poster mentioned, it's a hobby more than anything else. Also, it would depend on where you live and how you intend raising your birds. Over here there are some making money but then you need to bear in mind that they don't buy any feed as the birds live 100% free range.

When I was still living in South Africa, my sister-in-law used to raise meat birds and she also had a flock of egg layers, and she used to do quite well as far as profits are concerned, but then again, she had many regular customers who who buy a set amount of eggs and processed chickens each month. Unfortunately here in Thailand, the average person doesn't give a hoot whether food is organic or not.....it's only the price that matters...

Ah well, if you never try, you'll never know, so good luck.

 

[dieselgrl48]

Well Your not going to get rich.I have been doing it for about 5 year's.If you take into the long run cost with eqpt. feed. time....I didn't really even break even till about 3 year's into it.Bird's are a lot of work.I basicaly just do it for a hobby now because I am so stuck on them.Do some research on local ad's to see what is selling in your area.If you have a small animal auction etc. and get a fair stock of different breed's you can sell easy.Shipping birds I wont ever do myself I can't stand the thought of any of my bird's in a box for that long.I have sold hatching egg's and had some really nice people with updates on the bird's.If you are in a good rural area where bird's are allowed your best bet is to unload chick's at an early age.I always under price mine to hatchery prices and I think people find it better to pick the bird's themselves.I'm not going stupid and charge someone $50 starting price for a SO Called Show bird egg X 6.A lot of new hatcher's fall into the trap I did a few time's.Egg's are like Vegas! Sad but true.I can have almost 100% hatch rate here but ging thru the Postal Service ya might as well send them to the X Games.Just have fun with them.They will grow on you and you can just about always' find a home for them if it doesn't work out for ya.I have had some have to say UGLY MUTT"S( that's what inbred's are called) but were the best pet's and companion's Ever!

 

[hoppy]

find a unique breed and the profit margin is higher. I get more money for my started chicks then what others get for more common breeds. I like that in the fall, if I have not sold all the extra roosters, I can eat them and extra pullets are sold at a higher price for layers in the spring. just remember, supply and demand. you need a good product at a good price. people like pretty chickens but they may not pay extra if they just want production. serious breed people will. also you need to limit how many you produce, what you sell, becomes your competition. make sure to maintain quality birds if you want to sell more then just eating eggs. eating eggs $2/doz, hatching eggs $5/doz and up depending on the breed.
this time of yr in maine, is not the time to start hatching unless you plan to keep and raise the babies until spring (that raises your overall cost) but I would start hatching in like feb to get a jump on the early chick people.

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Get coronation sussex.

 

[hoppy]

Quote:
think unique but affordable, after all, it is a chicken and things do kill them (dogs, owls, hawks, weasels)

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Two things to consider...1. It is a hobby and if you want to go professional you will have to really set up a nice system and pens and advertise like crazy..2. Don't get too attached to them or you will not want to sell them.....

 

[matthewschickens]

Well.. I don't want to steal the thread but:

Have any of you sellers ever refused to sell birds because you knew the people you were selling them to wouldn't be good to them? I have wanted to start but I don't think I could sell to a person I didn't trust to be sweet to the birds...

But it is fun!!

Matthew

 

[hoppy]

Quote:
I don't have many problems with people wanting to buy my birds, most seem like they really care (otherwise they spend alot less to get egg layers)
my problem seems to be those that want any free birds I might have (extra roos) while I don't care if people eat them, i don't want to know about it.