I think the key to profit is reducing costs, but being in a good area where people appreciate fresh cage free eggs is important. I don't have chickens, we have ducks and quail that we sell eggs for $3 a dozen and $4 and $5 for hatching eggs, and we can't produce enough for all the hatching eggs people want right now. We built our coop out of locust trees on our property, covered it in chicken wire and this summer I'm going to cob it, the south facing side is covered in windows to provide warmth in the winter. I'm looking into planting forage crops in a run and in trays that can be put in the coop for grazing to make the quail more sustainable. The ducks free range during the day and eat very little food when good foraging is available. We are doing better than breaking even for current costs, but I can't say we've kept track of the cost of the hardware we put into it, but it's way under a thousand dollars. I think starting small and building up as you know what your local economy will allow is good, but ultimately you have to be prepared for just doing it for your own gratification. I have found that the permits required to vend at a local farmers market wouldn't easily be recouped(in the neighbor hood of $200 all together for a summer season) by selling eggs since we have specialty eggs. Craigslist is our best resource for advertising. I'm almost finished building a 200 quail egg, or 60 duck egg capacity incubator to sell chicks, and was looking for advice on pricing that when I came across this thread. We've barely put any money into that because I used recycled wood mostly and random hardware we have around, but my husbands Dad had the motors and electronic knowledge to build a board to control the egg trays and he used a water heater thermostat wired into the lightbulb to control the temperature.
