How hard is it to sell egg laying breed type pullets?

[QuoVadis]

I was considering ordering extra pullets of some egg laying/dual purpose breed with an order of banties and then selling them on Craigslist or wherever for around $10 once they hit maybe 6-10 weeks old. How hard would they be to sell? I'm not going to do it if it is more trouble than it's worth, but if some people would rather not have the hassle of raising chicks I could cater to them, and make up a little of the money I paid for the chicks doing so. Plus it might be a great way to find some homes for my extra banty boys!

Has anyone ever done anything like this? If so how well did the young pullets sell? Are there any breeds that are in high demand?

(P.S. Sorry if this isn't the right place to put this post!)

 

[Wyandottes7]

I've never sold some myself, but I've heard that they are pretty easy to sell. Many people don't want the hassle of raising chicks, and older pullets will give them eggs sooner. At $10,00 a bird, I don't think you should have much trouble selling them. They are much easier to sell than extra roosters.

As to the breeds that will sell best, it depends on your area. In some areas, dual purpose breeds, like Red Sex-Links, Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds, etc should sell easily. At other places, people will be more interested in fancy breeds, like many of the bantams.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Selling brooded out chicks or selling near to lay pullets is pretty dead easy. Usually, a post on Craigs is all it takes and folks snap them up. Popular, good egg laying females sell out fast. But with a growing savvy among buyers, the glass ceiling is there and a severe limit to what they're willing to pay.

However, and this is the big however. Your idea to make a little money? Nah. Really, really, really hard to even break even. You have to honestly add up the electricity to brood and it is often more than what folks truly account for. The original cost, per chick to get them. Bedding. Any equipment purchased, even if prorated. Feed, feed and feed.

All said and done, the markets vary from place to place, but making money? Again, breaking even is pretty good. Sell 10 chicks at, even if it were possible, a dollar profit? Wow $10 whole bucks. A whole lot easier to lose $1 per chick on the sale. Go ahead and do it, if you wish. It's all entertainment and more work when you double your chick order, but it can be enjoyable.

Profitable is a whole 'nother story.

 

[aoxa]

Selling brooded out chicks or selling near to lay pullets is pretty dead easy. Usually, a post on Craigs is all it takes and folks snap them up. Popular, good egg laying females sell out fast. But with a growing savvy among buyers, the glass ceiling is there and a severe limit to what they're willing to pay.

However, and this is the big however. Your idea to make a little money? Nah. Really, really, really hard to even break even. You have to honestly add up the electricity to brood and it is often more than what folks truly account for. The original cost, per chick to get them. Bedding. Any equipment purchased, even if prorated. Feed, feed and feed.

All said and done, the markets vary from place to place, but making money? Again, breaking even is pretty good. Sell 10 chicks at, even if it were possible, a dollar profit? Wow $10 whole bucks. A whole lot easier to lose $1 per chick on the sale. Go ahead and do it, if you wish. It's all entertainment and more work when you double your chick order, but it can be enjoyable.

Profitable is a whole 'nother story.

It would be easier to break even or come out with a tiny bit of profit if you hatched them yourself, and they were quality birds.

I can definitely tell you we haven't broken even yet... One month we were pretty close and than the fire...

With start up costs taken into consideration and spread out through 5-10 years.. I won't see real profit for quite some time. Nothing to live off of.. But my goal right now is to break even.

I did make about 50% profit on my meat birds that I sold.. but it was not worth the work IMO.

 

[indigo3]

hatching eggs makes it easier to make a profit also if you do this in spring and hatch with a broody your heat and feed costsbare reduced as well... but I see to make better profits with other types of birds like guineas, turkeys, and chukkars. With the game fowl thought I prefer to sell them younger to save money on feed. just mho

 

[QuoVadis]

To be clear, I'm not considering this as a way to make a profit, more as a way to a.) recoup a little of what I spent on chicks, and b.) make it possible to reorder, because the hatchery messed up my order and I think they are going to give me credit, but I don't need 30 more chicks! I'm not even going to keep roosters, so I have no intention of breeding my own chicks, I would just be buying extra pullets to complete my order and then selling them. It just makes a lot more sense marketing-wise to get females than, than str. run, especially since I'll already have extra banty roos to get rid of. I just don't want to be stuck with a bunch of hens I don't need/can't keep. Worst case scenario, my parents live in the country and would probably add them to their current flock, but that doesn't make sense financially. Do EEs tend to sell well? Or just go with sex link types?

 

[Wyandottes7]

To be clear, I'm not considering this as a way to make a profit, more as a way to a.) recoup a little of what I spent on chicks, and b.) make it possible to reorder, because the hatchery messed up my order and I think they are going to give me credit, but I don't need 30 more chicks! I'm not even going to keep roosters, so I have no intention of breeding my own chicks, I would just be buying extra pullets to complete my order and then selling them. It just makes a lot more sense marketing-wise to get females than, than str. run, especially since I'll already have extra banty roos to get rid of. I just don't want to be stuck with a bunch of hens I don't need/can't keep. Worst case scenario, my parents live in the country and would probably add them to their current flock, but that doesn't make sense financially. Do EEs tend to sell well? Or just go with sex link types?

Easter Eggers and sex-links are probably the best. Many people like the colored eggs that Easter Egger lay, as well as their fluffy cheeks and beards.

 

[QuoVadis]

Well I hope they sell! Just ordered 10 production reds, 5 barred rocks, and 5 speckled sussex (those I got just because I love them, and I'm hoping my mom will decide to buy a couple! Or maybe I'll just have to break my only bantams rule and keep one!)