How many here are in the middle hobby and chicken farmer?

[Promiselandfarm]

I don't really consider us true chicken farmers as we don't make our living off of the chickens. But we have way too many for it to be a hobby. How many here are in the same boat? How many have way over 50 chickens that stay around year round? Not those that come in and are in the freezer soon after but those that are your flock? Also have you noticed that the sales of chicks and or hens have dropped off this year? I have not only in my area but at our local TFS & RK & local Farmers Co-op... In puts or ? is economy that bad that now that even what would feed us we can't buy? Or is the weather is in such a mess that we all are still getting settled?

 

[phoenixmama]

We are in the middle too. I have a listing on Local Harvest. We raise small flocks of meat chickens throughout the year, and turkeys for Thanksgiving. I don't make enough to "make a living" but it helps offset the cost of the hobby.

 

[Siler]

I noticed the price is much cheaper this year too. The feed is the same price however. I just thought it was my area. Interesting to know it's elsewhere as well.

I started out with 10 last year and they did great all winter. We are now up to 13 with some new babies, so we're still in the hobby stage, but if we add onto the coop we'll get some more....and more....and well you get the idea.

If TSC drops their price and we just so happen to stop in then at least 3 more will just so happen to come home with us.

With the amount I'm getting for eggs($3/doz)and the demand I have now I'm keeping even with feed:eggs ratio. If I know I can pull in more customers then I know I'll start a profit. All my girls are totally free-range, organic, and all that jazz so I can add on without a crowding issue. We started out with 6 just to supply ourselves with eggs but a discount on 4 more(ending with the original total of 10) put us over the top so I had no choice but to start selling. They're still very much in demand so I'm not worried about getting more.

 

[lvmychickens]

We had around 100, lost a few this spring due to a critter issue but have 100 more coming from TS. Luckily my egg supply stays sold out. I am able to make a small profit from the eggs so that offsets the price of feed plus my chickens roam the pastures. I have kept my egg prices low so have not noticed any difference in sales. Feed prices are still about the same.

 

[speckledhen]

No one wants to buy my eggs since those anemic, icky white ones in the discount grocery are now about 87 cents/doz.

They don't care that mine taste better or are better for them. All they see is the $$$.

I have no livestock, only pets. None of these will be eaten (unless Dutch gets a feather up where the sun don't shine and shows his butt to me) Currently, after downsizing, I have 34 adults and 7 youngsters coming along.

 

[peggym]

After next week I'm going to have about 46 chickens. Why? because I love them!!!!! I can't even sell my eggs here in NY either! I give them away, but right now I have about 8 dozen in the fridge!!!!! When my DH remembers he takes them to work and gives them to people.He works for Cornell Univ. and they love anything natural!!!1

 

[ChickenTender63]

I'm in the boat with the rest of ya. My number varies greatly tho.
On any given day, I have between 50 - 200 hens. Last year I started
My flock off with mainly buff orpingtons, RIR, and barred rocks with a
Few leghorns thrown in. I was mainly trying to get a laying flock
Established so I could sell eggs.

They started to lay in july and we gave em away until the size got decent.
We then started selling everything the girls could lay and I was pretty much
Breaking even with the feed cost.

I then started hatching some of the eggs to add to my flock so I would always
Have some that were just starting to lay. Then I started having people
Wanting to buy a few layers here and there so I would sell some and replace
Them with what I hatched a few months before. As feed prices started
To go up here, and egg sales dropping off during bad weather and stuff, the
Wife said I needed to make some sort of change cause it had begun to just
Cost too much in feed without the sales.

I sold many of my layers of the existing flock and started hatching out some
Of the rarer and fancier breeds so that I can try to sell more hatching eggs
And see if I can do a little better with those. I now have barnvelders, silver
Pencil rocks both standard and bantams, mille d fluers, blue cochins and a few
Other colors and have some more breeds on the way over the next few months.

As I sell my other chickens and guineas, I replace them with other chicks or
Eggs. I just hope now that I will be able to sell the hatching eggs now when they
Start laying, which will still be a while yet. Until then, I still have about 50 of my
Original flock left to provide eggs to sell or eat.

That's my plan anyways, I don't know if its goin to work or not, but we will see.
I hope it will work, cause I sure enjoy my girls. I am disabled now due to a
Broken back and many other injuries sustained in an accident and can't work anymore,
And am fighting with social security trying to get my disability approved, so it
Sure would be nice if I can at least get to break even with feed cost and I
Think I would be happy. They sure do provide me with better therapy than
Any doctor could give, and truth be known, they are probly the only reason
I am still here today.

I wish you all well with your flocks as well!

CT

 

[WhetzelMomma]

I guess I'm leaving the hobbyist side and only just entering the "farmer" side.
I am starting to grow my flock.
My current flock:
3 laying BO and 1 Rooster
I just added five supposed to be pullets, and will be adding 4 more in the summer. The gentleman I'm buying from this summer sold "reservations" for small quantity pullet orders, and (for a price) will hold them until they are nearly or already laying.
My original plan was to grow my flock by about 4 a year to create a "flow" of hens in various laying stages of thier lives, and to butcher and crock pot the hens that weren't laying once I got about 3 years in.
So I would have had 4 in 4 out once my flock was about 20 large. I plan to sell the eggs, as they are VERY popular around these parts, and yucky store bought eggs are actually MORE than most sellers sell farm eggs for.
BUT
Then I decided that it might be nice to allow a broody hen to sit on fertile eggs. That's when the Rooster came into play.
NOW my plan is still to grow by 4 and once I'm at 20, cull the older hens as originally planned.
HOWEVER I have been thinking about offering the same reservations that the gentleman I'm buying from is offering. It's a great idea for backyard farmers who don't want to risk an accidental rooster, and he lives 2 hours from me, so I would have a different market than he does. If I choose to do this, I'd butcher the pullets and cockerels that don't "make the cut" so to speak.
I'm thinking that these new plans put me into small time chicken farmer and less in the hobbyist category.

Siler

With the amount I'm getting for eggs($3/doz)and the demand I have now I'm keeping even with feed:eggs ratio. If I know I can pull in more customers then I know I'll start a profit. All my girls are totally free-range, organic, and all that jazz so I can add on without a crowding issue. We started out with 6 just to supply ourselves with eggs but a discount on 4 more(ending with the original total of 10) put us over the top so I had no choice but to start selling. They're still very much in demand so I'm not worried about getting more.

Do you have somewhere on line that you share your set up? I'm interested in this, and would love to see how you house your girls. Thanks!!​