how to make more funds from my chickens

[Egghead_Jr]

Tell those free loaders to get a job. If they can't lay enough "fresh eggs" to pay for their keep then it's time to kick them out of the house.

Seriously, fresh eggs can sell for up to $3/doz, last year my cost with pine chips, feed, electricity was up to $2/doz in winter as they couldn't forage. Cost of feed has gone up $1.50 per 50# bag since then. It's not so drastic they can't pay for themselves at 2.50/dozen for farm fresh.

 

[mama dixie]

so how do you put a reply on what a person said. I love the rules list. I am going to try to print it out and use it. I have built a multi purpose flock. Cochin and faverels for broodie and mommies, white leg horns and wayan dots for layers and some Easter eggers for the picky customers just to add some flair or kinda have a selling gimmicky. I am selling my eggs for 3.50 a dozen now and getting that because it is winter in summer I only ask 3 this is because we buy food and use heat lamps and it just cost so much more for the eggs. I deliver the eggs and do some bartering for candles and stuff I would not normally treat myself to so that is probly why they are willing to pay more they get a good deal on the barter.

what is the best dual purpose bird. I like Cornish cross because of the breast meat, but they grow so fast and I would like something that we could process like 3-5 times a year not all at once. I need to get lean and mean here on our small farm because it is costing much more than it did living in town and we are starting to think of giving up farming and going back to the walking distance from work thing for hubby. Guess it is time to pray pray pray and give it to God. My big problem though is I take it back or don't listen when he takes the time to respond... you know the I sent you a boat and a helicopter when you were stuck in the flood and still you did not hear me.

well at the very least I have learned so much out here and we have pulled together as a family. we need someone who is network savvy to start a how to stretch the farm budget website. Ok I know you are out there people let me know when you get it up and running

my friends kid got bit by a hobo spider so I am off to put out spider traps. hey I could diaper my birds and rent them out as spider and bug assasians. no joke for the duck person I do take my ducks to finds places and let them scarf on the slugs only charge them dinner and maybe a beer but there could be a way to feed those ducks so you don't have to off them.. kids really get a kick out of it and my ducks are so tame they kinda think they are dogs..

 

[Beekissed]

I don't mess with production breeds like production blacks, reds, etc. They tend to not be hardy, do not go broody enough~or ever~to reproduce themselves, and they lay well ~but not long.

I stick with breeds that are thrifty on feed and forage, lay well for longer than two years(yes, this can happen), go broody on occasion, and are hardy to the max.

Then I cull for laying efficacy and health on a yearly or bi-yearly basis during peak season. Even if they are favorites, they do get culled eventually....you cannot run a farm on sympathy.

During the winter I allow a slow down by not providing lighting and I change feeding from primarily laying mash to laying mash base mixed with cheaper whole grains.

Charge the norm for a doz. in your area and provide a tasty product....my customers simply raved about the taste of my eggs when I started being more consistent with placing ACV in the water.

Raising cheaper means avoiding illnesses and the expense of medicines by using all natural preventative health measures to insure you have a healthy flock....a healthy flock is a profitable flock.

If you are not free ranging, do so. Provide adequate safety for free ranging or you will be soon having the expense of replacing your flock.

Feed once a day and only what they can clean up that day....it helps to do it in the evening for summer time and in the mornings for winter time. Implement measures and feeders that provide for no waste in feed, and the once a day feedings keep your flock from gaining too much weight to produce well while keeping your feed in your chickens and not in the local rodent populations.

Replace your flock by using resources you have on hand...namely, your own eggs and broodies. Any excessive broodiness needs to be curbed and, if it cannot, the bird needs to be culled.

All extra roos eaten after 4-5 mo. grow out time. You really only need one roo per 15-20 hens if he is active and healthy.

Buy your feed in bulk...it's cheaper this way, you can buy when grain prices are cheapest and you can store it in simple aluminum trash cans.

Don't invest in new or newfangled equipment...the old stuff is tried and true, easy to pick up at yard sales and farm auctions and lasts forever.

 

[bakerjw]

^^^^ Very good advice ^^^^

Part of flock health is quarantining all new additions to the flock. Whenever I sell hatched chicks I stress to the buyer that they need to be quarantined. When I sell chicks I stress that hardiness of the breed, the docile nature of the roosters, and how it is good to add genetic diversity to a flock. With eggs or birds you sometimes have to sell your product.

There are a couple of birds of mine that are "protected" from culling for life. Black Betty my White Rock - Silver Sebright crossed hen is one. Loudest hen that I've got and comes when I call her.

I love my White Rocks for a dual purpose bird. They are hardy, decent egg layers, and have great dispositions. I have 17 hens with 3 roos right now and plan on adding to them next year. I didn't have any hens go broody on me this year but they have in the past. Broody hens are cute and take a lot of the effort out of hatching new birds but incubators are good as well.

When I add I will also start to cull. The rooster in my avatar is Kurt who is my alpha White Rock roo. I can't pick him up and hold him but when it is treat time I always ensure that he gets the treats first. He drops them for his hens and calls them over but I give him that option as the HRIC.

I do have some White Leghorn hens as well. They were picked up for a lone chick that hatched. I wanted more White Rocks but got Leghorns instead

White Leghorns don't even come close in size to the White Rocks and are spastic and flighty as ever.

 

[Fred's Hens]

There are two schools of thought, as to being economically viable. One school of thought says to buy the very best bird for the job intended. CornishX for meat and a commercial layer for eggs. Frankly, there is an awful lot of sense to that argument. This is what the for-profit folks do on either end of the chicken spectrum and there is an enormous amount of science and breeding behind both the fast developing meat birds on one end and the super layers on the other end.

This school of thought mocks the dual purpose bird, stating they don't, won't and can't do either meat or laying with economy. In other words, they just don't anything very well or very economically. From a purely economic standpoint, these extreme positions have merit. Neither the CornishX meat flock nor the laying flock of ISA Browns are sustainable, however. Does that matter? Is it an important factor? Each flock owner makes their own decisions on that.

The dual purpose bird, however, is where the interest, heritage, beauty, art and sustainability comes in play. The home flock is not merely, in every case, at all times a small scale, miniature production facility. The gratification quotient, the living lawn art factor, the "they make life interesting" equation is also in play. This second point of view has other important talking points besides just the data shown on a spreadsheet.

 

[Avalon1984]

Fred's Hens :

There are two schools of thought, as to being economically viable. One school of thought says to buy the very best bird for the job intended. CornishX for meat and a commercial layer for eggs. Frankly, there is an awful lot of sense to that argument. This is what the for-profit folks do on either end of the chicken spectrum and there is an enormous amount of science and breeding behind both the fast developing meat birds on one end and the super layers on the other end.

This school of thought mocks the dual purpose bird, stating they don't, won't and can't do either meat or laying with economy. In other words, they just don't anything very well or very economically. From a purely economic standpoint, these extreme positions have merit. Neither the CornishX meat flock nor the laying flock of ISA Browns are sustainable, however. Does that matter? Is it an important factor? Each flock owner makes their own decisions on that.

The dual purpose bird, however, is where the interest, heritage, beauty, art and sustainability comes in play. The home flock is not merely, in every case, at all times a small scale, miniature production facility. The gratification quotient, the living lawn art factor, the "they make life interesting" equation is also in play. This second point of view has other important talking points besides just the data shown on a spreadsheet.

Beautiful quote

 

[trailchick]

I hear ya 'sista' on the feed prices. Winter is coming and bug season is winding down, so there is not much forage out there for those free rangers.... My americaunas seem to be finding something to eat because they do not come to the feeders like the others at feeding time. What are others that are better at foraging while FR?

I also will be sending 4 roos that are maturing (black austrolorpes) to the monthly county auction at the end of the month- I cant seem to tell what they are at early ages- I sure wanted some to be hens. I have 2 dozen chicks that are 3 weeks that will need to go, but if i could tell the pullets from the cockerels I would only send the cocks.

Egg maker was $17.25 last trip to the feed store. AGGHHH

 

[CluckyJay]

Well, I am down to three standard hens since the dog mauled my flock. Food prices won't be affecting me this year.

One way I save on feeding is to feed as many scraps as I can get my hands on. I get eggs everyday and my hens seem perfectly healthy. All our lives we have done this had our hens live as long as anyone else's. I also keep them wormed on black walnut, garlic and other sulfur and tannic foods.

I am also feeding them soldier flies and they free range. Just make sure your husband's retired squirrel dog doesn't get loose and kill them.

I do not free-feed their food. They get a pretty set amount and my food goes further that way. As long as they are fat and sassy I am happy.

 

[CluckyJay]

Acorns too. They love acorns and they are pretty fattening as a food source.

 

[StupidBird]

Ok, so if I understand this, there are two approaches...flock making more money and flock costing less money.

I would fall into the "costing less money" camp. Sure, we could easily sell eggs $3/dz from two or three times the number of hens, but not on our current property. Pretty much we'd eat all the eggs if DH's boss wasn't so found of them.

So to COST less money:
1. supplement store bought feed and supplies: acorns, free day old bread, kitchen leftovers, butchering scrap, whole grains (such as deer corn), growing stuff (greens, sunflowers, corn, millet, other grains, sunchokes; insect larvae), bags of gathered leaves, mowing clippings. Free range if safe and possible.
- - -problem: given more than half a handful of corn or other carb treats, they don't lay well the next day or two.

2. feed management: measure and limit to timed offering of that expensive bought feed, protecting feeders from mooching squirrels, wild birds, rodents and other critters.

3. flock management: keep only the birds that mean something. Either function, form, or emotional attachment. If the bird is a disappointment, sell or eat it. When obtaining new birds, already have firm decision made on what it will be; quarantine.

4. flock health: patrol daily for hazards (sharp things, loose fencing or boards, security), treat water with ACV, keep on top of area cleanliness, internal and external parasites. Train birds to handle easy for frequent inspections. Quarantine everything - new birds, suspicious behavior or symptoms, the slightest hint of illness.

Miss anything?