I wanna raise chicken for a living?

[supremeguy]

I don't wanna drive to work as I have an accident and a ticket and my car insurance rate is expensive and I only graduated from high school and I don't wanna work at Mcdonalds and the like, so I wanna stay home and work at home, for example, can I do an investment and build a place in my house for raising chicken and then sell them or sell their meat? I just wanna eat comfortable, be able to pay my bills and have the basic needs such as surfing the internet and I don't need any luxury like driving a Benz or go shopping at mall, I just wanna spend my life raising chicken and make a stable living at my house.
And how do I start doing it? If I have lots of chickens, how do I sell it, who to sell to?

 

[FireTigeris]

use the search here and look up 'can you get ahead' and 'how much do your chickens really cost'

Most people here do not have enough chickens to make meat or eggs profitable IF they built the coops new.

Now if you have lots of land and buildings that are suitable for chickens already - OR are handy with tools...

But remember you will still have to drive for chicken feed and your own food...

And if you're are selling lots of chickens you will likely (not sure how many is too many) the FDA and DoA get involved...

My first egg cost over 1000 dollars, my food for them is now covered- I'll let everyone know the day they pay off that first egg...

Its going to be awhile.

 

[ARose4Heaven]

All my housing is reclaimed farm buildings... see my BYC page. I sell eggs direct to friends and neighbors, on craigslist and at farmer's markets. Once my new chicks start laying, I will be marketing to local restaurants. I really don't want the DOA getting involved, so am not selling butchered birds. I live in Iowa. The spotlight for chicken bio-security is on us. I do be careful!

My DH is continually asking when the birds will be self-supporting. I am starting to think it is not gonna happen. As for making a living at it...highly unlikely. I am just not willing to mortgage the farm to get the facilities needed to make it work.

 

[chickenaddictntn]

I just can't see them earning you $$$ because everybit made goes right back into them sorry they are for most ppl a hobbie. I filed my earning on my taxes and turned around and put it right back in them.

 

[awesomefowl]

Make a good, clear business plan first. Do you want to raise layers or broilers, or what? Pastured broilers? Confined broilers? brown eggs? White eggs?
Make these decisions before you start, and start small so you don't get overwhelmed. And be prepared; animal work isn't hard but you have to keep at it, and it is 24 hours a day.
I am planning a pastured broiler and quail egg business so i made a plan and found out I will only make about $9 on every broiler sold!

 

[Mac in Wisco]

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Only $9 a bird? Either you're not counting some expenses there, or you've found a veritable gold mine.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

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That's pretty much called farming... Do you really have room for a poultry business "in your house"? You aren't going to earn a living selling a few hundred birds. You need to think in the thousands, or tens of thousands, of birds.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

There are some good resources here that talk about small scale poultry production and marketing:

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/poultry/

There is also a fairly good book called "Pastured Poultry Profits", by Joel Salatin that describes alternative methods for raising, processing and marketing broilers.

The "Meat Birds" section of Backyard Chickens also has tremendous amount of info on raising broilers and the costs associated.


Read up on it and learn all that you can and you will have a better idea of what it takes than what we can give you in a short answer here.

 

[dirtsaver]

It may be different in your area but in the Ohio Valley area it seems that casino gambling may pay better than an agricultural endeavor. Sad, but the facts as many of us know them. For a modern "small farmer" the road is very difficult. It's been said many time that if someone gives you the land,tractors and equipment,first year seed and fertilizer and cattle and you manage it to the nth degree,you'll be broke in less than 5 years. There's a reason for companies like Tyson and Perdue. It's called "big business",and sadly that's who is making the money in farming today.

That is not to say you can not use poultry as a sideline,selling eggs,chicks and dressed chickens, but even then you have to work at your target market and it takes a few years to see any return on your investment.

If it sounds like I'm trying to scare you away from your idea I'm sorry. I just think it fair you know what you are facing.

Larry

 

[Davaroo]

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Go here: www.plamondon.com

Read. Learn.

Bob has been doing it for years.