incubating to sell... anyone?

[City Chicken]

So, i love chickens, but i live in the city and i'm maxed out right now. at some point i will incubate to build up a new flock, but for now, i want to incubate to sell.

it seems to me that this is a great time to do it because they will be ready to lay in april-may.

how much do you sell hatched chicks for?

i saw a lady in craigslist that sells chicks for 2-3$ - a barnyard mix. but nothing in my city- that was awhile away. seems that most people who do this are in he country- but being in the city might provide a nice 'niche' market.

my chicks aren't 'pure bred'. but they are a good mix (i know because i raised the last batch and they are great chickens, good layers).
they are light sussex and white rock mix and lay pretty brownish pink eggs.

 

[Angiebubs]

City Chicken: I think one way to check prices in your area is to go on craigslist and see what they are going for? I have also thought about doing this as I love having chicks and often have broody hens.

 

[Impress]

I incubate to sell. It is a LOT of work for me to keep it profitable, I have to hatch a lot and go a lot of places to get them all sold. If I work hard enough however, I do manage to pay for my feed with enough extra to go into the savings account. Some years are better than others. However, with you living in the city and being limited on the amount of chickens you can have, you may run into problems. I always end up with some I cannot sell, and living in the country with no chicken limit I can toss those in the pasture when they are ready to continue trying to sell them. I would be careful not to overhatch, do a test run maybe and see how quickly you can sell them?

I have also found it is a fickle market, starting in March I can sell off a hundred plus chicks a week. Starting around June, the market goes WAY down and you either have to drop prices or unplug your incubator. I have to sell at auctions during the week, flea markets and animal swaps on weekends, and keep my Craigslist ads bumped up. When the market drops, I start hatching out to replace my layers for the next year if they are slowing down.

Add onto this keeping a huge garden for my family, plus the huge garden I grow of simply chicken feeding plants (I grow them corn, and millet, and sunflowers, and pumpkins, etcetera.) I have managed to make it profitable. But you have to be ready for problems, have a place for chicks that don't sell, stock feed to feed the greedy little monsters that don't sell, and be willing to work at it.

 

[City Chicken]

I incubate to sell. It is a LOT of work for me to keep it profitable, I have to hatch a lot and go a lot of places to get them all sold. If I work hard enough however, I do manage to pay for my feed with enough extra to go into the savings account. Some years are better than others. However, with you living in the city and being limited on the amount of chickens you can have, you may run into problems. I always end up with some I cannot sell, and living in the country with no chicken limit I can toss those in the pasture when they are ready to continue trying to sell them. I would be careful not to overhatch, do a test run maybe and see how quickly you can sell them?

I have also found it is a fickle market, starting in March I can sell off a hundred plus chicks a week. Starting around June, the market goes WAY down and you either have to drop prices or unplug your incubator. I have to sell at auctions during the week, flea markets and animal swaps on weekends, and keep my Craigslist ads bumped up. When the market drops, I start hatching out to replace my layers for the next year if they are slowing down.

Add onto this keeping a huge garden for my family, plus the huge garden I grow of simply chicken feeding plants (I grow them corn, and millet, and sunflowers, and pumpkins, etcetera.) I have managed to make it profitable. But you have to be ready for problems, have a place for chicks that don't sell, stock feed to feed the greedy little monsters that don't sell, and be willing to work at it.

and how much do you sell yours for?
i think my bator holds 42... i think i will set my first bath of 15-20 this week and we will see from there what happens. if there is a market here- i will go ahead and keep doing it.
i have some friends off the top of my head who are looking to start small flocks. we can start there i suppose.

i am also trying to garden- but in the city we have tons of deer, rabbits, ground hogs etc. i need to fence off the garden. i may try fishing line and see if that will keep the deer out... i don't grow to feed them! it's tough though, poor clay soil, wildlife and this whole 'urban' farming thing- it's hard! thankfully i do have almost an acre and just woods on one side, so it offers lots of privacy for my little projects.

 

[Impress]

I sell chicks for $3 and ducklings for $5. All of mine are purebred however, I have each breed in its own coop/pasture/pen. I sell them cheap for around here, however my logic in that is I would rather sell 10 for $3 a chick compared to 6 for $5, as my incubator holds around 300 eggs. I want them to sell off, not hang around being too expensive for some and eating a ton of feed.

You should try straw bale gardening if your soil is poor, I do straw bale gardens in the crappy parts of my property, and till the good spots. The plants grow fantastic in the straw bales, and you don't have to till or even have soil (as long as you use seedlings, if you use seeds, you have to add a little soil "frosting" for the seeds to start in.)

 

[City Chicken]

I sell chicks for $3 and ducklings for $5. All of mine are purebred however, I have each breed in its own coop/pasture/pen. I sell them cheap for around here, however my logic in that is I would rather sell 10 for $3 a chick compared to 6 for $5, as my incubator holds around 300 eggs. I want them to sell off, not hang around being too expensive for some and eating a ton of feed.

You should try straw bale gardening if your soil is poor, I do straw bale gardens in the crappy parts of my property, and till the good spots. The plants grow fantastic in the straw bales, and you don't have to till or even have soil (as long as you use seedlings, if you use seeds, you have to add a little soil "frosting" for the seeds to start in.)

hmmmm and what about added nutrients?
sounds very interesting!

some of the chicks are actually pure light sussex - but which those are!? i don't know until their feathers come in!! i think i have two pure light sussex hens and our roo is light sussex too. handsome young man... anyway- based on our prices here i think i will charge $3 for a chick and discounts or 3 or more. i would also rather sell them then hold on to them!

 

[Impress]

You prepare the straw by watering it for a few weeks to start it composting, and the composting straw gives you all the nutrients you need!

Good luck with your venture, and if you ever need any advice, message me! I ain't called the Crazy Chicken Lady of East Tennessee for nothing!

 

[cmfarm]

I must know what a straw bale garden is.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

You prepare the straw by watering it for a few weeks to start it composting, and the composting straw gives you all the nutrients you need!

Good luck with your venture, and if you ever need any advice, message me! I ain't called the Crazy Chicken Lady of East Tennessee for nothing!

we are doing this come spring too. I posted a bunch of info on pinterest, quite interesting and hoping it works well in the mountains we live in, since landscape is rocky

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I must know what a straw bale garden is.

http://pinterest.com/ssunshiner/
go into my landscaping board you will see them in there, awesome!