Is this Possible? Selling Chickens?

[ryanschickens1]

Hello. I have done plenty of research on chickens. My family has owned some in the past. I am a teen and live in Conneticut. I was thinking about getting 10 chickens for about $2.80 each (about $28.3 total) from mypetchicken.com and raising them In my parents garage and in my chicken coop I own until they are old enough to lay eggs. The I would sell them for about $15 each primarily on social media ( the town I live in has a tag sale Facebook group I could sell them in) or I could make an Instagram. In total I would make around $100 profit. Now I have a few questions. 1. Is this legal and what permits do I need? 2. How do I get my parents on board with this idea. They are open to owning chickens but I'm not sure about me selling them? Should I pay them part of the money I earn for letting me use the garage and them driving me places to give people their chickens. 3. Is $15 a reasonable amount to charge? Should I have people pay $5 when I first get them if they want to reserve them? Thanks for your input!

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

Hello and welcome to BYC!
Q1:I belive it is legal but you might want to ask on the connicut state thread
Q2:tell them it would be very good for you!Tell them you can save up that money for so,etching you really want but can't afford currently.Tell them it would teach you responsibility.
Q3:When you get the chicks, have people reserve them for $5, then when you sell them to the person, charge $10 very good.

 

[Pyxis]

!

There are a couple things to consider, but first I wanted to tell you that you should edit your age out of your post. It is against the rules for you to share it here.

The first thing to consider is that you aren't going to just spend $28.30 on the chicks. You're also going to have to pay shipping. Figure at least $20 for that, probably more as for that few chicks they're going to want to overnight them to you.

Then the supplies to raise them. Figure $10 for feeders and waterers, $5 for bedding, $15 for the brooder itself if you use a storage tub or something similar, and $10 for the heat lamp and $10 for the heat lamp bulbs.

Then you're also going to need to figure in feed. They're going to eat a lot to get them to laying age when you intend to sell them. Figure at least $30 in feed, maybe more.

And of course there's the cost of the electricity to run the heat lamp, the water if you pay for your water, etc.

So you're looking at spending $130 on them, not including electric and water, to raise them. And you're expecting to get $150 for them when you sell them. Is all that work really worth less than $20 to you?

 

[ryanschickens1]

Thanks!

Can I just say I'm a teen?

I still have a lot of left over supplies so I'd have to look through what I have and see what I still need. Like I know I have Feeders and Waterers and a heat lamp. I'm not sure if I still have my old brooder or an extra bin laying around but I'll check all of this. But even if I do have this stuff your right I was forgetting to include the cost of this stuff. But still a lot of this is first time stuff that is reuseable and I can use for many years. I think it's also great for expirience of running a "business" more than just the making money aspect. As long as I'm not losing money I'm okay with it.

 

[Pyxis]

Great! As a one time venture it won't be very profitable but if you do it a few times you might make some money. And if you have supplies around already that will cut down on the cost some.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under Ryan

Welcome!

As you have already received some great advice from Pyxis, I will just wish you all the best.

You might want to also pop in and say hello on your local thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/26/where-am-i-where-are-you ‘Find your State’s thread.

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

If you would like to share pictures and stories of your flock, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out

 

[N F C]

Good luck with all your plans!

 

[redsoxs]

Hello from Kansas and

! Great to have you in our community! Hope you are able to make a buck or two selling a few birds. Good luck and thanks for joining BYC!

 

[LuvnEnglishOrps]

I think it's a great idea given the advice you received earlier about figuring in for supplies and feed. But, if you'd like to have a larger customer base, check with the local 4H and FFA groups in your area. If you can keep back 4 or 5 hens and a rooster in a good production breed, you may be able to hatch chicks and supply the members of those type of groups with their project birds every year and they have to start with chicks so you would have very little feed and time invested in those. After a couple years or so, maybe invest in a rare or heritage breed trio or quad, and then you could up your game, start selling eggs or more expensive chicks. Who knows, you may create a line of your chosen breed that the rest of us fight to get
Best of luck no matter the route..you have your head in the right place and as a parent, if one of my kids came to me with a business plan like that, I'd do everything in my power to see you succeed