most profitable chickens

[Chicken Fruit]

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People want what they cant get at TSC- and they like not having to wait for them from the hatcheries. They want good layers, appropriate for the area (cold hardy in the north, not so much in the south) with good calm dispositions.

I have found the biggest sellers I have are EE's, black asutralorps, light brahama, cochins, and buff orpingtons.

biggest of all being the orpingtons and ameruacanas.

I sell on craigslist only, and after posting ONE ad for just ONE set of chicks I ended up with buyers for two whole batches and some I had to turn away.


be careful about buying chicken breeds based on how they look. I did that with the dark egg layers and they ended up being turds. You're best bet are the black australorps or cochins or EE's if yoiu're looking for something to fall in love with.

 

[BluegrassSeramas]

Haha! Your house sounds like my house. Everyone calls it the petting zoo!

Make sure to check out feathersite.com also. They have lots of great pics and info.
I suggest picking a breed (well, at least one) before you buy and educate yourself on what you are suppose to be looking for in quality of that breed.
I would look for a thread about your state's swaps. They are sooooo addictive! See who is going and what they have and see pics of their birds.
Def. look for a swap or show. You can see it all and talk to breeders. Just learn about what to look for in poor quality or sick birds and remember to quarantine any new birds.


I agree with everyone. You get paid mostly in pride at your accomplishments and knowledge, the love of your birds, the joy you get while taking care of an animal that can produce breakfast and is so entertaining, the wonder of learning it all and the greatness of meeting other chicken-crazies like yourself. (Did I say that swaps and shows are GREAT?)

I raise Seramas (a more expensive newer breed) I have great birds with good type and size and personality.
I dont sell them for some of the higher prices of 100-300 for a single bird of course, (thats a little excessive, I think) but I have yet to make anywhere near a profit with the cost of feed, waterers, feeders, shavings, straw, alfalfa, grit, meds/wormers/powders, bands, and lets not forget the cost of constantly feeding your addiction....coops, birds, more birds, more coops, wire, eggs, irresistible chicks, incubators, brooding supplies, then more coops, and then more feeders, etc etc..
and if you do sell things the cost of bulk egg cartons and shipping supplies, boxes, gas and time to go to the local Post office.

Its really the most rewarding, least paying job I have ever had. If I sell anything, Im just so excited to have the extra money to fuel the addiction!

 

[TimG]

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Though I do not keep detailed records, I think I am currently covering feed expenses with egg sales, plus getting eggs for my family. This from a 13-15 hen flock. I don't think the income from egg sales covers both feed and shavings that I buy.

I made a new nesting box out of scraps of wood (and screws) that I had laying around and used some wire and staples to mend a fence recently. I don't count any of this as expense.

Add in the expense of a new waterer or feeder or another roll of chicken wire and there's no way the egg sales would cover expenses.

I've been crunching numbers for meat birds recently and have come to the conclusion that the $2-$3 per bird for processing likely takes a chicken farmer from profit to loss. Do that processing yourself and you might make a profit; pay someone else and you're likely headed for a loss. Meat producers might look at raising chickens as a sure fire way to guarantee being paid for their butchering service.

I remember reading a story in a high school history class about a cattle businessman's son who was entrusted with taking the cattle to Chicago and selling them. There was something like $10 per head tied up in the cattle and the son was only able to get $10 per head at market. Breaking even was a failure. But, this guy was able to sell the hides for $0.50 a piece. Which meant that the endeavor was a success.

Anyway, I think that the vast majority of people who raise chickens sink money into their hobby. How much of this you can recoup depends upon how businesslike and whole hog you go about it.

I suspect what you should do it pick a fancy breed that your wife fancies and offset the cost of your hobby with income from sale of offspring (chicks or hatching eggs). But, don't go in expecting to pay 100% of your hobby expenses through hobby revenues. You could do the same thing with a laying breed or a meat breed (selling eggs for consumption or meat instead of chicks or hatching eggs), but it sounds to me like you're less interested in livestock and more interested in a pet. While the two approaches can overlap, I think there is generally a difference in attitude and approach with the two interests.

 

[SeramaLife]

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So true!

 

[vfem]

I fell in love with a picture of a silkie... from there I bought some not so high quality birds, then was given a gorgeous bird. Now I'm breeding for fun.... trying to take what I like about my first birds and trying to get the coloring just the way I would like it to be. Its mainly for me... but I want to sell the chicks and hatching eggs to help pay for the hobby.

I think one day I may show some for fun. I just like the silkies (decent layers for me) I have kids around and they're attitudes are perfect with kids. (Though I do have to put the rooster up for the little ones.)

Again... you probably just want to start with a good layer, or an easy breed. Those special breeds get complicated, and can cause issues when you are starting out.

Many MANY other breeds have made me drool.... but I think I'm set with silkies. One coop is enough for me to be happy.

 

[LilPeeps]

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Where are you located? There are shows in most states.

 

[jossanne]

I'd say go with easter eggers. Hatcheries/feed stores call them ameraucanas. People are crazy about the green eggs (I'm one of them, so I have more easter egger babies in the house at the moment), and I can always sell their eggs. If you're going to hatch a few chicks, you will always be able to sell them based on egg color alone.

I'm not making a profit so far. I've got 30 girls laying (most started in January), several different breeds, and I sell my eggs by the mixed-color dozen. Each dozen has mostly white, with a few brown and green thrown in. So far this year, my girls have given me 150 dozen eggs. My family has eaten or given away 93 dozen eggs. The rest have been sold for $2/dozen. We've spent $155 on feed, and sold $114 worth of eggs. So the 93 dozen that we've eaten/given away have only cost us $41. Pretty cheap food.

The best thing about them is entertainment value. I LOVE my chickens. If I was going to get one as a pet, I'd get a bantam cochin or a silkie. LOL Actually, I did get both of those two breeds as pets, and would recommend both.

 

[IggiMom]

I don't know that I actually make any money, but it helps pay for the chicken feed--I free range my chickens, and I sell the eggs, and I can sell all that my chickens will lay. I take very good care of my eggs, and they are healthier than factory farm eggs, and people like brown eggs. I put them into a plastic see through carton so they show up well.

My best brown eggs layers are R.I. Reds. They are calm, nice chickens, don't fight, forage well, and they are a duel purpose breed if you want to (gasp) eat one. I have some Buff Orpingtons, which I like but they do eat a lot. And I have a few EE chickens, and people enjoy having a blue or green egg in their cartons.

This summer I am adding a few Cuckoo Marans and Welsummers for the darker eggs.

So I don't know about profit, but I think you cannot go wrong with the good old R.I. Reds.

 

[AtRendeAcres]

I think my EE, BR are my best layers!

As for profit:

before I had chickens I would buy 2 dz eggs a week @ $3 each! ($6 a week $24 a month with 8/10 chickens that would be there feed for month) ((holidays we would buy more for baking))

Our profit was much healthier for the same price!
That was our first year with chickens

then I found BYC & that is a different post!

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

As with anything, quality of anything is most important when you want to make money. I would not go with chickens however to make a profit. They just barely pay for themselves.