Questions about selling future chicks

[Weeg]

This year I incubated my very first eggs! I'm now addicted hahah! Its so much fun to watch them grow and finally get to hatch. Its funny how watching them hatch is the most exciting part, but then once its over and you only have fluffy chicks, your almost disappointed lol!
Anyway, I've stared a flock of bantams that I'm very interested in separating into groups, and hatching eggs to sell chicks. A friend of mine is also very interested, as she will be able to make separate "breeding" pens for her flock, and I bet I can work something like that out as well.
I had a thread a while back asking some questions about it, so all of the incubating/getting the word out/selling questions have been answered, but my biggest question now is, do I have to have NPIP certification to consider myself a breeder? I'm assuming I do. I've tried looking through WA state regulations, but haven't really found the info I'm looking for, I don't think I'm looking in the right place. I looked into what you had to do to get NPIP certification, and as soon as I realized you had to do annual testing/vet inspections/etc. etc, I lost interest.
If you do have to get NPIP to be considered a breeder, where can I look to figure out how many chicks I can sell annually, or rules I have to follow to legally sell chicks without NPIP? Or if you have direct answers to the questions that is very helpful as well.
Thanks so much guys! I'm vey excited to pursue this, and think it will be such a fun experience!
I keep Cornish X as pets, and would love to experiment with crossing my Cornish X to my RIR/Orpington rooster to get a slower growing meat breed. We did a batch of Cornish X for meat this year along with the 2 I kept, and I didn't like how fast they grew and how messy, nasty, and lazy it caused them to be. Though I do like a meat breed that grows fast enough. I know there are options out there, but making my own cross would be quite fun! Plus I could sell chicks from the cross as well. Thanks again for any info, I'm very eager to learn about selling chicks, and the regulations I have to follow.

 

[Weeg]

I hope to get some kind of operation going new Spring, when the hens go into lay. If I could have everything figured out by then that would be awesome!

 

[Coops Dad]

My wife hatches a new batch every 21 days; no sooner is the Nurture Right 360 vacant then she's loading it up again. She chooses certain chicks to keep and add to our flock and sells the rest, usually between 3-4 weeks old. By that time, she can see the color indications of the chicks and maybe even figure out which are cockerels... sometimes. We put them on CL as straight run chicks and usually get between $50 and $75 for 10-12 chicks.

I pushed her into taking a break from it a couple of weeks ago and she's having withdrawals. She's addicted to chickens.

 

[Weeg]

My wife hatches a new batch every 21 days; no sooner is the Nurture Right 360 vacant then she's loading it up again. She chooses certain chicks to keep and add to our flock and sells the rest, usually between 3-4 weeks old. By that time, she can see the color indications of the chicks and maybe even figure out which are cockerels... sometimes. We put them on CL as straight run chicks and usually get between $50 and $75 for 10-12 chicks.

I pushed her into taking a break from it a couple of weeks ago and she's having withdrawals. She's addicted to chickens.

Thats so neat! She does that without any certification as well correct? This is what I want to do. My business will be mostly in the fall and Spring, as we take a lot of vacations for fishing in the summer, but thats why its nice to work with the friend of mine, because she can do most of the hatching in the summer, then we, or I can do the hatching in the fall/early Spring.

 

[Coops Dad]

No certification- just a hobbyist selling her extras. She really loves red and buff chickens, and any with "natural" coloring that look like female pheasants. Everyone else gets sold or given to friends.

She has a friend who reallllly wanted four hens but didn't have a coop. DW had me build a small coop with a two-hole nesting box for her friend, then gave it to her for her birthday along with four of our POL Easter eggers.

Like a drug pusher... the first taste is free...

 

[Weeg]

@MysteryChicken, I know you hatch eggs to sell often, do you have any input?

 

[MysteryChicken]

@MysteryChicken, I know you hatch eggs to sell often, do you have any input?

Well, I don't hatch to sell very often, I try to though. Usually once, or twice, during spring, or summer.
I'm not NPIP Certified, but planning on it. I know about having annual testings, but don't remember anything about annual vet inspections. I think it varies from state, to state.

 

[Mtnboomer]

A word of caution. Mareks Disease is VERY common in backyard flocks. Since birds are often asymptomatic, owners often do not even know they have it until one day a chick or pullet becomes symptomatic.

The point is selling your chicks is an awesome venture and can be a lot of fun. But there is inherent responsibility when taking money and passing along an animal. You want to be sure its healthy (not just MD) to naje the purchaser have a good experience but mote importantly so you don't perpetuate highly contagious diseases.

 

[Tre3hugger]

Look up the specific legal requirements needed in your area. In my state, to sell chicks legally you need to get the flock tested for free by the state for a couple of diseases. I actually have my test scheduled for July. Being certified disease free allows one to sell chicks and hatching eggs legally in Massachusetts. It is also the first step towards NPIP certification. Maybe your state doesn't need that but a lot of them do. It is up to you if you want your venture to be legal, but it'd definitely be advantageous to at least know the laws in your state, whether complying with or breaking them. The choice is yours entirely. Just sharing some information.

My honest opinion: most chicken keepers go through wanting to do this. MANY smallish farms exist that do it, even more large hatcheries with sexing guarantess etc, and craigslist is flooded with chicks from unlicensed people. So if you are set on doing it, try to find a niche for your area and fill it honorably. I know hatching chicks is fun, but form a biz stand point it is not very sound. Personally, after passing my disease test, I plan to cross and regularly hatch heritage New Hampshires and Delawares. This will give me a heritage cross sexlink. The females should be excellent layers and can add replacements to my flock or be sold as females. The males will be my meat birds, thus breaking the chains of ordering cornish x every time I want to grow chicken meat. This way I only have known females to sell, and they already pay for themselves with meat and money saved buying meat chicks. Any extra girls sold will be a bonus. I am starting with heritage Henry Noll lines bred for meat (new hampshires) and egg prod (delawares). I expect to make ZERO money off this anytime soon but MAYBE pay for chicken feed next year and DEFINITELY create a sustainable source of meat chicks that will pay for itself in time.
I will also keep a pure line of each breed, breeding for the standard and eventually maybe showing and selling to that crowd. That is a long term goal.

Long story short, if you want to hatch chicks, DO IT! But don't expect to compete in the market and make much money with such a small operation, unlicensed. It can be a fun, but expensive hobby, without a sound plan in place to at least recoup some expenses and get rid of chicks quick.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Requirements vary by State, though you can (of course) do it unlicensed as a hobbyist selling on Craigslist, etc.

Here in FL, NPIP testing is free, and occurs twice yearly to maintain one's certification. Its the ONLY way to legally sell birds that cross state lines, and since I am close to at least one State border, I consider it a necessity. I also consider it responsible, as I have a high degree of confidence I'm selling a good product, honestly described, most likely free of disease (there re no guarantees in life, except that none of us gets out alive). Most of my Craigslist "competition" is not certified, most have a side (or main) business in selling shell eggs, and in some cases are blatantly breaking the law (in such minor ways no one cares, and that they indicate what they are doing on their Craigslist ad means they are at least honest about it).

Personally, I wouldn't buy a bird that isn't from an NPIP certified breeder - the risk to my flock is too high. I'm serious about biosecurity. Not paranoid, but serious. If I did, or even accepted one of my own birds back onto my property after sale, it would cost me my NPIP certification.

There are separate requirements in my State for selling shell eggs, and a licensing scheme. It costs a bit. I formed an LLC to protect my personal assets from claims against the business. That costs a bit. Annual reports on the LLC cost even more. I also have a federal EIN (free), though the LLC has no employees, there are (minor) tax consequences for me (mostly extra paperwork), and I have a state ID for the collection of sales tax - selling live birds is not tax free. Plus quarterly paperwork for that. All to do things legally.

I'm not close to breaking even - this comes out of my entertainment budget, and is something I was doing anyways, as I improve my own flock, for my own use, on my own property. My insistence in doing it legally puts me at a competitive disadvantage - as I knew from the start - but its the way I am, I couldn't do it any other way.

My advice? Contact your Dept of Agriculture. Crawl their web page. Decide for yourself. Are you a hobbyist, selling a few extra birds a couple times a year? Or do plan to do this year long? That will help determine your level of licensing and testing, the scale of your initial investment and yearly operating expenses. Whatever you decide, expect to lose money on the deal - but maybe not as much as if you didn't do it at all.

and my last piece of advice? Whatever you do, be honest about it. If you aren't NPIP, don't suggest otherwise. If the birds aren't pure, say so. Don't take a picture with a bag of organic feed in the background if you can't claim "Organic", etc. Maybe it costs you a sale, but I have to believe that self respect is worth more than a couple of paper dollars.