Raising while also Profiting from Chickens??

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Kusanar said:
I got free kittens once simply because the cat I already had as a pet got pregnant and had kittens. I did nothing to get the kittens, did not pay the Tom cat, did not take her to the vet or give her anything extra, she may have eaten a little more, but the cats get free choice food,so who knows. If I had a show chicken that just happened to lay eggs (as they tend to do) without me paying more for a chicken that lays eggs versus one that doesn't, then that makes the eggs free provided you were going to have the chicken regardless of if you got eggs from her or not.
Click to expand...

I suppose it is all in your perspective!
Lucky you for having such an interesting outlook that you get "free" eggs out of it!
highfive.gif


I wish MrB thought the same way. ;)

MrsB
 
I always thought of the eggs as a free perk. I feed and water my dog and get nothing but poop off him. At least with my chickens I get poop and breakfast!

I have never done costings for mine in 6 years. I sell over 600 chicks a year and lord only knows how many eggs on ebay.
I have about 50 birds. It is a hobby gone mad but a self sustaining one. I would still have them, even without the income, because I enjoy them.

When you guys do costings do you add a column for the eggs you didn't have to pay for at the store? Feels to me like you should!
 
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Aaah! The benefeits of owning chickens verses the costs to keep them is yet another Thread for discussion. It is nice to see the diversity used by some people to offset costs and actually show a profit. If I got a penny per hour for all the work I input with chickens, I'd be rich! Realistically I do it because I dont have to buy eggs or chicken from the store anymore and it can be a great hobby and enjoyment. My father owned a very big boat and I asked how much gasoline it costs to fill it up? His answer was simple. If you have to ask how much it costs to operate, you have no business owning it in the first place.
So my answer to this thread is also simple. Dont put all your eggs in one basket! Market and sell what you can and eat the rest.
 
Our Roost said:
Aaah! The benefeits of owning chickens verses the costs to keep them is yet another Thread for discussion. It is nice to see the diversity used by some people to offset costs and actually show a profit. If I got a penny per hour for all the work I input with chickens, I'd be rich! Realistically I do it because I dont have to buy eggs or chicken from the store anymore and it can be a great hobby and enjoyment. My father owned a very big boat and I asked how much gasoline it costs to fill it up? His answer was simple. If you have to ask how much it costs to operate, you have no business owning it in the first place.
So my answer to this thread is also simple. Dont put all your eggs in one basket! Market and sell what you can and eat the rest.
Click to expand...

That's all we've done...It literally went from 2 chicks surviving from 6 eggs to 100 named pet ducks/chickens(15/85), 16 coops, 3 bators running 24/7/365(just moved from 1 sometimes 2 to 3 full time and considering more already) and eggs coming out of our yingyangs...

I'm guessing last year we sold 200+/- chicks with NO effort, we just did it moving eggs from coops to bators...We'd fill the bator, watch them hatch, which is our absolute most favorite part, and sell all we couldn't handle, we want to keep them all but I'm done building coops...(So I say for the 16th time, who am I fooling)...All I know is using very rough numbers, I'm guessing we fed all of our babies for the year on the money earned from their eggs...So we ate some electricity, water and supplies...We could have done much better but out of those 200, most were mixed colors and we almost give them away...Once we established our pure show quality lines of white and buff silkies, we saw their value increase...

We expect this year to be much better, I'm going for a 3-500% increase in revenue with a minimal increase in our costs so we should be well into the black this year...

We have also chosen to go with what we call "living yard ornaments" or the exotic chickens such as Sebrights, Silkies, Polish and Sultans(my personal favorites, sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet birds) which draw more money per bird especially if you can hold them for a period of time...For example, our Polish alone can draw us $30-$35 a bird if we hold them 2mths, and we can!...Same with Sultans...We will add others as well, did I say I'm not building any more coops?...

So can you make money starting with 2 birds, yes you can and you can do it faster than we have done it...For us, we fell in love with the birds first, a business wasn't even a consideration, but the love we have for them has put us in a position, due to so many, to make some money with them...

We're not looking to replace day job, but if we don't have to pay for what went from a fad, to a hobby to a passion full of reciprocated love, we will be very fortunate and grateful people...And if still costs me after all said and done, so be it and I'll be back where I was as that was my original plan! ;-)
 
700

I also have an aussie. supposed to be a minature. NOT! Iam working on a cure for OCD. I'm in the prelim stage of more chickens and need to add a tinge of toads foot. Wish me luck.
 
This is true, and a great goal to have. We don't have any chicken feed costs in the spring and summer because we range, plant, support natural food supplies but it has taken a few years to get there. This year we are going to try 100 heavy roos (we don't do "meat" birds) on true pasture (not tractors or cages) and see how that turns out. My free range (truely free range) hens outlay my housed birds even though they have access to outside as well. You just have to find what works in your market and what people are willing to pay...you are not looking for Wal-Mart shoppers here...but more and more folks will pay a few bucks more for a "real" bird to eat, eggs, or a layer or two for the backyard.
 

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