Selling chicks, best way to run it, and get the word out?

[JacinLarkwell]

I am actually trying to start a quail business.
Honestly, shipping live birds isn't a fun thing for my I feel.
But I want to mainly ship eggs, chicks,teens, and adult
Fertile, AND non fertile eggs
How can I start this up?

You need to be certified NPIP to ship out of state

 

[LikeTurkeys]

I hatched around 20 barnyard mix chicks in September. Put out a sign in front of the house that said CHICKS $2. They were all gone within 20 minutes. The chicks were mostly barred, some had naked necks which seemed to be something people really liked. I'm setting another 40 eggs tomorrow, focusing on naked necks and a few sex-links. Planning on selling them for 3 dollars this time.

I also posted on craigslist, but didn't get any interested buyers from there.

Hatching chicks can be risky, because unlike with fertilized eggs, you can't just stick them in the refrigerator if they don't sell. So you need a plan and enough room to raise them just in case. I slaughter cockerels and would sell more mature pullets.

Right now, only one feed store is selling chicks in my area, and they are going for $6 each. When they are out of season, you have way less competition. In spring, every feed store around is selling them including Tractor Supply (and really cheap usually too).

My plan is to get some pure naked necks and breed those (hopefully quality, to the SOP). From there I am going to get my flock NPIP tested and will have the opportunity to ship if I choose.

Where you live is also a factor. Here in So Cal, some people post barnyard chicks for $7 or more. Pure breeds, especially silkies or polish can go for much more. In some areas even pure bred chicks may not go for more than 2 dollars, especially if they are straight run. Do some research into your local market and see what most people are posting them for, then go a little lower.

Good luck in your venture!

 

[Lilyput]

I know nothing about selling chickens, but I love the heat plate and think it's well worth the investment. A lot less judgement is needed for using the heat plate than the lamp and the lamp is so bright all the time!

 

[Coop de Grass]

I've only sold chicks that were breeds, and focussed on Legbars, French Black Copper Marans, Bielefelders and Olive Eggers (not exactly a breed, but my FBCM roo over Legbar hens) I sold my chicks for $35.00 to $50.00 each, but I live in Princeton, NJ... Raising chicks for $3 doesn't seem worth it when you weigh feeding the hen, the incubator cost, and the electricity involved for 3 weeks. You also have to figure the loss - 100% hatch rate is unusual! Either way, good luck! I can't have roos, but I did get chickens legalized... sigh

 

[the3quail]

I've only sold chicks that were breeds, and focussed on Legbars, French Black Copper Marans, Bielefelders and Olive Eggers (not exactly a breed, but my FBCM roo over Legbar hens) I sold my chicks for $35.00 to $50.00 each, but I live in Princeton, NJ... Raising chicks for $3 doesn't seem worth it when you weigh feeding the hen, the incubator cost, and the electricity involved for 3 weeks. You also have to figure the loss - 100% hatch rate is unusual! Either way, good luck! I can't have roos, but I did get chickens legalized... sigh

Wow! Kind of exspensive for chicks, but you do you!
Do you have a website? If so, what do you use, (im trying to find websites to use for my quail business..) I'd love to check it out!

 

[TeenageFlockers]

Why don't you start just selling eggs at local farmers market then grow your list of takers and you can talk up the idea of chicks or have a sign on your table for "spring chick order " then breed what they want... Give them a couple choices. Then you are seen and heard and respected.

 

[Malamute1]

We have SO much farm land around, and the chicks at TSC near me sell out in 1-2 days usually, so there is no shortage of people needing chicks, or ducklings, or andy poultry really. Just worried no one will know I have them up for grabs.

You can put notes up at feed stores

 

[The Brick Coop]

" I wont do it forever. I would be surprised if I did of more then 1 summer. "
Oh yeah, RIGHT !! hahaha! "Chicken math" goes for hatching ten times! Ahem. sorry. Now for the positive: you can! I ended up doing it to support my exhibition habit. I got the exhibition habit after encouraging my kids to do it and take part in the 4HEgg To Egg project. That was sixteen years ago... anyway 1) the breeds that TSC sells the most of in your community are the KIND of breeds that you may sell the most of in your community. But sell different, PURE (invest! get ones you like) ones to add to your community's choices and so they know what to expect 2) people of criminal intent will be contacting you for *any* birds to train/practice their cockfighting habit. Research the potential customer on the Internet. If you suspect crime, you can at least report exactly what you saw. 3) you will need a lot of SPACE to brood/grow up some of the chicks that do not sell right away. get good at building coops. 4) find a processor and treat them really well. 5) yes the heat plates work better than lamps. Get two or three. why: You will be hatching different times but do not mix wide variations in sizes of chicks. Big ones flatten the babies. The only bad thing about the plates is you need to really check every chick's butt for pasties daily or at least every other day and it's dark under there. 6) read, read! Extension bulletins, 4H meetings in spring; ask, ask here, research the archives here. 7) Rats kill chicks and juveniles. Get really good at trapping, not poisoning which causes rodents to pee toxic stuff into the feed and kill the poultry. 8) visitors buying poultry usually bring viruses and bacteria. Potentially AI, Newcastle, MG, etc. from their flock. keep Oxine spray near your door/parking area and footbath when weather is not freezing. best is to not let them get out of their car (no fun) but shop by pictures that you take. 10) make sure you tell them 'bring a box/carrier with at least 3 inches slip-proof bedding to prevent hip splay injuries". gotta stop, husbie is going out to the barn so I need to also.

 

[Weeg]

" I wont do it forever. I would be surprised if I did of more then 1 summer. "
Oh yeah, RIGHT !! hahaha! "Chicken math" goes for hatching ten times! Ahem. sorry. Now for the positive: you can! I ended up doing it to support my exhibition habit. I got the exhibition habit after encouraging my kids to do it and take part in the 4HEgg To Egg project. That was sixteen years ago... anyway 1) the breeds that TSC sells the most of in your community are the KIND of breeds that you may sell the most of in your community. But sell different, PURE (invest! get ones you like) ones to add to your community's choices and so they know what to expect 2) people of criminal intent will be contacting you for *any* birds to train/practice their cockfighting habit. Research the potential customer on the Internet. If you suspect crime, you can at least report exactly what you saw. 3) you will need a lot of SPACE to brood/grow up some of the chicks that do not sell right away. get good at building coops. 4) find a processor and treat them really well. 5) yes the heat plates work better than lamps. Get two or three. why: You will be hatching different times but do not mix wide variations in sizes of chicks. Big ones flatten the babies. The only bad thing about the plates is you need to really check every chick's butt for pasties daily or at least every other day and it's dark under there. 6) read, read! Extension bulletins, 4H meetings in spring; ask, ask here, research the archives here. 7) Rats kill chicks and juveniles. Get really good at trapping, not poisoning which causes rodents to pee toxic stuff into the feed and kill the poultry. 8) visitors buying poultry usually bring viruses and bacteria. Potentially AI, Newcastle, MG, etc. from their flock. keep Oxine spray near your door/parking area and footbath when weather is not freezing. best is to not let them get out of their car (no fun) but shop by pictures that you take. 10) make sure you tell them 'bring a box/carrier with at least 3 inches slip-proof bedding to prevent hip splay injuries". gotta stop, husbie is going out to the barn so I need to also.

Wow! thank you so much for this post! I go amy incubator, not the exact one I wanted since it was a gift, but I am still excited! I am going to start buy inciting my own chickens next spring and get good at using the bator, and brooding chicks! I was really hoping to win a brooder in a contest, but I had nothing to enter! Lol! Thank you for ALL of your tips! I am very grateful! I also love you advice on rat poison! I also would never use poison, and I had no idea they could pee poison in the feed! That is horrible! Thanks again! I really appreciate it! I may have to take you up on some of your hatching tricks, thanks again! Avery

 

[The Brick Coop]

(he came back in! my post was too long.) 11)quarantine any new birds at least 2 weeks before adding to your flock. 12) get to know who does blood-testing in your neighborhood so you can test your new birds before adding them or if you all of a sudden realize you've got a virus whooshing through your flock. Learn how to draw your chickens' blood to help the CPT do this. 13) if you want to offer Marek's you can get good at injections and vaccinate all your chicks at hatch (when I get a new vial I use sterile technique to split up the cake of lyophilized into four sections and store it in sterile tubes then split up the diluent too. Then store until next hatch. By the end of the summer all are vaccinated and even my breeders have used up the leftover as an annual booster (I keep track of who gets what when). 14) get a bound accounting book and write all your egg sources, breeder leg bands, vaccinations, sales, and customer contacts in it so you can track if some disease gets into your neighborhood. 15) mix your own ectoparasite shampoo by calculating (get it checked!) how much concentrate to add. sorry, I rambled. Someone just say stop!