Starting an Incubation Service...Thoughts? Not selling anything just trying to do a little market research.

[Ongiegirl36]

What are your thoughts about an incubation service? Instead of a huge farm, I would do it locally and make sure I got the eggs from reputable farms, and they aren't all related, etc. Someone would come to me to grow their flock. I would buy the eggs and charge them just what I paid and then an incubation service fee based on what I'm hatching and how many, how long I have to care for them, etc. Nothing insane. Like $100 for 12 chickens. That's $8.33 per chick and way cheaper than ordering and having shipped. Plus, they aren't hatched out commercially. Or someone asked me to do a parrot, that is HARD, and I would charge for the egg and if it doesn't hatch, I would charge nothing, and if it does and lives than $300 or something like that. I am always looking for fun ways to make the community better and this seemed like a good way. Later on, I would ship the birds, if people wanted them. Always keeping the business small with very healthy birdies.

Again, Not selling anything. Just curious on experienced people's opinions. I own other businesses and I always do a vast array of market research to make sure they will be successful, and people actually want what I provide. Also, it has to make the community better. This would for sure.

 

[Sc_chickengirl]

What are your thoughts about an incubation service? Instead of a huge farm, I would do it locally and make sure I got the eggs from reputable farms, and they aren't all related, etc. Someone would come to me to grow their flock. I would buy the eggs and charge them just what I paid and then an incubation service fee based on what I'm hatching and how many, how long I have to care for them, etc. Nothing insane. Like $100 for 12 chickens. That's $8.33 per chick and way cheaper than ordering and having shipped. Plus, they aren't hatched out commercially. Or someone asked me to do a parrot, that is HARD, and I would charge for the egg and if it doesn't hatch, I would charge nothing, and if it does and lives than $300 or something like that. I am always looking for fun ways to make the community better and this seemed like a good way. Later on, I would ship the birds, if people wanted them. Always keeping the business small with very healthy birdies.

Again, Not selling anything. Just curious on experienced people's opinions. I own other businesses and I always do a vast array of market research to make sure they will be successful, and people actually want what I provide. Also, it has to make the community better. This would for sure.

Hmmm that sounds like fun! I incubate and sell too. You don't want to charge to much...of course if you are buying eggs you have to charge more to cover that. From my own chickens I started out charging $5 for normal breeds like Easter Egger and $6 for breeds like Sebrights. I'm slowly upping the prices though. You have to gain your reviews and make a name for yourself before you can get a decent price. I have a friend that started selling in December that charges $10-$13 per chick.

 

[Ongiegirl36]

Hmmm that sounds like fun! I incubate and sell too. You don't want to charge to much...of course if you are buying eggs you have to charge more to cover that. From my own chickens I started out charging $5 for normal breeds like Easter Egger and $6 for breeds like Sebrights. I'm slowly upping the prices though. You have to gain your reviews and make a name for yourself before you can get a decent price. I have a friend that started selling in December that charges $10-$13 per chick.

Thank you! That is a good price for a Chick. If i were a farmer i would pay that. Knowing my birds are coming from a healthy breeder "incubator person" lol. I like that idea. I would start a website since I can do that too and get Google reviews.

 

[Sc_chickengirl]

Thank you! That is a good price for a Chick. If i were a farmer i would pay that. Knowing my birds are coming from a healthy breeder "incubator person" lol. I like that idea. I would start a website since I can do that too and get Google reviews.

A Facebook business page works good too.

 

[Ongiegirl36]

Good idea! I have a good social media following and I will start an Instagram too. It would be nice to see the younger generation farming instead of vaping!

 

[NatJ]

I would buy the eggs and charge them just what I paid and then an incubation service fee based on what I'm hatching and how many, how long I have to care for them, etc. Nothing insane. Like $100 for 12 chickens. That's $8.33 per chick and way cheaper than ordering and having shipped.

Would that be a price for day-old chicks, or for partly raised ones?

That might be a fair price to charge, based on what it would cost you to produce the chicks. But I suggest you research the cost of buying chicks online before you say that price is "much cheaper."

There are some places (reputable large hatcheries) where I could order day-old chicks, shipped, for less money than that.

Examples:
Ideal Poultry, 12 pullets at $4.21 each, $7.00 small order charge, $10 shipping = $67.52
(Order must total at least $30 of chicks, so the cheapest order would be $47, no matter how few chicks were wanted.)

McMurray hatchery, 15 pullets at $5.41 each, free shipping = $67.65
(There is a surcharge of $35 for orders of less than 15 chicks, so 12 chicks would actually cost more.)

For both of those, I looked at the per-chick price and picked breeds in the middle of the price range. I also picked sexed females, which are more expensive than straight run or cockerels. So someone could get a good selection of breeds, as sexed females, for those prices.

Edit to clarify: I'm not saying to lower your price, just advising you not to say "cheaper than..." unless it really is cheaper.

 

[Ongiegirl36]

Would that be a price for day-old chicks, or for partly raised ones?

That might be a fair price to charge, based on what it would cost you to produce the chicks. But I suggest you research the cost of buying chicks online before you say that price is "much cheaper."

There are some places (reputable large hatcheries) where I could order day-old chicks, shipped, for less money than that.

Examples:
Ideal Poultry, 12 pullets at $4.21 each, $7.00 small order charge, $10 shipping = $67.52
(Order must total at least $30 of chicks, so the cheapest order would be $47, no matter how few chicks were wanted.)

McMurray hatchery, 15 pullets at $5.41 each, free shipping = $67.65
(There is a surcharge of $35 for orders of less than 15 chicks, so 12 chicks would actually cost more.)

For both of those, I looked at the per-chick price and picked breeds in the middle of the price range. I also picked sexed females, which are more expensive than straight run or cockerels. So someone could get a good selection of breeds, as sexed females, for those prices.

Edit to clarify: I'm not saying to lower your price, just advising you not to say "cheaper than..." unless it really is cheaper.

That is fair because it would be false advertising based on what you are stating price wise. Thank you for taking the time to explain, it was very helpful! I am getting $8 - $13 per chick locally right now. I just went and asked what everyone wanted gave them a price and an egg charge (I guess that would be like a minimum charge kind of). No one had an issue. I will stick with that range. I want to have someone teach me how to sex chicks. I am so scared I am going to hurt the bird. I watched a YouTube video just to understand the process, but I would never try without some actual hands-on training. I also can't get as much for ducks so I may just do one or 2 cycles of ducks each spring and more chicks instead throughout the year.

 

[Ongiegirl36]

People are already willing to pay $8 - $13 per newborn chic for certain breeds & $4 - $9 for less expensive. That isn't bad at all! I am excited for this little hobby venture. The goal is to cover my expenses and have a fun rewarding hobby that serves the community and doesn't make my husband go bald due to the expense, lol. This way it pays for itself.