The Best Chickens to Make a Profit With

[Allthefloofs]

I ordered hatching eggs from omega hills farm, they were all fertile, though my incubator was a mess. I had 7 and hatched 4, if I were to do a breeding flock I would get some from there and some from a place called sugar feather farm, just so I wasn’t inbreeding too badly. Both places have breeding flocks with frizzles so you have chances of frizzled birds. Baby pics just because...

 

[Shezadandy]

Not always.
Even with a good market some folks are not good at selling(me).
It's PITA , IMO.
The OE's I sold, the local feed mill actually sold them for me during their chicks days.

I'm with you there. There's also annoyance of setting up times to meet people, waiting for people who are quite late, no-shows, and then the time spent answering questions and so on - ends up being a real time suck for not a lot of money.

We've stuck with selling eating eggs. When covid hit, for the first time in years I had to advertise again because we weren't driving downtown for work, but we've found new customers and after the couple initial visits, it's pretty much a leave it on the front door step operation.

The chicken mansion and fencing will never be re-cooped (hahah), but in general the feed bill is covered.

Course, I'll need to hatch more chickens once things inch back to normalcy... more customers now, after all.

 

[Shezadandy]

What incubators would you suggest?

The Little Giant with egg turner and fan does a decent job for the money, especially since they updated the temperature sensor from a flimsy wire stapled to a sheet of plastic, which was a total crapshoot -- to what now looks like a little microphone hanging down. (if you get one, look and make sure it's the newer kind)

Keep an eye out for sales at your local farm stores- a lot of them stock it. Or look on craigslist for 2nd hand incubators (of all kinds).

Depending on your area, lots of people jumped into chicken keeping earlier in the year, but are limited to 3-5 chickens on their property in the suburbs. So they may have purchased incubators to hatch (since everyone was home) - and now may be looking to sell.

 

[Floof]

In my area, no one wants males. That means that they wouldn't buy my straight run chicks and I ended up having to keep them or give them away. Next year I'm planning to breed a splash Americana roo over barred rock hens to produce sex linked blue birds.

 

[aart]

Next year I'm planning to breed a splash Americana roo over barred rock hens to produce sex linked blue birds.

Won't the splash interfere?
Thought it had to be solid over barred for sexlinks?
...and the blue is not guaranteed?

 

[NatJ]

Won't the splash interfere?
Thought it had to be solid over barred for sexlinks?
...and the blue is not guaranteed?

Actually, it works perfectly.

The splash rooster is not-barred, so when he's crossed with Barred Rock hens the chicks are sexlinks, with barred males and not-barred females.

Splash x black = 100% blue, so all chicks will be blue (the Barred Rock hen counts as "black" for this, because she is not-blue.)

And because the splash rooster is an Ameraucana, every chick will get the blue egg gene, so the pullets should all lay green eggs.

Sexable blue birds that lay green eggs: sounds like a great idea!

 

[aart]

The splash rooster is not-barred ...
Sexable blue birds that lay green eggs: sounds like a great idea!

Ah, did not know that, thanks!
Yeppers!! I did it with BCMxCCL for olive eggers.

 

[Allthefloofs]

I'm with you there. There's also annoyance of setting up times to meet people, waiting for people who are quite late, no-shows, and then the time spent answering questions and so on - ends up being a real time suck for not a lot of money.

We've stuck with selling eating eggs. When covid hit, for the first time in years I had to advertise again because we weren't driving downtown for work, but we've found new customers and after the couple initial visits, it's pretty much a leave it on the front door step operation.

The chicken mansion and fencing will never be re-cooped (hahah), but in general the feed bill is covered.

Course, I'll need to hatch more chickens once things inch back to normalcy... more customers now, after all.

One way you might avoid all of these very real and annoying situations for selling is by looking on FB or some other site that has group meetups. We have two here that have monthly meetups, people can become vendors for very small fees ($5 in one case, maybe none in another) and they will have a ready made place/date/time to sell every month or in our case twice per month at two different feed stores. Just a thought. It also gives you a place to do some light advertising for what you might be bringing.

 

[Dottie the Chicken]

If you're looking for a good egg layer Red Sex Links are good.

 

[Sadness Child]

One way you might avoid all of these very real and annoying situations for selling is by looking on FB or some other site that has group meetups. We have two here that have monthly meetups, people can become vendors for very small fees ($5 in one case, maybe none in another) and they will have a ready made place/date/time to sell every month or in our case twice per month at two different feed stores. Just a thought. It also gives you a place to do some light advertising for what you might be bringing.

Yes I am already on FB.