What?! A WEEK?!

[Katy]

Quote:
Whoa, for one thing, Im not putting this first before my family. The chickens also provide for the family also, food as in meaning. Also No one ever said that it can't happen, they are just saying it won't be easy. Your post has alot of negatives, why not put in a few positives? Someone with a mind like that, maybe it won't work out. I don't expect to get RICH out of this, just enough to help provide fiancially.

Nothing about any type of buisness is easy to do. You have to work at it to make it work. I always had a saying "Never ever let anyone stop you from doing something you set your mind for"

Anything is possible.

littlekit pretty much just said flat out what the rest of us were trying to say without just flat out saying it.

Are you going to make any money from what you want to do......not likely.

I've had chickens for most all of my 56 years. The only time they even come close to paying the feed bill for the month is when I'm selling purebred hatching eggs. I'll never ever recoup the money I have put into breeding pens and coops for them. That is ok tho since I'm in it, not for the money, but because I enjoy my chickens.

Seriously, you need to just have some grown chickens for awhile before you jump into this venture.....especially since it sounds like you've got no extra money laying around to spend.

 

[littlekit]

You are right. Anything is possible. And talking to as many people as possible about the business is always a good thing. I've never raised chickens for profit, so I don't know. I heard your concerns in the first email and felt that an honest reaction was what you were wanting.
Sorry to be so negative. I hope it all works out the way you want.

 

[ranchhand]

Obviously, your mind is made up, so I won't offer further comment on what is, in my opinion, a mistake if you need money this year.

I wish you the best of luck and hope it really goes well for you!

 

[TXmom]

I just want to say that I wish you the very best!

It is a big responsibility and risk to start a business, but it appears that you have done your research and have access to people and materials that many of us don't. We've only had chickens since January, and we are hundreds of dollars in the hole, but we never expected or tried to make money at this. We really like the idea of being a little more self-sufficient in the long run, even if we have to invest money to get started.

Happy Chickening!!!

 

[thoughtsbysabian]

I know this has been said about a thousand times already, but how are chickens going for those prices where ever it is that you live. Think of it this way...... if people WERE getting those prices, how are you getting the chicks for so cheep. I would NEVER pay over $5 for a pullet, and I don't think I would ever pay for a roo. People give away roos all the time. I truly wish you luck, I hope your adventure works out and it helps out your family, but please be careful.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Quote:

Mine broke even with the feed bill if I was lucky enough this past year to sale hatching eggs. Won't happen this coming year as I am not going to be selling. So it's my hobby.

 

[onthespot]

no guts, no glory. At least you can eat your mistakes.

 

[McCord6]

Quote:
I have no idea. Everytime I go to look up some full grown laying hens, they are all coming up to a $20 to $40 mark per bird. Yeah, some birds on craigslist, we have seen, are free or for $10 per bird but everytime we go to make a claim, they are SOLD! A pain in the neck.

I asked the guy why $1 per chick when the usual price around this area is about $5 per chick, he said he just brought the price down for the holidays but later on they will go back up to normal price. He has more then 50 chicks right now in the brooder that are only a week old, 25 that are 2 weeks, and he said he has more then 200 eggs in the bator right now.

And since he has marked down his prices on the babies, they been selling pretty fast.

I haven't gone to his farm yet, hubby is doing it on Friday right after work but him and hubby had a LONG LONG talk through the phone today. I was itching to know more information but hubby just smerked at me and said to wait, he'll take me there in about a month or so

 

[onthespot]

I just paid $20/pullet for some mottled javas, higher quality than the ones I already have that just started laying. They are still at the flat pink comb stage and I felt lucky to have found five and give a hundred dollars for them. Doubled my flock, diversified my gene pool and upgraded quality for less than I could have waited and raised a big batch of them and cherry pick out the very best four. Plus I have probably a eight or ten month jump on getting my own eggs hatched, raised up and cherry picked for the best. My roo is not as old as the hens and he has a few more months to go before he is old enough to earn his pellets. It's all about how bad a person wants what another person has. I got these from my friend. She used to give them away and I told her she was nuts and should charge $20. Little did I know I would be paying the $20, but still, I was happy to do it. She is the one that gave me my start in very nice quality Mottled Javas and I am happy and proud to pay her for her wonderful birds.

 

[chickerdoodle]

Quote:
Just a thought--if you raise enough birds to make even a small profit it will take a lot of hard work such as watering, feeding, and even shoveling all the bird poo and composting. Health care medications for the birds as well need to be considered and of course collecting and cleaning eggs (if they are to be sold). I wonder if all this is not going to be a problem with your brittle hips? I do believe it may make it worse so I'd ask your doctor before getting too far into this. I couldn't help but think of this as my mom had a new surgical procedure two years ago to basically rebuilt her hip and a large part of her pelvis--amazingly she did great!! In any case I wish you success in whatever you choose to do.