not sure what those are, mixes look like in color and breed.
What I did was as mentioned earlier. I got a few of many different breed, polish, d'anvers, d'auccles, oeg's, phoenix, sumatras, etc all in bantam. It only take a tear or two to see what to get rid of. Basically if you buy it cheap, it's going to sell cheap and you'll be lucky to cover the feed cost.
I ended up focusing on d'anvers (have 20 colors and counting now) and phoenix. Also kept the sumatras, crevecoeur, and a few other rarer one. Pretty much go the rarer the better for price. Old english and d'uccles I found even with great quality, you almost have to give them away, $5- $10 a dozen on eggs is about tops, where as some of these I have now frequently hit over $100 a dozen on auction. You just have to pick and choose, and get big for any form of profit. Currently though, I now make with my bantams alone 75% of what I make at work. So a profit can be reached, but it's no over night thing. Your reputaion is the most important thing and those take several years to get establish in the bird world, but once your name gets out, it's hard to keep up.
I start taking d'anver and phoenix egg orders in Feb, and by April am usually over sold for the year already. That's another thing. If you are wanting an actual "profit" not just break even. You can NOT raise them and sell as adults or yearlings. Hatching eggs and day old chicks are where all your money is to be made at. Set a egg price and double it for day old chicks. But you can only charge so much for yearlings, and by them time you have pen expense, feed cost, time and all associated with growing them out, you've lost all profit. As for standards, egg layers, meat birds, all that, you'll never make a dime on them, Bantams are where the money's at and the cost of feeding them is a drop in the bucket in comparrison.
It's kind of bad timing right now, but go one ebay in the spring and put in HATCHING EGGS in the search, look at the prices, you'll see what's catching everyones eye then. Bypass the silkies, you have to spend a fortune buying them to get started, and unless your name is massive in the show rooms, you'll never make a penny back of it. Poeple with them mainly pay for the BRAND NAME I have found... Also from what you have mentioned that catches your eye, well those are all just colors, brassy back, bb reds, etc, most commonly associated with OEGB's but available in a wide array of breeds. Are there any specific breeds you like? If so list them and I can tell you some decent breeders in most cases.
Also, as for the "LOCAL" market, forget that, you have to ship to reach the clients who are willing to pay for good birds. I have only sold birds locally 2-3 times over the decades. Near 100% of my stuff is shipped out to all states. But in order to legally do this, you have to become N.P.I.P. Certified. It's no biggie, a tester comes out and checks your birds for pullorum/typhoid (which virtually no one has) they can also test and certify you for many other diseases too, them more you get tested for, the better it looks on you, and the more states you can ship to. In many cases, individual states also require you have the state import permit. They are all free and you just ably for them threw that states agriculture department. Your NPIP agent will put down all you are certified for , for verification to that state, and you are good to go. Sounds like a lot, but once you get a little deper into it , it's not all that bad. Now in all cases I know of, none of this applies as long as you only sell in your home state, but that highly limits you then.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask away
What I did was as mentioned earlier. I got a few of many different breed, polish, d'anvers, d'auccles, oeg's, phoenix, sumatras, etc all in bantam. It only take a tear or two to see what to get rid of. Basically if you buy it cheap, it's going to sell cheap and you'll be lucky to cover the feed cost.
I ended up focusing on d'anvers (have 20 colors and counting now) and phoenix. Also kept the sumatras, crevecoeur, and a few other rarer one. Pretty much go the rarer the better for price. Old english and d'uccles I found even with great quality, you almost have to give them away, $5- $10 a dozen on eggs is about tops, where as some of these I have now frequently hit over $100 a dozen on auction. You just have to pick and choose, and get big for any form of profit. Currently though, I now make with my bantams alone 75% of what I make at work. So a profit can be reached, but it's no over night thing. Your reputaion is the most important thing and those take several years to get establish in the bird world, but once your name gets out, it's hard to keep up.
I start taking d'anver and phoenix egg orders in Feb, and by April am usually over sold for the year already. That's another thing. If you are wanting an actual "profit" not just break even. You can NOT raise them and sell as adults or yearlings. Hatching eggs and day old chicks are where all your money is to be made at. Set a egg price and double it for day old chicks. But you can only charge so much for yearlings, and by them time you have pen expense, feed cost, time and all associated with growing them out, you've lost all profit. As for standards, egg layers, meat birds, all that, you'll never make a dime on them, Bantams are where the money's at and the cost of feeding them is a drop in the bucket in comparrison.
It's kind of bad timing right now, but go one ebay in the spring and put in HATCHING EGGS in the search, look at the prices, you'll see what's catching everyones eye then. Bypass the silkies, you have to spend a fortune buying them to get started, and unless your name is massive in the show rooms, you'll never make a penny back of it. Poeple with them mainly pay for the BRAND NAME I have found... Also from what you have mentioned that catches your eye, well those are all just colors, brassy back, bb reds, etc, most commonly associated with OEGB's but available in a wide array of breeds. Are there any specific breeds you like? If so list them and I can tell you some decent breeders in most cases.
Also, as for the "LOCAL" market, forget that, you have to ship to reach the clients who are willing to pay for good birds. I have only sold birds locally 2-3 times over the decades. Near 100% of my stuff is shipped out to all states. But in order to legally do this, you have to become N.P.I.P. Certified. It's no biggie, a tester comes out and checks your birds for pullorum/typhoid (which virtually no one has) they can also test and certify you for many other diseases too, them more you get tested for, the better it looks on you, and the more states you can ship to. In many cases, individual states also require you have the state import permit. They are all free and you just ably for them threw that states agriculture department. Your NPIP agent will put down all you are certified for , for verification to that state, and you are good to go. Sounds like a lot, but once you get a little deper into it , it's not all that bad. Now in all cases I know of, none of this applies as long as you only sell in your home state, but that highly limits you then.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask away
