,

[cassandrapettersson]

weeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Don't get caught up in the price bubbles. 4 years ago, Ayam Cemani were going for hundreds. Now I can get them almost 15 each and the quality is worse.

Expensive chickens are usually either fragile, limited genepool wise or simply impossible to get

 

[HappyClucker7]

Any chicken that is well bred and fits the SOP can go for a lot of money. So you shouldn't choose a breed just based on how much they are selling for now, because as Jacin said, that can change very quickly. I would pick a breed that you really love.

 

[cassandrapettersson]

Don't get caught up in the price bubbles. 4 years ago, Ayam Cemani were going for hundreds. Now I can get them almost 15 each and the quality is worse.

Expensive chickens are usually either fragile, limited genepool wise or simply impossible to get

Ayami Cemanis are still quite expensive in sweden from what I've seen, not like extremly expensive but costs more then many other breeds

 

[AprilWC]

I think the point is, Ayam Cemani (and other breeds), had a popularity bubble. In the States they were insanely expensive - like stupidly expensive - but now they are so overbred and poorly bred that they aren't worth much.

I've seen a lot of people lose money trying to chase fads. By the time they get started, the fad is on to something else. Those who make a lot of money were in the right place at the right time or had the finances to jump start a breeding program with older stock. You would be better served to select a breed you are passionate about. Another idea might be to offer well-bred "old reliable" breeds. In my area that is Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, etc.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I think the point is, Ayam Cemani (and other breeds), had a popularity bubble. In the States they were insanely expensive - like stupidly expensive - but now they are so overbred and poorly bred that they aren't worth much.

I've seen a lot of people lose money trying to chase fads. By the time they get started, the fad is on to something else. Those who make a lot of money were in the right place at the right time or had the finances to jump start a breeding program with older stock. You would be better served to select a breed you are passionate about. Another idea might be to offer well-bred "old reliable" breeds. In my area that is Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, etc.

X2

I was one of the people that lost some money in the AC fad. Not a lot. But a bit. Paid 120 dollars for what became a pair, never even got a chick sold by the time they were for 30 and then 15 a chick. A year of feed plus the initial cost, it's hard to make up that again

 

[raingarden]

I think cemani will always be little more expensive because they are difficult to produce. They lay few eggs and fertility can be a problem. But, the small extra price on the selling end does not make up for the extra effort.

Franfly, I don;t see where there is money to be made raising any chicken or chicken product on a small scale. Breaking even would be a huge success and is, perhaps, an unreasonable expectation.

 

[Ascholten]

Unless you can free range quite a bit and don't have a huge predation problem, breaking even is going to be difficult without a large amount of birds. I say FR because that will help offset the price of your feed a little bit, but you STILL need to keep them healthy etc. Unless you can get them sold at a pretty young age, and have a mama who's going to raise them for you, they will cost a bit. not to mention your time as well.

aaron

 

[cassandrapettersson]

Unless you can free range quite a bit and don't have a huge predation problem, breaking even is going to be difficult without a large amount of birds. I say FR because that will help offset the price of your feed a little bit, but you STILL need to keep them healthy etc. Unless you can get them sold at a pretty young age, and have a mama who's going to raise them for you, they will cost a bit. not to mention your time as well.

aaron

I have other chickens too, but they're all mixed and no one wants them because of that.
I want to keep the other chicken breeds in their own pen, and let them free range from time to time, or maybe I'll put the pure bloods into another area, not near to the others and they can free range all the time... I haven't decided yet but oh well.
Feed isn't a problem, neither is space or building supplies.

 

[raingarden]

Unless you can free range quite a bit and don't have a huge predation problem, breaking even is going to be difficult without a large amount of birds. I say FR because that will help offset the price of your feed a little bit, but you STILL need to keep them healthy etc. Unless you can get them sold at a pretty young age, and have a mama who's going to raise them for you, they will cost a bit. not to mention your time as well.

aaron

Agreed. Free ranging makes use of available resources, that "free" nutrition could be quantified and it has a value.

A lot depends on the characteristics and quality of the forage base At our house, my best guess is that it takes about 5,000 square feet of forage base to raise one chicken to harvestable size in six months. That's with a bird that's adapted to the local conditions, is well on it's way to becoming a land race, but will only weigh a couple of pounds. With two crops per year that's about 22 pounds per acre per year. Undoubetedly, there is room for improvement so let's hyothetically say you can double that and make 50 pounds per acre per year. live weight or 35 lbs/acre/year processed weight. At $3 per pound processed weight that's $105 per acre per year. By comparison, cutting hay can generate about $200/acre/year. Neither one makes economic sense in small-scale agriculture.