what is the time needed per bird when raising chickens?

[cl1]

I want to sell eggs at least, and meat if necessary, all USDA organic(unless they get sick and I have to give them meds) and free range. I have myself, my wife, and my brother who can help tend them. I would be willing to make it a full time job, but only if enough money were made to support ourselves. So, i'm trying to get an idea of how many chickens we can handle amongst ourselves

 

[Cass]

It would depend on your set up.

Is there water to the coop or do you have to carry it from a remote location? If you can just drag a hose to the water containers you are talking 15 minutes to water 100 chickens, twice a day. If you have to carry that same amount of water you are probably talking an hour, twice a day.

Have you researched feeders that hold 30 - 40 pounds of food (or more)? If you have feeders like that you only have to fill them when they are empty....which would depend on the number of birds....

Egg collection is going to take a while if you do it by hand...the good news is chickens seem to favor one or two nesting boxes....the bad news is they will crush the eggs already in the nest if to many are there waiting to be collected. There are nest boxes that slant to the back that roll the eggs away from the center of the nest. I am not sure how they work , but worth investigating. (I'm sure someone will chime in with more info for you)

IMO, you can't make money raising chickens. You might break even on feed and other costs, but make a living at it? I seriously doubt it.

I'll be interested to see what the more experienced members say.

 

[WVman]

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Not sure how many you can handle, but I'm just one person no one here to help me and I have about 100 birds give or take a few

 

[Cass]

Quote:
Not sure how many you can handle, but I'm just one person no one here to help me and I have about 100 birds give or take a few

WVman? How do you collect the eggs? How many eggs a day? And how many next boxes for that number of birds? Inquring minds want to know.

 

[cl1]

Quote:
Not sure how many you can handle, but I'm just one person no one here to help me and I have about 100 birds give or take a few

So how much of your time do they take?

 

[cl1]

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Seriously, I do expect to supplement my income doing this, at the very least. My ultimate goal is to figure out what is the breaking point of time vs. money. The question here is how much time the chickens take. I've also got to consider, operating costs, marketing, etc.

 

[WVman]

Quote:
Not sure how many you can handle, but I'm just one person no one here to help me and I have about 100 birds give or take a few

WVman? How do you collect the eggs? How many eggs a day? And how many next boxes for that number of birds? Inquring minds want to know.

It takes about half my day it's just part of my job.. I get about 60 70 eggs a day some of my birds are old and don't lay well. I have 75 nest boxes in several coops I only collect twice a day I should do it more but I do have other things to do. Btw I have the roll away nest boxes

 

[Cass]

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http://images1.memegenerator.net/Im...=Medium&generatorName=Challenge-Accepted-HD-1

Seriously, I do expect to supplement my income doing this, at the very least. My ultimate goal is to figure out what is the breaking point of time vs. money. The question here is how much time the chickens take. I've also got to consider, operating costs, marketing, etc.

Love the pic...LOL

Have you crunched the numbers?

There is a thread here on "how much did your first egg cost?" It's a good read. Most figure their first egg cost between $500 and $1000. Every egg after that cost MUCH less.

I don't have a coop yet, but am already out over 200 bucks for materials. I figure another 300 for the coop, $75 for chickens (I want a specific breed and Point of Lay pullets), 20 for water and feed containers, $13 for the first bag of feed....later I will need oyster shell, grit in the winter when ground is covered with snow, hay for nest boxes. I am going to use sand instead of shavings for my coop floor, so I need food quality DE to keep the bug population under control. (Don't even know how much THAT costs yet)

Chickens with better nutrition lay more eggs than those that just free range. Free ranging does cut down on feed costs in the warm months. Production hens only lay for 2 years, so every 2 years you are obtaining new hens...if you have a few roosters you can hatch your own, but then you need an incubator and the added electricty for 21 days, plus brooder space and power for the heat for the brooder.

I am starting to feel like a wet blanket here. I SINCERELY hope that you can do what it is you want to do; suppliment or replace your income with your chickens. I have been part of boards making up business plans several times. Only ONE of those times did the business actually succeed. Crunch the numbers and hopefully someone will be able to give you an accurate answer to your orginal question of "how much time does it take ?"

 

[donrae]

You need to talk to I think he's "mac in abiline"? That doesn't look right but search and you can find the right username. He has a commercial operation selling organic eggs to a co-op and can give you some good advice, numbers, etc.