Whats the most profitable chick to raise??

[Keenonf]

Hi everyone. I'm new to BYC, this is my first post actually. I was considering buying fertile eggs and selling them for a profit this spring. I'm not looking to make a big buck, just enough to cover feed and other miscellaneous poultry expenses. I don't own an incubator but i'm getting 2 silkies soon and i've heard their excellent mothers. I was hoping to wait til they went broody and let them raise them. So any suggestions on wait breed I could sale?? Thanks.

 

[SportTees]

Any of the rare breeds sell well

 

[Msbear]

standards:

black copper marans... really, any marans variety
delawares
orpingtons
blue egg layers (wheaten ameraucanas)
polish
I don't know much about these as I believe they are more rare but seem to get snatched up; lakenvelders, barnevelder, buckeye

bantams:
SQ (show quality) cochins
silkies
seramas

Check out our breeds database and read up on the differences and go for something you would enjoy. If you're proud of your birds, others will see

 

[herechickchick]

I think Show Quality Rhode Island Reds, Orpingtons, Rocks, Wyandottes or Brahmas would sell well. All of these breeds are good layers, friendly, come in several attractive color varieties and do well in most climates. I would STRESS that what will set you apart from others will be the QUALITY of your chosen breed. So take time, make connections and find the VERY BEST stock you can to start with.

Good Luck

 

[Randy]

You didn't say if you were going to buy your eggs local or have them shipped but if you you are planning on having them shipped I think it would be hard to make any money that way. High cost of shipping plus lower hatch rate just doesn't add up to much profit. Not sure if you could cover your expenses or not.

 

[briteday]

I think it depends on where you live. In our area everyone wants egglayers, and most of them have a lot of mutt-ish birds. Many originally get them from the feed stores which use hatcheries. Then the roos in the bunch end up mating with all the different hens producing mutts in the end. So anything "rare" here is anything that is not a mutt. However, people are not really willing to pay much for chicks of any sort. In fact, I wanted some RIR-white this year and even the feed store had NO IDEA what I was talking about, never seen them, never had anyone ask for them...YIKES!

On the other hand, I think if you live in an area where lots of folks have chickens and other livestock, show their animals at the state fair, etc...then I think you have a good chance of selling more distinct or rare breeds.

My suggestion in either case is to raise healthy, clean birds. Know what people want...show, pets, lawn ornamanets, ultimate egglayers...and go with the trend.