Whats the most profitable chicks to sale???

[Keenonf]

Hi everyone. 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.


Note to moderators: I have posted this same topic in a different forum. I thought this forum was more relevent, I'm not trying to spam. Thanks.

Duplicate posting is not permitted. See new post here. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=283375

 

[Ariel301]

It probably depends on where you live and what people want. I plan to sell eggs for eating/hatching as well as some chicks out of my flock when it gets going good, but they will all be pet/production quality birds, and a lot of mutts. That should be the best seller in my area anyway, I figure, from what I have learned with my goat herd...I brought in a herd of purebred dairy goats from out of state, cost me quite a bit of money, but no one here wants to pay purebred goat prices for the babies, they won't pay more than $25-50 for one, whereas in a better location, I could get $200 each! The people here don't care about bloodlines, pedigrees, or registration papers when it comes to farm animals...so I'll be happy just to sell mutt chicks for a dollar or two each.

You might look around and see what others in your area have, what is already being sold locally, and what there is interest in. You probably can't go wrong with favorites like Rocks and Rhode Island Red, but they may not bring high prices either because they are so common.

 

[todd walker]

Agree with above,
but would check out craigs list in your area,might give you an ideal on prices in you area.
good luck

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Get something weird, like really really weird breed that may not necessaryily be rare, but everyone will want. Like, Phoenix and Sumatras. Keep some adult birds on hand, maybe Black copper marans, and show the eggs.

Maybe a couple leghorns, the eggs are always cheap.

Also, our places round here want quail because they are too difficult to brood in masses. We gladly oblige, and make a nice profit! It just depends on your area.

 

[easttxchick]

I don't mean to be a buzzkill, but there isn't a lot of profit to be made in selling chicks on a small scale.
I intend to start selling some eggs and chicks in the spring, but realistically I know that all the time, effort and money put into the coop, feed, equipment, etc. that I won't really make any money. I honestly do it trying to preserve some rare breeds and for a true love of the birds.
I do wish you good luck though.

 

[Eagle2026]

Black Copper Marans and Barnevelders!

 

[PaintedPony]

Hatching shipped eggs is such a gamble. If they are shipped to you the average hatch rate is 50%. So the eggs cost would have to be pretty low for you to make any money off of it. Counting on hens to brood eggs over and over is a risk because the hens need time off to recover from the physical stress that brooding takes. Remmember that a Silkie can only hatch out a handful of eggs, 5-6 fullsize eggs I think. If everything lines up based on averages and you could purchase the eggs really cheap, you could expect each Silkie to hatch out 2-3 chicks per clutch. That means you could sell 4-6 every few months. Since the average chick sells for $3-4 I can't see how you'd make any money hatching such small numbers. The other thing to consider is that you can only sell your chicks to local people because shipping live chicks requires a lot more work and health requirements. So, what I am trying to say is that, in my opinion, you'd make a dollar, maybe, off each chick. With two Silkies you might be able to raise 24 chicks a year if you have good hatches. If you had sopme bad luck with shipments and none of the hatched, the hens left the eggs, etc you'd be in the hole after just a couple of egg purchases.

If you still wanted to do this I'd suggest EE's, polish, some sort of unique egg like someone else mentioned so your chicks stand out from all the others that may be for sale in your area.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Check e-Bay & see what brings top dollar. I know chocolate egg layers & gamebirds do very well.

 

[erthymom2]

IMO around my area good quality buff orpingtons, black austrolorps and barred rocks are good sellers. alot of folks don't like to buy alot at once, so i can sell usually smaller groups 6-7 chicks and older pairs of pullets & roos very quickly. i don't make a ton of $$ but like offering something folks want. i use my own eggs from my hens & roos for hatching. once the feed stores stop selling around mid april, my chicks go fast!!
last year i invested in some heritage turkeys with the plan to sell the poults this year as they hatch out. again, folks who want only a few good quality turkeys and don't want to have to order 10-15 from hatcherys because of the initial cost.

 

[GardeNerd]

I live in an urban area and what is in demand here is probably very different from rural areas. Around here, if you look and see what folks have or want in their flocks, it often includes at least one pet quality Easter Egger.

However around here everyone I have met, outside of BYC members, calls them Ameraucanas. They don't know what I am talking about when I call them Easter Eggers. But that is a different discussion in a different thread. I digress.

When I did a big order of chicks with 8 families ordering, out of 8 breeds and 50+ chicks it was more than 30% EE's, closely followed by Buff Orpington, and then Barred Rock. The other breeds included Red Sex-links, Black Australorp, Black Jersey Giant, Speckled Sussex, and Salmon Faverolle. All but one person, had at least one Easter Egger in their order. They are really popular with city folk. The closest feed store to me, Blacksmith's Corner, sells BR, Leghorn, and RSL chicks for about $5. each and still have a few left after a couple of weeks. On the other hand, they also sell EE(sold as Ameraucana) for $12.95 and often sell out the first day. They command a premium around here.

So my advice, if you live near an suburban or urban area, go for Easter Eggers.