Where’s the money!? Chicks? Eggs? Pullets?

[aart]

sounded too good to be true

Well, you know waht they say about that!

But seriously, folks have made some bucks with chickens,
if you're int he right location and have the right marketing skills, it's surely possible.

 

[Photokitty]

I sell my eggs to a store, 1.50 for medium to x-large, the 1.00 for small-peewee. I am raising chicks and hatching eggs for selling as pullets to neighbors who have asked me for some. The more the word gets round the more people approach me. Once they figured out I had incubators or ducks man oh man I have strangers approaching me. I live in rural WV where everything is bought online but to find a local with good stock of anything they are almost overrun.

 

[m1chelle1]

• Diversify and see what works in your area. But don't do something just for the money- you have to like the breeds you choose too!
• Try to track your expenses/incomes to see where you are making it work
• Try to work all the angles
• For me, white eggs don't sell, brown do. I keep polish... they lay white eggs :-(
  • So... I keep a few brown egg hens around that I like... but they are a "side item" and I don't invest anything special into them. They are also supposed to be my broody hens
• For me, duck eggs sell well, and for a good price, if I take them to the local population center. Luckily enough, I work in the city, so I commute to my buyers daily. I'd get $3 a dozen selling them out my door, but I get $5 a dozen in the city
• Sell hatching eggs. I sell my "hatching eggs" locally at 2x the price I sell my eating eggs. Same eggs, just not washed.
  
• When I have too many eggs, I hatch them and try to sell chicks. Sometimes this works great, sometimes I end up feeding too many chicks (like right now). But I am willing to butcher, so they don't go to waste. I also use my culls to supplement our dog and cat food. Dogs get extra meat (cooked in crock pot with extra carrots from garden) and cats get carcasses - they eat them bones and all.
• When I have REALLY too many eggs, I scramble them up and feed them back to the birds to save on feed
• Don't raise extra roosters. Turn them into meat as soon as you can tell they are boys. Not everyone can do this. But if they are eating food, you are eating the cost, and you only need a few boys around. Save the best, eat the rest, and if they are too small to eat... find someone who will (barn cats, someone who has a monitor lizard/predatory pet, bird of prey rehab center
  • I don't sell meat. I'm not proficient enough at butchering for that, and I think you might need inspections, etc.
  • Some ethnic groups have different preferences. At a local sale, there is a family who buys all roosters that are below $5 and are young. No questions asked. They eat them.
  • Muslim families might want them live to butcher themselves (halal/kosher rules to follow).
  • Give them away if you have to. But recognize that if you are giving birds away, that might cut into your buying customers. Weigh that out.
• Someone locally "rents out" incubator space. I'm not sure what the stipulations are, but he has big incubators and hatches eggs for people. If you have a big incubator and are not paranoid about bringing an egg-born disease onto your property, something to consider

For myself last year:

• I "lost" $250 on birds, but I built a lot of new infrastructure/pens
  • not counting hidden expenses like electric
• My ducks were an earner SO I AM HATCHING AND KEEPING A FEW MORE FEMALES THIS SEASON
• Turkeys were a losing venture (ended up raising more than I wanted because they did not sell) :-( SO I AM HATCHING LESS THIS YEAR
• Chickens were a break even or slight earner
  • Brown eggs were an earner
  • White eggs were a break even or loser
  • Changing nothing this season except to hatch a few extra "brown eggers"
• Guineas were a break even or slight earner No change needed
• Geese were a break even (because I bought new goslings, but I should not ever have to do that again, as I am now happy with flock size) No change needed

Love this analysis. Very well put an useful

Cheers,
M

 

[red horse ranch]

I found an article a few weeks ago that intrigued me about “how to make $1000 a month on as few as 15 chickens.” It just kinda sounded too good to be true, and as most all of you have voiced- there is no money in the chicken hobby! http://www.muranochickenfarm.com/2017/06/how-i-make-1000-month-from-15-chickens.html?m=1
What do y’all think about this article? Realistic?[/QUOTE]

It sounds like a good plan but I don't think it is realistic. A lot of those eggs won't hatch. I have a 60 to 70% hatch ratio and unless she has a better ratio than that it will really cut into that business plan. Plus you run out of customers real fast when the feed store sells chicks for $3.

The main thing I agree with her on is the demand for baby guineas. When I decided to get guineas I could not find them anywhere in Wyoming. So I had to order from the hatchery. Shipping is hard on keets and quite a few did not survive. When these guineas matured I started hatching the eggs and selling keets. Whoa, did I find a demand for them... I now have guineas all over the state of Wyoming and find new customers by word of mouth. Plus I also have repeat customers for them.
Keets are $6 or $7 thru the hatchery and I sell them for $5. But like the girl in the article I have most of the colors of guineas and they sell fast. I don't know that I make any profit selling keets but it does help pay for feed for my entire flock.

 

[Mamma Hen Hanna]

Thanks for the idea! I’ve never owned guineas but I’ve been considering it anyhow because the fire ants are awful here and I’ve heard they’re great at getting rid of those. I may just give them a shot!

 

[red horse ranch]

Thanks for the idea! I’ve never owned guineas but I’ve been considering it anyhow because the fire ants are awful here and I’ve heard they’re great at getting rid of those. I may just give them a shot!

Guineas are really interesting characters to have around but they aren't as easy to handle as chickens. They can FLY REALLY WELL. So unless they are confined (which defeats the purpose of having them) they will wander far and wide. They don't do well in subdivisions or towns but if you have plenty of room for them to roam then they can be an enjoyable bird to own. I love mine!

 

[bluejeans]

With me all the money going into them and none is coming out of them . thats the fun of it . if i made money it would be like work figuring out that happened.

 

[Red Door Coop]

I think you will find selling extra eggs at market value, a bit underwhelming.

My flock is strictly a hobby. I don't sell anything.

That said, my research leads me to believe the best way to make money with my hobby would be to have a flock of decisively desirable, and or rare, unusual birds.

My suggestion… Ayam Cemani.

Selling fertile eggs to other hobbyists at $50 per dozen…

Breeding pairs could bring in thousands, even culls will fetch around $100…

If you have an ordinary backyard flock, be thankful if you can beat your hard expenses, not including all your time.

***************************************************
My Redflock is mostly therapy after 2 brain injuries! Its been great except for the getting out there in the cold BUT it gets me out there and here in Canada in my area eggs go for $5.00 a doz. (CDN It works for now and mine lay all winter albeit not as many because the coop is moderately insulated and lit and on milder days they can go out still. It allowed me to interact/connect/forced me to drive/and supposedly creates pocket money . I have hardly any waste and also have my own compost from them/straw/dirt. It allows my grandchildren to learn and "get dirty" by helping Nana too! I love "girls"chatter individually and corporately and it has allowed me to learn a LOT of new things and interact with other "Chickeners" in my area. I try also and educate my customers on eggs etc. from the Small Farm Magazine I receive which has excellent articles. I feel I have "healed" a lot from Shingles on the brain and subsequent concussion ......so the "girls" and I will grow old together !!

 

[Treerooted]

In Ontario, Canada where I live I sell eggs for $4.00 per dozen. I feel that it is a reasonable price for eggs, but a few times I've had customers force me to take $5.00 per dozen for whatever reason. The grocery stores in my area sell 'free range' eggs for roughly $7.00 a pop. That's a lot! My chickens get goodies from the grocery store like Kale, cantaloupe etc. But I usually don't spend more than $10 per week on that stuff, plus they get regular chicken feed obviously. Its clear that there is no money in this for me lol
However I recently invested in an incubator plus another for a hatcher. I will be selling chicks for $5.00 per day old. That's more like it. If I sell 25 chicks I'd be able to feed my flock for 2 months. It only takes 21 days to hatch so there is a chance I can get ahead of the curve here! But that's a lot of hatching also!! I don't expect any money from this hobby because I really only have them for pets and to see what kind of birds I can get mixing this and that. My project for the next few years is to get a cross between Ameraucana and Sultan going that will lay regularly and look cool!

Selling my eggs for the same; seems to be the acceptable price around here for backyard eggs I haven't gotten into chicks yet but if I do, was going to sell them for $4-$5 (or higher) depending on the breed. I like your project mindset! I hope you come up with something awesome!

I’ll further explain my circumstances. I am a homeschooling mom of 4 young’uns (ages 9, 6, 3, and 9mos.) My husband works a lot and we’re gradually working to turn our 36 acres into a homestead. But that is not a cheap project! With 6 mouths on one income, every penny counts. We adore our chickens! My kids are very involved in their care and have their favorite “pets.” I am by no means trying to start a legitimate business here... I have NO time for that! I’ve just been considering some income options with the chickens. It seems day old chicks make the most bang for their buck which I know still is very little,but as I said every penny counts! I found an article a few weeks ago that intrigued me about “how to make $1000 a month on as few as 15 chickens.” It just kinda sounded too good to be true, and as most all of you have voiced- there is no money in the chicken hobby! http://www.muranochickenfarm.com/2017/06/how-i-make-1000-month-from-15-chickens.html?m=1
What do y’all think about this article? Realistic?

Before moving to our homestead(to-be), I googled a lot...definitely came across that article more then once
Anyway, I'm in a similar boat to you (minus the kids...I've just got one so far), and my approach thus far is to raise enough for the family and grow slowly from there selling extra and seeing where income opportunities might lie (hatching chicks is probably in my future). My chickens are now just a year old and I only started selling eggs two weeks ago. But it won't take much to cover their feed so I'm excited about that. I'm working towards a sustainable flock and extra roos get culled (as will old hens) and that meat is worth a lot to us.
I think one of the first posters was correct...location. As long as you're not going full bore into one income avenue with your chickens, you'll learn about the "market" in your area. I just found out through a friend that a lady she works with wants duck eggs...next on our list! And I already have a buyer

 

[wcbpolish]

In Ontario, Canada where I live I sell eggs for $4.00 per dozen. I feel that it is a reasonable price for eggs, but a few times I've had customers force me to take $5.00 per dozen for whatever reason.

I've had a few of those too. I'll bend over backward to meet the orders of people who "overpay"

When I decided to get guineas I could not find them anywhere in Wyoming. So I had to order from the hatchery. Shipping is hard on keets and quite a few did not survive. When these guineas matured I started hatching the eggs and selling keets. Whoa, did I find a demand for them... I now have guineas all over the state of Wyoming and find new customers by word of mouth. Plus I also have repeat customers for them.

Here in Michigan I only do marginally good with guineafowl... but I only raise Pearls (with some of the bigger french/jumbos in the bloodline... so I'm told...)