Where can I buy Australorp chickens?

[Lisa Peers]

Hi,
I am new in chicken breeding and a friend suggested australorp will be profitable. Please advise if I should get going and where can I buy them to start with?

 

[nuthatched]

Hi there, It really depends on where you are, you should research what Breeds would sell in your area, Craigslist or Facebook is a good place to check. Australorps are usually very common in most areas, most hatcheries only charge $3-$4 or less for them. common as dirt here. There's very little profit in chicken breeding unless you really know what you're doing, and those breeders that are making money, have spent decades and resources perfecting their lines and genetics.
Choose a breed, buy from a reputable breeder, ( you can find breeders clubs online) breed according to the breed standards to set your stock out from other local breeders or hatcheries who will be cheaper.
Have you fully considered everything that's going to go into this? Are you prepared to lose money for the first 5 years or so until the quality of your stock is worth buying? Do you have the room? 4sq feet per chicken in the coop, at least 8sqf in the run? The time and energy? Vacations are hard to do with livestock. Are you allowed roosters? Hens are noisey too. are you prepared to dispatch birds, like extra cockerels you'll end up with or birds that don't meet the standard? Do you have money set aside for vet bills if necessary? does your area limit how many chickens you can have? some areas require a license of some sort to sell livestock. will you get npip certified? What kind of predators do you have in your area? will you use an incubator or broody hens? do you know how to euthanize chicks that hatch but are sadly deformed or dying? It's unfortunate but there are many strings attached to chicken keeping in general, nevermind breeding. I'm really, truly, not trying to scare you or talk you out of it but breeding any animals 'for profit' has loads of strings attached. chicken breeds go through fads, you could spend years perfecting a good line of a certain breed and by that time, few want them since the newest hot trend in chickens is something else. 5 years ago here, easter eggers were the best things and now...people sell pol pullets for $10-$20, hardly breaking even on feed costs. it's rough.

 

[cavemanrich]

First,,,, like to Welcome you to BYC.. Now for the second part,,,,, It would help if you disclosed your location in your profile. No,,,, not your address,, just general area, like city, state, county, province, country , or continent.

Then invite your friend for tea,,, and discuss how the profitable will work.
Australorps are actually at the lower price range of chickens.

Lets get serious now,, Do you want to raise SHOW CHICKENS?? You will need to find a breeder that sells Show Quality Chickens. Also known as SOP. (Standard of perfection)

If you just want to raise regular laying chickens,,, and sell those,,, I would suggest you choose a Sex-link type of chicken, to start with. When selling chicks,,, sexable chicks are easier to sell, because many peeps only want pullets. You will have to figure out how you will sell the 50% cockerels that you will also end up with.

Posting a snip from McMurry hatchery. Australorps are going at $4. 51 each

Here is a link to their website. so you can compare prices of various breeds of chickens.
If you live in USA, or Canada, I think you may be able to order from this hatchery.
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chicks.html

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[cavemanrich]

Just ran across a breeder that can help you if you are in USA.
a BYC member.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicks-davie-florida.1506530/