Which are the best chicken breeds to buy in order to sell chicks or eggs for maximizing profit in la

[DocumentedPure]

I could really use some help from experienced breeders and enthusiasts of ultra-rare breeds and hybrids, and fill me in on what sells, what breeds are worth keeping over the years, do they remain valuable over years periods of time? Could you show me or tell me how these very expensive ones have fluctuated over time? Which factors are most important to buyers when they are purchasing these big ticket poultry? I am poor and have little money to invest. I am terrified that I am going to spend thousands of dollars on chickens to find out that none hold value and that they are all worth around $5 (which is the average going rate for baby chicks) within less than a year.

I am a business major in college, having spent the majority of my life in a city. I have had little farming experience. I got introduced to breeding chickens by seeing an article on facebook about ayam cemanis. However after doing my share of research I have found that the breed is not all it was hyped up to be. I was fascinated by it but later found out that it may be too good to be true, because the prices listed on Greenfire farms and others. Since then I have done a lot of research, from the threads here and other places, and have found that there have been many instances where the chicks are not all black, inside the beaks, claws, white feathers, interspecies breeding, low birth rates, low fertility rates, and other reasons. Especially the price. Two breeders on here are selling theirs for $25 and $35.

From what I have learned from economics, the market decides the price. When the supply equilibrium exceeds the demanded price, then price goes down. How can prices remain stable over time when chickens produce so much offspring so fast?

To me this risk is even greater complicated by the fact that the breed is not even recognized by the Standards of Perfection by the American Poultry Association.

I have been doing lots of research into the most valuable chicken breeds, and what I learn only leads me to greater confusion. There are soooo many different chicken breeds it blows my mind. Which ones that the breeders are stating as rare are actually valuable? Many are lost breeds of the old world reintroduced into New World economy, and they are stating that is the reason which the asking prices are so high. As far as I can see, if I spend a small fortune on some obscure chicken breed, and no one cares about the chicken breed to buy them, then I am stuck with a huge bill and a ton of poultry that I could not give away. Could any of you direct me to literature that explains breed value, what makes them valuable, and which ones are going to maintain high prices over time?

There are so many different types of chickens, and some of them are just genetic mutations that are not easily replicated, and not actually breeds at all. If they are not breeds, and I spend $1000 on some genetic anomaly, that is not expressed in the following generations, then I am a fool. Here are some things that have confused me. Variations of legbar for example. There are a lot of hybrids of them, such as golden, silver, cream, frost white sport cream, white sport cream, etc. Which of these will make money over time? Who is to say that the value will not plummet?

Could any of you enlighten me on which breeds and hybrids are valuable? So far the only reference I have is breeders on sites like Greenfire farms, cemani farms, watson ridge ranch, and others. How can I determine which of those sites have fair prices, and which chickens are actually worth their prices and valuable over time?

Here are some of the breeds I am considering creating flocks of;

ayam cemani
shamo (low birth rate, very agressive, atypical housing)
serama
tolbunt polish
lavender / jubilee
orpington
bekisar hybrid
pelung
laughing chickens
bielefelder
barbezieux
american bresse
bresse
barnevelder
chocolate partridge / lavender wyandotte
deathlayer
flarry eye gray
lemon / gold / silver frisian gull
isbar
ixworth
liege fighter
light sussex
lyyonaise
malines
marans
merlerault
niederrheiner
olandsk dwarf
orust
pavlovskya
queen silvia
silver spitshauben
sulmtaler
swedish black hen
swedish flower hen
twentse
yamato gunkei
icelandic chickens
blue fauvacana
holland
croad langshan
malay
modern game
easter egger
partridge penedesenca


This is a ridiculously long list, and I want to sort this to a few that will fit my needs best. I have no idea where to start. I am concerned that the majority of these birds are just obscure because nobody has wanted to breed them, and therefore people are charging a lot of money for them because they are not common. I do not understand how in the 21st century there can be breeds of chickens that do not all cost just about the same price. Chickens have so much offspring per year, that it makes sense to me that they would, at this point have all bottomed out and cost just about the same, with the exception of breeds that are more difficult to breed, or have higher housing costs.

Please help me navigate through all of this. I need help from people who have followed the market over time.

Thanks again,

Cory

 

[eggbert420]

If you are looking to get rich, don't waste your time. If you want a hobby that can possibly pay for itself you might break even after a couple of years. That's with hard work and a little bit of luck. If you don't love chickens don't waste your time.

In my opinion the only eggs that will always hold their value are BCM eggs . They are the darkest eggs and for whatever reason people love dark eggs. They don't sell for the most $$. But they bring a fair price after a few years of breeding for color.

 

[PD-Riverman]

I attend a Chicken Auction weekly "again"(Bird-flu shut alot down 2 years ago)--have for several years. The breeds you mentioned are nice and some people want them. A friend that got into some of the more expensive breeds told me----"I can sell one of my chicks for as much as you can sell 5 of yours for" True I said, but you can only sell your expensive breeds to a select few local, sure a lot more if you get certified where you can ship out of State. Most buyers that I run into want eggs, layers, and don't care for the high dollar breeds that Most do not lay great---just pretty. That year He sold about 80 of his high dollar chicks for a total of about $1000---I sold 6000 of my cheaper chicks for over $20,000 plus I sold a lot of Adults/layers in the $20 range ea---he kept all his..

2 weeks ago someone had some of the Ayam Cemani chicks----not a One sold---could NOT even get a $5 start on them--then the seller spoke up and said well if anyone wants them I will sell for $25 each-----hey Wake Up Woman---no one would not even start the bid for $5. But I sold All 60 of my few day old chicks I carried for $2 and $2.50---RIR, YB, Barred Rock, White Rock and Black jersey giants. Then there was some Lavender orpington adult pairs---first pair went for $27 ea $54 for the pair, the second pair went for $25ea/$50. The 3rd pair no one started the $20 min bid---so the owner had to take them back home---so only 2 people were willing to pay a little higher price for those.

Then the RIR adult hens sold for $15 to $22 each---probably 75 of them went for that price and some YB and some Golden Comets went in the same price range----even those breeds of adult roosters sold for $10 to $15. The last ones sold for as much as the first. You gotta sell what people want---if you want to sell a lot.

Its according to what you want and what you want to do and if you are in a area that you can sell these high dollar chickes/chickens. Yes the High dollar breeds do Cost a lot more to get set-up and Yes a lot of them drop in price quick. Yes Demand and What People want is what makes a difference----until the market is flooded!!

Someone like me rather take $100 and buy 45 day old pullets and 5 cockerels in 5 different breeds---then in 8 months be selling 200 to 300 chicks for $400 to $700 a week than trying to find buyers for a few $10 to $20 chicks or even $50 to $100 day old chicks----BUT, BUT, BUT you might be where you can find those high dollar chicken buyers----not here. Good Luck

 

[eggbert420]

Pd-riverman,that's the truth right there.

 

[PD-Riverman]

Pd-riverman,that's the truth right there.

Thanks---its True here for sure.


Here BCM eggs 3 to 4 years ago were selling at the Auction for $25 to $30 a dozen---at the Auction last week they bid up to $4 for a dozen the seller said gotta have $5---one dozen sold, but A dozen ameraucana sold for $20--go figure!!

Edited to add---LOL knowing both of the egg sellers----I would have not even put them in my incubator to hatch---might be a billy goat crossed with a wood pecker----LOL. About 3 years ago I bought dozens and dozens of BCM, and other breeds--the seller seem like a good seller. Then we were talking and she mentioned she free ranged her chickens---I said all of them----she said Yes----I said well how do you keep them from cross breeding----she said "my chickens only breed with their kind" LOL that explains why later most all my chickes I hatched turned out to be very Mixed.

 

[eggbert420]

A chicken,or a dozen eggs is only worth what the man standing in front of you is willing to pay for them.

 

[DocumentedPure]

Thank you for the responses eggbert and riverman, I appreciate the feedback. Riverman I appreciate your success and how you have managed to succeed in you ventures. I am aware of how your approach to doing it is successful, however I do not intend to market towards farmers markets and popular places where local farmers and hobbyists go to purchase eggs or poultry. I can see why your friend with poor marketing abilities was unable to sell his exotic birds in a place where the vast majority of shoppers are looking for broilers or egg layers for eating.

I see market potential in that the vast majority of vendors online have terrible websites and are not marketed well. The way that I see it, if I can produce a quality website, and quality flock, and cut the price of the big overpriced guys by half then I can take some of their market share. I want to know more about how these birds (or others than what I have listed) are currently selling in those markets, or to other markets, and how those prices and markets have performed over time.

 

[DocumentedPure]

If I can get a dozen birds that are 1200 upfront, and they are only fair producers, and am able to sell their offspring for 1/4 their original price consistently over the following four years, then I would be making a solid return on investment.

 

[PD-Riverman]

If I can get a dozen birds that are 1200 upfront, and they are only fair producers, and am able to sell their offspring for 1/4 their original price consistently over the following four years, then I would be making a solid return on investment.

If you can, yes you sure would. Go for it!

If nothing else you can do like that Lady that bought that $54 pair I mentioned above----she cooked them for Sunday dinner the nest day----True.

 

[donrae]

How do you wind up with a small fortune breeding chickens?



start with a large fortune

"Value" isn't set. It's fluid. Depends on what a particular person is willing to pay at that moment in time. Trendy breeds start strong, but as you've pointed out, they populate quickly. Then, the market gets flooded, often with inferior quality birds, and folks can hardly give them away. The Cream Crested Legbar comes to mind. I loved the idea of this breed...pretty, productive, autosexing, colored egg layer. But now, with all the random breeding and lack of culling, you've got birds that are all over the place as to color and shape, half the chicks aren't clearly auto sexing, egg color isn't the greatest.....they're a mess, here in the US. Yes, you can still find good breeders who know what they're doing, but you see far more sketchy birds than quality.

If you're looking at chickens from a purely business model, you've also got to look at infrastructure. Breeding pens, incubators, hatchers, brooders, grow out pens, etc. Feed, waterers that don't freeze in the winter. Predator proof pens, cause one momma raccoon will wipe our your entire flock, she doesn't care if they're thousand dollar birds from Greenfire or hatchery chicks from TSC, to her they all taste like chicken.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, there's a reason you don't see Chicken Tycoons. The money just isn't there. You're not going to get rich on raising birds.

there are a few ways to make it a profitable hobby, or even a bit of a business....

selling eggs. Use sex links or Leghorns, and rotate flock out every year or so.
selling chicks. Yep, some rare breeds do fine, but the classics are classics for a reason.
selling hatching eggs. Rare breeds do a bit better here, but you're still not going to be able to retire.
selling point of lay pullets. this is a decent money maker for me, but it's seasonal and takes enough space to grow the birds out to laying age.
selling meat birds. A whole nother story, and tricky depending on your local market.

You get into chickens because you love chickens, not because you're looking to make money. Most of us are thrilled when we can break even or make enough to cover our next hatchery order