Which are the rare breeds in highest demand now? Which ones will still maintain a high price tag in

[IdyllwildAcres]

The best way to make a million dollars in this business is to start with 2 million.

Gary

 

[DocumentedPure]

Okay, this just jumps out at me like crazy. Honestly, if your birds are getting sick and you need an "advanced" medicine cabinet to keep your "money sign" birds alive, why would anyone want to be buying your stock? I sure wouldn't, and would be very unhappy if I found out I'd paid high dollars to buy birds that need constant medication or coddling.

What do I do when a bird gets sick? Well, I don't have birds get sick to speak of, so really can't answer that. If you've got illness that often, especially with only 3 birds, there's something going on.

The "advanced medicine cabinet" and "money sign over their heads" were points I was trying to make in the care that I am going to provide my birds. The money sign over their heads is a metaphor for the additional extrinsic value they have, and the additional care I would go to provide, that would exceed the care provided by somebody who could not justify spending $100 on a vet bill, and as a result let their pet die instead of giving it the care it needed to survive. Regular hobbyists are not going to vaccinate and regularly check their birds for diseases or health problems. It is just not how it is done. Maybe for dogs or cats, but Americans place the care of chickens much lower than that of other animals. I felt as though it was inaccurate that my level of care would somehow be less than "the other side of chicken keeping." So I felt I had a point to make.

I would not dream of investing in this if I was not also interested in care and well being of animals in general, and being driven to take care of the animals in a responsible way through ethical reasons, instead of just financial reasons. People who would get into this strictly for the money, are destined to fail because they would not be able to sustain the level of care, at times that were most inconvenient, if they did not care about the well-being of the animals.

My three chickens do not have any health problems. They are healthy and have never suffered from any conditions. However, I want to ensure that when I have forty chickens, that the highest level of care goes to them so that I can avoid situations where I have to exterminate an entire flock, or have a condition that weakens my flock. A much higher standard of care must be applied, especially for NPIP testing of diseases, in order to prevent worst case scenarios. However, I am aware that it is possible that I do every little thing flawlessly and that I have to put down my entire group, and that is a risk I am afraid of and preparing diligently against, yet prepared to follow through with if the situation is warranted.

 

[DocumentedPure]

Hey Mandelyn,

Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom. I have thought a lot about many of the things that you have stated. I know there is a lot of risk, but the way that I see it, chickens are pretty hardy animals. If I do everything preventative by the book, and take care of the treatable illnesses early on when they come up (like bumblefoot, for example) it is probable that I will not have to worry about large scale executions of my flock. It is a major concern of mine, however from where I see, the vast majority of the expense is in equipment and supplies. So if I have to make the great sacrifice, I can decontaminate everything and start over again.

The breed that I am most interested in are ayam ketawa (Laughing chicken). However from what I have read there are currently trade restrictions with Indonesia. I am hoping that I earn enough by selling some others to introduce the breed to the United States. At that time I may consider focusing all of my efforts on that one breed. However based on my experience with the four I want to do, I may drop lines altogether based on potential lack of interest in a breed. The other breeds that I think are really cool and would like to be a part of their breeding program are LF double silver laced barnevelders, Orust, ayam cemani, and white legbars. Those are the ones I am most excited about.

I am going to get NPIP certified as soon as I have everything set up. Where I live people are very frugal, so online sales, forums, and auctions are going to be my target markets. My plan to keep my stock moving without holding onto them for very long is heavy advertising, and low prices, while emphasizing quality through appearance, health, and egg laying ability. I will also make sure that my stock are "documented pure" so that I can separate myself from scammers and short cut takers. I know that it will be a while until I have made a name for myself with established clientele, but this is how I plan to get by until then.

If you do sell out of state, what are the most common order sizes? One? Five? A dozen?

 

[junebuggena]

There are no 'documented pure' chickens. There are no registries or pedigrees for poultry. To prove that you have quality stock, you've got to have exhibition titles attached to them from APA sanctioned shows, not fair titles. Focus on what you like, not what the latest fad is. If you are serious about being a quality breeder pick one or two breeds to focus on. And learn the standards for those breeds backwards and forwards. There are many breeds that have real staying power but are seriously lacking dedicated breeders. Quality Rhode Island Reds are getting to be really hard to find. Quality Barred Rocks and Dominiques are also getting scarce. The Buff, Brown Red, and Silver varieties of Ameraucana are very hard to find. Araucana, of any variety, are hard to find, many are mixed varieties and unshowable. Lavender Orpingtons have been ruined by hobby breeders, most don't resemble proper type at all.

 

[popsicle]

Instead of repeating what other people have already said (because I agree with what most have already said), I'll just ask if you've looked into Genetic Hackle birds?

 

[DocumentedPure]

There are no 'documented pure' chickens. There are no registries or pedigrees for poultry. To prove that you have quality stock, you've got to have exhibition titles attached to them from APA sanctioned shows, not fair titles. Focus on what you like, not what the latest fad is. If you are serious about being a quality breeder pick one or two breeds to focus on. And learn the standards for those breeds backwards and forwards. There are many breeds that have real staying power but are seriously lacking dedicated breeders. Quality Rhode Island Reds are getting to be really hard to find. Quality Barred Rocks and Dominiques are also getting scarce. The Buff, Brown Red, and Silver varieties of Ameraucana are very hard to find. Araucana, of any variety, are hard to find, many are mixed varieties and unshowable. Lavender Orpingtons have been ruined by hobby breeders, most don't resemble proper type at all.

Thank you for your response, and critique. I am always interested in vulnerabilities of my plan, and to understand more about how types are graded, regulated, and valued. I am not trying to assume that I understand exactly why people pay the prices that people pay for them. I do understand why some are valuable, scarcity, beauty, production capacity, etc. But I do see that the market has set the price on all of the birds. When I look at some of the breeds, I am very impressed with how they appear, and produce, however their overabundance in the market has caused the major online vendors to compete for market share, driving prices down. I cannot justify spending thousands of dollars to for the capacity to keep a few dozen chickens, and then to try to perfect a common breed that people are paying only a few dollars for, in which they would buy locally, instead of paying $30 in additional cost to have it shipped to them. I do not see how someone could do that with financial sustainability in mind.

I appreciate your idealism. However, the these are chickens that we are talking about. Not show dogs. When you have a common breed, I see that it is difficult to get breeds to high production and standards capacity once it has been normalized. The vast majority of people are not operating factories where they compare and contrast and do selective breeding to ensure that these things happen. Probably best case scenario for this type of chicken is breeding to the best chicken the guy has up the street. I could see some small potential financial gain in twenty years, and notoriety for being the guy that re-created the RIR, but that is not my objective. I want something new, and beautiful to be a part of, that will also help me out financially in the process. Part of the reason I want variety, is in case the value of one depreciates much more rapidly than another. It is financial security. I understand that it compounds how much more complicated my operation must be, and how much more I have to learn. I did not say it was going to be easy, but it not cause me to go bankrupt. By having several additional coops, over the next couple years, I will have time to add, subtract, multiply and divide what direction I go. If I only have one, my options are fewer.

I do not know much about exhibition titles, is it possible to get exhibition titles at APA sanctioned events, for breeds and coloration they do not officially recognize? The breeds of four of the five I have mentioned are not even in APA registry, and the one that is, the morph is not recognized. By the time they are recognized, from what I have read, they are no longer valued at as much. However, if there is something I am missing, I am all ears.

I do understand the production capacity interests and value of chickens. However, if we all wanted production capacity birds, we would all be paying top dollar for cornish cross and leghorns, which is not the case. There is no practical reason these chickens should not be the most expensive chickens in the world. The market does not make much sense to practical people I understand. The market is driven by scarcity and novelty factors. It is a niche, novelty market. I will take a risk, and see how they perform. From the research I have seen, I have not seen any awards listed by the breeders I have spoke with, and they seem to have still been doing well enough. I do not think it would hurt, however it has not been anybody's primary selling points. Providing documentation of medical records, who I purchased the chickens from, production, what I cull for, lots of photo documentation, and ensuring they are healthy and beautiful seem to be more valuable in this type of market, as Mandelyn has stated. I get it. People scoff. Trying to make money off of chickens. However the market price depreciation rate is significantly lower than the asking price has dropped for selected breeds over time. If there are novelty chicken breeders who could disagree with me, those would be the people to ask. I think those lavender orpington's are going to hold onto their price a little longer, a little sooner, than the RIR magic factory is going to get their prices to compare.

 

[DocumentedPure]

http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/PDF Forms/Official APA Show Rules January 2013.pdf

The highest priced ones do not exist according to the APA. Any ideas about how find informal standards of perfection?

 

[DocumentedPure]

Can the people who hatch the types of chickens I am talking about confirm or deny this?

 

[Kiki]

Can the people who hatch the types of chickens I am talking about confirm or deny this?

https://greenfirefarms.com
Greenfire raises a few of the ones you mention.
You could contact them, see if they are willing to share info with you.

 

[popsicle]

Quote:

Can the people who hatch the types of chickens I am talking about confirm or deny this?

Confirm or deny what? That there are no documented pure birds? The bird is the breed if it fits the Standard, it doesn't matter how that bird came to be bred. You can go make your own Delaware however you want, and if it fits the Standard of Perfection, it's a Delaware. You can go buy a red chick from the best Rhode Island Red breeder in the history in the world--that can be traced back to the first and best Rhode Island Reds--if your resulting adult bird is not a specific size and color, it should not be called a Rhode Island Red.

...
I cannot justify spending thousands of dollars to for the capacity to keep a few dozen chickens, and then to try to perfect a common breed that people are paying only a few dollars for, in which they would buy locally, instead of paying $30 in additional cost to have it shipped to them. I do not see how someone could do that with financial sustainability in mind.
...

Again, if you are wanting to keep a couple high priced birds, that will continue to be high priced, you need to look into birds that need very specific breeding and care to maintain desired qualities. Longtails and Genetic Hackle are the types of birds that come to my mind. Maybe some of the strains of gamefowl. Unless you've got a substantial nest egg that you don't mind taking a high risk with, breeding trendy chickens will never be a route to financial stability.