Having chickens (layers) for profit on the small farm

[Brennan]

My family has 20 chickens that are all layers. But I would like to get my own small flock to sell the eggs I get from them. I would also of couurse like to make a profit. How does one do this. I am 14 years old and have school of course to attend to so I can't go all out chicken farming.
Thanks,
Brennan-

[PD-Riverman]

I can answer this. About the only way you can make a profit is if some one gives you the feed or you get lucky and find some one that will give you $5 per dozen. Of course if you have a good place to free range them that would help.

Originally Posted by Brennan

My family has 20 chickens that are all layers. But I would like to get my own small flock to sell the eggs I get from them. I would also of couurse like to make a profit. How does one do this. I am 14 years old and have school of course to attend to so I can't go all out chicken farming.
Thanks,
Brennan-

[TheMartianChick]

You might try www.backyardchickens.com . There was a young man there who also kept a small backyard flock and raised organic eggs. He lived in the suburbs of Maryland and was able to get people to pay top dollar for his eggs because he provided them with a pamphlet (that he designed)about the benefits of raising backyard eggs versus the factory farmed ones. Let me see if I can find a link for you:

Found one! Best of all, I noticed that he is still an active member on the site. You might be able to send him a private message asking for his advce and assistance.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/foru...php?pid=560600

[artificer]

People also need to know where you are located. Free range chickens don't work as well during winter in northern Minnesota as they do in southern, more temperate climates.

You can not beat the factory farms on price. You need to have some other selling point, like being organic, freerange, etc. Do a search in the poultry forum, and you'll find this questions raised/answered in the past.

Michael

[poppy]

Originally Posted by Brennan

My family has 20 chickens that are all layers. But I would like to get my own small flock to sell the eggs I get from them. I would also of couurse like to make a profit. How does one do this. I am 14 years old and have school of course to attend to so I can't go all out chicken farming.
Thanks,
Brennan-

You'd be far better off buying a good used push mower and finding you 4 or 5 lawns to mow next spring. Chickens are great to have and fresh eggs are the best but there isn't any profit in it for 99% of people. The money you spend feeding chicks to laying age adds up plus the time they don't lay because they are molting or the days are too short eats into any money you make while they are laying. Also, most breeds will taper off after their first year laying and that is why the big companies start with new chicks every year.

[Callieslamb]

Ditto what everyone else has said. Also - in cold climates, chickens stop laying so you can feed them with NO income. I applaud that you want to do this - and perhaps you CAN make a profit depending on where you live. Do you live in an upscale suburb? I live in the country. 6 people within 3 miles sell eggs....There's no way I'm going to be able to get city-organically raised- free ranged egg prices here. At $1.50 a dozen....there's no profit. I did make a profit raising chicks this year and selling them. Barely.

[J.T.M.]

Brenna ,where theres a will ,there is a way .Now get out there and show the nae - sayers how its done .

[MD Steader]

Originally Posted by J.T.M.

Brenna ,where theres a will ,there is a way .Now get out there and show the nae - sayers how its done .

Brenna,
The key thing is how to market them and how to get the eggs to your customers. Despite the naysayers I have a backyard flock of 7 hens and they pay for themselves. I live in MD (not the guy quoted above). I've developed my customer base by work of mouth. My eggs are $2.50 a dozen and I market them as cage free. What I did two years ago when I started with another flock was to record every expense I had right down to the nails I used in converting a shed. I added it all up and worked in market price of the eggs based on store price and came up with how many I needed to sell to finally break even and pull ahead. Did it all in a spreadsheet at the time.

I started with a dozen birds but now have seven. I make quite enough to pay for feed and a few bucks extra. I won't be buying a car off of it BUT I'm at the point where I can expand when and where I want to grow the business. I commend you at 14, most kids your age have their heads in a phone texting. Figure out a way, watch your expenses and you can do it. Plus it will give you a solid basis for building a business later on.

[Oldcountryboy]

Here, I'll give you some info for making money on chickens!

Forget the eggs, forget raising meat birds. Raise only laying hens, mostly of a good layer such as Rhode Island Reds, Dominique, or something similar, colorful.

Step one is to build you several brooding pens. One for each type of layer your going to raise. Lets say you plan on raising 3 different types of laying hens, then you would build 3 brooding pens. Each should be somewhat roomy cause it's gonna get crowded as they grow.

Step 2 is to buy approximately 25 chicks of each variety for the number of brooding pens you have built and ready to go. Depending on where you will get your chicks at, you may pay anywhere from .25 cents each to $2.00 each. Buy early in the spring months.

Step 3 is to raise them all summer long till they start laying eggs. Start them out on one bag of chick starter feed (for each brooding pen) and then switch over to a grower feed for the rest of the summer.

Step 4 When they start laying eggs, take them either take to a sale barn that sells chickens, or advertise them in the paper for sell. People are always looking for young hens that are already laying.

You will buy the chicks say at $2.00 each and sell them for $12 to $16 bucks each and you really will not have a whole lot of feed in them. If you buy 25 birds for $2.00 each, that would come to a total of $50. But if you sell them for $16 each that would bring you $400 total. That's a $350 profit. Minus the cost of the ad in the paper, or auctioneers fee, and feed. But you will make a real good profit even after these are taken out. $350 X number of each variety raised will be quit a salary for the summer months.

[farmerDale]

Hey Brennan, I am glad you show interest at your age in something so rewarding as raising eggs. I've said it here before, but I'll say it again. Do you know any grain farmers where you are? If you do your set. If you can find a farmer who raises wheat, he will sell it to you if you just tell him your plan, and it will be MUCH cheaper than at "the feed store" everyone on here talks about. You then blend this cheaper wheat with a pre-mix of layer ration to get the proper protein. Then you sell your eggs.

See, the highest cost to you is of course feed. If you give yourself an advantage that many seem not to know about in the feed cost department, you will make decent money.

Now you need to get your market established. Family/ friends/ church people, etc. Charge them the store rate plus 50 cents a dozen for farm fresh and the quality you will produce, and you will do well.

Little layers give so much more than they eat. And I have hens that have been laying 80% plus for Over a year, non-stop, in a cold part of Canada. They are tought things! they just need to have the proper lighting, and to not have frozen water, and they will lay year round...

Get out there, find a farmer with cheap wheat, and your laughing.

Prove 'em wrong Brennan, and good for you for having a business spirit, and a smart idea. My son is 7 and he wants to buy a quad. In several years of egg raising, he will buy his quad, and that is paying all the feed costs to me...

Good luck!!!

[kranac]

Originally Posted by Brennan

My family has 20 chickens that are all layers. But I would like to get my own small flock to sell the eggs I get from them. I would also of couurse like to make a profit. How does one do this. I am 14 years old and have school of course to attend to so I can't go all out chicken farming.
Thanks,
Brennan-

You can make a profit. Disregard what they tell you otherwise. I live in the boonies and can sell eggs all day long at 3$ a dozen. My neighbor went to the farmers market at couldn't sell them for 2$ a dozen. Its all in knowing your product and getting the word out. Start a blog about your experience. Make sure you have a picture of a store bought egg next to yours Show the difference pale yellow yolks to dark orange balls. Educate people. Don't be afraid to give some away to get people hooked. If you live in a neighborhood grab a wagon and start knocking on doors selling them. If you live in the country start asking people what they like about farm fresh eggs, some like them brown, some like the flavor, etc etc.

If you can free-range them and just give them cracked corn and the table scraps. Hit the local grocer talk to the produce manager and get some free fruit and veggies that are bruised and unsellable.

Don't depend on the local feed store. Find alternative ways to feed them.

I've seen eggs go as high as $5.50-$6 a dozen at the right farmers markets. Find out what people want. There is a portion of my customers that want/need Soy free. Its all in finding a niche and not underselling yourself.

If your product is far superior in quality to whats in the grocery store then your price should reflect that.

Try sell some of your parents eggs. Buy them from your mom and dad for a buck a dozen and get a few customers. Once you have people asking for more eggs its easier to make the investment into getting 20 layers yourself.

If you compete with the grocery store for low prices you will lose every time

good luck

[FarmboyBill]

#1 Keep at it. You wont know your idea wont work until youve tried it. AND, if it dosent work right off, itall show you #1, what dosent work, #2 a way to tweak it to hopefully work.

Like Ole said, Forget the eggs and raise chickens to sell. I see them here in Okla regulary bring tween $20/$30 a chicken
Also, someone said that the smaller chickens really put out the eggs. Im assumeing there talking about the cross bred chickens Some are red, some are white They sometimes have flecks of white in their feathers. Ive had Golden Comets, and they lay like a house afire, and are great foragers, but this can be a problem if you have preditors around as they arent afraid to rainge far out from the chickenhouse farmstead.
If your going to sell eggs tho, Make sure that they are brown. City people MIGHT be again them, although I now see them sold in WM right along with white ones. MOST people want the brown eggs, and some of them are willing to pay extra to have them.

If you have access to a grain bin, OR you have a shed where you can build one which, if you care to pm me, ill describe. I built 2 of these for my DD for her barn. Anyway, If you have an area to store grain and a ton of it, which can easily fit in a box 4 X 8 X 4. If so, check to see which mills will give a ton discount by buying in bulk. That will save you money. If you have access to a hammermill and tractor, and belt if needed, like mine, and alfalfa hay. Grind yourself up a couple bales. They can fit in a 55 gal barrel, but there a pain to get out when getting low. Another 4 X 4 X 8 bin is much prefered. Sprinkle the hay over the grain feed. Chickens love it. Use the screen in the hammermill that makes the alfalfa pieces NO longer than 1in. 3/4 is better.

For the grain, if buying bulk and a ton of it, Get 500lbs whole wheat, 500lbs whole oats, 500lbs milo, and 500lbs cracked corn. Others may have much better rratios and reciepts. Try to get it all in one load, as it will mix some better that way when your scooping or auguring it out. I had to buy mine in barrels as my bigger truck was down. That caused me to have a layered effect. My rabbits HATE corn. My chickens like it and my goats love it. I cant figure a way to mix it, and at 64 im too old to try to scoop it from one side of a 8ftdia bin to the other in hopes of effecting a mix.

Anyway. Good luck, and let us know how your doing. By the way. I think the most economical time to buy chicks is when its warm enough you dont have to keep a battery of heat lamps on them thereby saveing on the electric bill.
If you DO try to raise chicks,. DONT try to raise ALL that you think you need to make the money you want to make in one batch. Youll lose a buncha them, AND your costs will be at one time higher, AND, you may be only able to sell a doz or 2 at a time without causing the price to come down, as at an auction.
I want to raise 200 chicks. My brooder house wont hold that many. Its 8 X 10, What im going to do, is raise 100 in mid spring, and then raise another 100 a couple months later. If I raise reds and golds, I have an indicator as to which ones are the oldest and ready for sale and easily seen. That way, I can get up at 4 in the morning, which I do now at my sale, go out load up a doz or 2 chickens in cages that hold a doz ea, as thats the amounts either people like to buy them in, OR thats the amount they WILL buy them in even if they only wanted 8 ot 10 say. Ill get there by 4 30 and be first or nearly so so as to have mine up front. NEVER take chickens to a sale IF you know your going to be way late. Early is good or great depending on how you feel about it. Mid is great or good, depending on how you feel about it, and at the back is BAD, as if its a BIG sale, as the one I go to is, People get tired of waiting around, OR theyve already bought what they wanted so they wouldnt have to wait around. The only bidders left are those hopeing to get a steal on your chickens.
By selling a doz or 2 a month, you have a rather steady income, with a minimum of time spent in dealing with selling them. As I said. Good luck

[rags57078]

Brennan
put your location in your profile , folks he lives in Nebraska . I am the one that turned this young man onto this site , he also had a market garden this year and made a little $$ for small town USA he did good

[Windy in Kansas]

Originally Posted by rags57078

folks he lives in Nebraska . I am the one that turned this young man onto this site , he also had a market garden this year and made a little $$ for small town USA he did good

Way to go Brennan. I would like to have done that when your age and we had plenty of land, but in dry western Kansas we didn't have a sufficient water supply nor rainfall to allow it. If there had been modern drip irrigation methods perhaps I could have.

As to the chickens it doesn't hurt to try. You can feed blemished or spoiled produce to them during harvest periods.

We kept many chickens that free ranged and sold eggs to customers that came to the farm as well as to a produce truck that picked them up there. It finally quit though. I expect it helped that our farm was less than a mile from my hometown of about 300 population. People weren't afraid of eggs and storing them as they are today so most customers bought several dozen at a time. We stored them at floor level at room temperature (no air conditioning) and never had any problems.

Energy costs for starting baby chicks was much less than today. Fuel costs weren't great so there wasn't that cost to growing, harvesting, and transporting grain/feed as there is today.

Along with our operation we sold some fryers as we bought straight run chicks which yielded about 50% cockerels and 50% pullets. Most however went into our freezer for our own use. We also sold older laying hens for butchering. There was also a buyer at a hardware store that would then ship crates of them other points for butchering. Back there there was still a strong demand for stewing hens.

What I'm getting at is that you need to look at the full operation and not just egg production.

I've never been a fan of hogs other than eating them, but I have read that hogs fed from garden waste provides excellent meat. If your produce work gets large enough to have enough blemished waste that you can't yourselves use then maybe a hog or two would fit into your operation.

Best wishes for any endeavor you work at. Welcome to the forums.

[Goldeneye]

Brennen,

You are hearing from people who are feeding their chickens 'commercial feed'. They are saying that you cannot make money from selling eggs, but what they are really saying is that you cannot make money feeding your chickens commercial feed. It's just too expensive and it will destroy your profit margin.

I bought a few bags of chick starter feed to get mine going, and then I free range and supplement with home grown feed (start in early spring or late winter ). In my opinion the only real way to make anything selling eggs is to reduce your feed costs. I grow about a half acre of feed corn to feed my chickens all winter ( plus scraps ). You also should supplement the feed with some ground lime stone ( cheaper than oyster shell ), some salts, and kitchen scraps.

I calculate that it costs me about 40 cents a day to feed my chickens this way and I get about 2 dozen eggs per day. I figure the free range, cage-free, home grown eggs are worth 3 dollars a dozen. Thats a pretty nifty profit. Of course the first 6 months you are feeding them does eat into that a bit, but not as much if you do it my way.

[Wendy]

Also - in cold climates, chickens stop laying so you can feed them with NO income.

Laying has more to do with the amount of light per day than the cold. I put a light on mine in the winter & they keep right on laying. They need around 14 hours of daylight per day to lay well.

I make more money selling old hens to the Mexicans to butcher than I do on my eggs. I just like having them around & the eggs are the best!

[DaniR1968]

Another thought is selling fertilized eggs. There are some breeds that sell for more than $10 a dozen. Heritage breeds and some of the more rare breeds or sought after breeds will bring you more for hatching eggs.

Check out backyardchickens.com and see what certain breeds are going for. Also, people sell hatching eggs on e-bay so check there as well.

[painterswife]

Take what others have said and think about where some of it is coming from.

People with chickens for pets. They are worried about heating their coops, feeding them treats and cleaning their coops like they are going to eat of the floor.

I am not saying that raising chickens for profit is easy just that it can be done and with the right marketing plan and watching how you spend your money you can do well.

[geo in mi]

Welcome to the forum,

It may be possible to raise chickens and sell eggs for a profit. First, you will have to do what all good farmers do when taking on a new venture--"pencil it in"---do it on paper first so you will have a pretty good idea of what to expect.. First, you don't give us any idea of how much experience you have in growing chickens, so, without insulting you, I would assume you have none, and that you are starting fresh. Fortunately you have all winter to learn and get knowlege under your belt, since early spring is a good time to start, and your feed store will have baby chicks for sale, new feed stocks, etc......... What I would do in this estimating process is figure your expenses at the highest level--which is via the feed store/purchased feed pricing route, then you will get an idea of your possible maximum costs. At that point you can make a price per dozen to see if it is very realistic----and then you can start finding ways to reduce those costs by growing your own grains, allowing them to eat insects and garden foods you raise yourself, buying grains somewhere else, and so on. You may get enough learning to try ordering baby chicks by mail order and starting them under artificial heat that you can do with a commercial or homemade brooder. You may find many ways to reduce down from the maximum cost estimate so as to make a profit.

You will also need to study your market and what the going prices are in your local area, whether you can deliver, where you can advertise, and so forth. Raising chickens isn't that complicated, but it does take some experience. You may want to start by just keeping your family in fresh eggs for the first season--then expand if that goes well. Most good farmers I have known do some experimenting for the first time--they don't usually plunge right in to a new method or crop without some smaller scale trial.

In order to get some knowlege, here's is what looks like a pretty good site that may be able to help you out: http://poultryone.com/raisingchickens.php It has quite a few links that you can explore. Just be aware that it is supported by advertising from feed makers(Purina, etc)

Another source is your County Ag agent and the 4-H system. There may be a program which would interest you. Also, this site has an ongoing Poultry Forum where you can gain information.

Good luck, and let us know how it's going....

geo

[farmerDale]

Lots of good advice here for you Brennan! Especially regarding feed costs, and as geo just said, pencilling it out, etc. Again, I encourage you to give it a shot, in particular by contorlling feed costs. And nebraska winters are like the tropics compared to up here, and so feed costs will be less in terms of feed needed for the hens to maintain their body weight etc.

Good luck.