Bird Farming and other market animals

[Ace]

Ace---do you raise your own chicks or buy them young and raise and sell.

I bought chicks and raised and sold...even at $10 per buff orphington I barely made a profit, in fact, add in my time, I was in the hole..LOL

WOW on the fowl etc. My 400 egg layers make great money on fresh eggs, we have about 100 hogs for sausage, pork chops--we process 1 hog per week and sell out, and then 70 goats, some cattle and then pet critters.

But the chickens I didn't make good money on at all just "selling" the birds when mature. How is this for you?

Edited to say...I eat goat. It is delish. very lean so you must be careful how it is cooked of course and we smoke it. YUM

I used to breed my own but when I got a regular job to support what was at the time a hobby I found myself working more and more hours as the years went by and when I got the job I have now I was given full-time and stopped breeding and even selling. Then my birds got too old to breed and died off leaving no further offspring. I'm starting all over this year and dependant on hatcheries.

Though I have found some that will sell to me at wholesale prices and I wind up selling them for double to triple what I paid. And if they don't sell right away I bump the price and make 4x the price including upkeep costs. I've been making it all up and then some. Also I sell feed on the side by the pound and that makes up for any birds that die on me.

Things are slowing down for the year though so I'm looking at the last order for a few months to arrive next week. And my birds should start laying by next month.

Reading that makes me really want pigs again.

I was going to try to get some goat during Easter the local supermarket was selling it but then my sister decided to take over the meal. I'm thinking of trying goat out if I see at the market again.

 

[Colored Egg Farmer]

$5 per bird and you made money?
wow.....I buy chicken feed by the ton also. I just bought 2200 lbs. for $309 (that included our discount for the farm--it ain't much)--LOL

I barely made money on the chicks when I got $10 on them...you surely are doing something right. Are you hatching your own? I got tired of that...I put up my incubators and closed down that operation....I just bought some for like, $2 each or something....

We produce only brown eggs. All white layers were sold and replaced....farmers market people and my stores only wanted brown...HA HA

You own a farm store? Cool......Tony wants to build one for the farm and I said no, I wasn't manning a store all day, 6 days a week....I told him the freedom of no store appealed to me more..LOL--just me!!!

Do you have a website for your farm?

I got mine for .69 each that was probably the difference. They were a breed that eats less but still grow as well.

On the fact of wanting brown eggs. What is wrong with people they go crazy over a brown egg but whites are like o an egg lol

 

[Ace]

Not bad! I can get straight runs for $0.89 and pullets at $1.20.

 

[FarmerChick]

OK guys where are you getting these chicks so cheap? Is this a hatchery selling so low? Or an individual person?

Tony bought our last 100 birds from a breeder near his work....16 week old Black Sex Links for $6 each. That to me was a good deal---?--well at least around here..LOL

yea brown eggs, people think they are FARM eggs and white eggs are ???--HA HA

 

[Ace]

I'm not sure about CEF but at .69 I would say they are day olds. I usually buy day olds and work my way up from there.

$6 for a 16 week pullet is very a very good deal! I've been selling my 4-5 week old pullets for $4.50 to $5.

I haven't heard that about white eggs and I think because most of the people used to sell eggs to raised their own birds at some point in their lives and knew about the different breeds. Now green and blue eggs...that is a different story! I always had people ask: Can you eat them? What bird laid that? DId you dye them?

 

[FarmerChick]

another farm was selling the colored green eggs and alot of customers wouldn't buy them...they thought they were bad..HA HA
Cassie mixes the colored eggs in with her regular brown eggs since there aren't many and alot of customers won't buy the dozen cause of those colors.....she has to take them out and replace from another carton with "regular" eggs..LOL

glad to here my $6 for 16 week olds is a good deal then...at least I didn't have to raise them. ugh the work sometimes

4-5 week old pullets you are getting about $5 then that seems like a great turnaround for your efforts!

I get $3.75 a dozen for brown eggs at the market. I do very well on them. We sold 100 dozen this weekend. I wish I could get eggs without chickens..HA HA..but that ain't gonna happen.

 

[ticks]

I don't think I will be selling any chicken products. Mostly ducklings, pheasant, chicks

 

[Colored Egg Farmer]

.69 cents were for pullets. Straight run was like 25 cents

And I have no roosters at all. So i'm very happy

 

[ticks]

.69 cents were for pullets. Straight run was like 25 cents

And I have no roosters at all. So i'm very happy

Where was this?!?!?!?
Where was I!?!?!?!!?

 

[Colored Egg Farmer]

I'm not exactly sure about straight run but i think it 25 but under .65 and that is the hatchery price