Starting A Business Plan

[I Love Layers]

My parents are making me start a business plan as I am a minor and unlike a lot of minors my parents do not pay for anything.

LAYING
This year I am restarting my laying flock. I have all of those birds i want marked down along with the prices.

I have estimated the money I should make off of eggs by the new birds by the end of 2017, not subtracting expenses, but I never have that much expense wise anyways.

I have it written down what I am doing with my current birds. Whether it is butchering or taking to a sale

Currently today I have to go and take inventory of my birds.

I have the coop already and I just have to buy some new things like some nipple Waterers, insulate it, fix some holes in the bottom, and put some new roosts in.





COCHIN BREEDING

The thing I like to do the most though is breed and show my LF Cochins.

Currently I have 3 birds, i am hoping to purchase 2 more using money from 4H last year.


Sometime this year preferably sooner then later I would like to build a coop that I have plans drawn out for. It would probably cost more then $1000.




I am then planning on setting eggs in April from these 5 birds so that their offspring can be over a year before the first show.

I'm not planning on selling any of their first few batches unless they have dequalifcations or something I don't want in my breeding.

 

[cavemanrich]

I remember you from before since I posted in your hunting thread.

I think your parents are doing a great job teaching you to be an entrepreneur, and a responsible individual. Here are some of my personal ideas for you to succeed.
If you want to generate $ from egg sale, your Cochin will not do it that well. Choose White leghorns which are the worlds most common chicken and superior egg producers. White eggs, Then also get Red sex links, for brown eggs. These breed of chickens will generate a positive cash flow considering your feed purchase outlay. Don't expect cash to flow in LARGE VOLUME. but positive flow is very important regardless of how small.
Another option is for you to breed a desired line or breed of chicks and sell them. Yes, it is work intensive, but may generate a good return in $.
Lets see what others have in their store of IDEAS.
WISHING YOU BEST.

 

[I Love Layers]

I remember you from before since I posted in your hunting thread. 
I think your parents are doing a great job teaching you to be an entrepreneur, and a responsible individual.  Here are some of my personal ideas for you to succeed. 
If you want to generate $ from egg sale,  your Cochin will not do it that well.  Choose White leghorns which are the worlds most common chicken and superior egg producers.  White eggs,    Then also get Red sex links, for brown eggs.   These breed of chickens will generate a positive cash flow considering  your feed purchase outlay.  Don't expect cash to flow in LARGE VOLUME.  but positive flow is very important regardless of how small. 
Another option is for you to breed a desired line or breed of chicks and sell them.  Yes, it is work intensive, but may generate a good return in $. 
Lets see what others have in their store of IDEAS. 
WISHING YOU BEST. 

Basically for laying I'm getting Leghorns, naked necks, and cream Legbars. They will help support the cochins as the cochins are for breeding and showing


Thank You!

 

[Mrs. K]

This is such a great aspect, you can have some chickens to be the work horses, and some to have just for fun.

As you have a coop, that is a huge expense out of the way. It really does not need to be insulated. It does need to be a wind shelter, have good ventilation and predator proof.

A lot of people have added to their income by selling layers that are two years old, to make room for the new pullets coming into lay. If you like hatching, often times you can raise up birds, pull off the tops birds, and sell the pullets as point of lay birds. When breeding birds for show, you really need to raise a lot of birds, only keeping and working with the top birds.

Keeping records, and marking the birds, will be important so you know the birds to cull.

My opinion - if you can make money in the current set up, you will clear some. But if you are financing a new coop, it will be very difficult to pay for it. I recently built a coop, $1000 is pretty good estimate if someone else builds it. If you are handy, you could cut that expense. However, I would keep a sharp look out, often times I have seen sheds for sale cheap, you do have to move them, but can generally be done.

Mrs K

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Good luck, although I do not think you will need it you seem to have a plan. The one thing I would suggest is do not fudge the books by leaving out expenses, estimate high and if its less all the better but a business plan is not complete without income and expenses.

Gary

 

[I Love Layers]

This is such a great aspect, you can have some chickens to be the work horses, and some to have just for fun.

As you have a coop, that is a huge expense out of the way. It really does not need to be insulated. It does need to be a wind shelter, have good ventilation and predator proof.

A lot of people have added to their income by selling layers that are two years old, to make room for the new pullets coming into lay. If you like hatching, often times you can raise up birds, pull off the tops birds, and sell the pullets as point of lay birds. When breeding birds for show, you really need to raise a lot of birds, only keeping and working with the top birds.

Keeping records, and marking the birds, will be important so you know the birds to cull.

My opinion - if you can make money in the current set up, you will clear some. But if you are financing a new coop, it will be very difficult to pay for it. I recently built a coop, $1000 is pretty good estimate if someone else builds it. If you are handy, you could cut that expense. However, I would keep a sharp look out, often times I have seen sheds for sale cheap, you do have to move them, but can generally be done. 

Mrs K

After this winter the new coop and my current one will be insulated. 3 feet of snow, and below zero almost everyday since mid November. I got to cleaning the coop today it was a mess.. I'm still not done after 3 hours and only came in for a short lunch break.
Predator proof is honestly not to bad, our dog is LGD so she keeps most animals away. And we always have horses or cattle in the Corrals so predators don't come around much anymore.
For financing the coop in selling all my current birds this fall and summer to make room for new layers. At one sale in hoping to take them to in May hens get anymore from $7-$15 a piece and I should be bringing over 20 hens.
I'm starting to get better at keeping records. I'm kind of waiting to get everything figured out til I get everything figured out

As for building it we are doing everything ourselves, and we have a neighbor who is a retired electrician who already said he would help.

 

[Mrs. K]

I hear you on the winter, deep snow and endless days somewhere between 0 and 20 degrees. I was surprised to see water, liquid water in the water bowl this morning. I too, was out there stiring things up.

If you can insulate, go ahead, I just have a plywood covered with tin, and have gotten by just fine. As for cleaning things, I have had good luck, in piling deep waste hay on the floor, and occasionally throwing some scratch on top of it. They dig for it, tearing up the waste, and freshening the coop. I like a lot of hay to go through the chicken yard, as I add most of it to my garden. It works for me. This is not the high price stuff, this is the waste hay. If you have cattle in the coral, you have waste hay.

As I said, I recently started a new coop/run set up. Finding a few things that I would like to change. The house sits on the south side of the pen, so as with this winter, that threw quite a shade for ice and snow, plus limited their sun space. My point is that with a new set up, you might find things to change.

You must have some support if your feed is not a concern. I love this hobby, and you must too, it can be a life long hobby.

Good luck.

Mrs K

 

[BobDBirdDog]

While you are at it ask your parents to explain in detail the SWAT Analysis and prove to them you are taking things serious. They are doing a good job!

 

[BobDBirdDog]

and so are you! Good Job

 

[I Love Layers]

I hear you on the winter, deep snow and endless days somewhere between 0 and 20 degrees. I was surprised to see water, liquid water in the water bowl this morning. I too, was out there stiring things up.

If you can insulate, go ahead, I just have a plywood covered with tin, and have gotten by just fine. As for cleaning things, I have had good luck, in piling deep waste hay on the floor, and occasionally throwing some scratch on top of it. They dig for it, tearing up the waste, and freshening the coop. I like a lot of hay to go through the chicken yard, as I add most of it to my garden. It works for me. This is not the high price stuff, this is the waste hay. If you have cattle in the coral, you have waste hay.

As I said, I recently started a new coop/run set up. Finding a few things that I would like to change. The house sits on the south side of the pen, so as with this winter, that threw quite a shade for ice and snow, plus limited their sun space. My point is that with a new set up, you might find things to change.

You must have some support if your feed is not a concern. I love this hobby, and you must too, it can be a life long hobby.

Good luck.

Mrs K

For the feed for layers i feed mostly whole corn, oats and grit. I get thw whole corn for free, we have an ethanol plant in town and the haulers dump what they have left over, I go and shovel it up and put it in grain bins. As for the oats I trade it for eggs with local farmers.
My dad wants to figure out some way so that we can rotate the new coop by picking it off the ground with the tractor