Beginner Breeder Pricing

[SSHilltopHens]

Hey yall!

I have a small chicken farm on 5 acres located in Dickson, TN, which my partner and I have been running for a little over a year now. We started to dip our toes into breeding a few months ago and are in the process of trying to turn our hobby into a full-blown business to hopefully recoup some of the money we've invested into these dang birds

My partner and I are both super fond of rare/unique chicken breeds. Our original goal when we decided to start breeding was to fill a gap in the local market for those particular breeds, but since we've expanded we've decided to also bring in some more common/uncommon breeds with a focus on producing birds from high-quality, non-hatchery stock.

We've been extremely selective in choosing our breeding stock and are super happy with how they've been developing, but we're having trouble figuring out how much we should actually sell chicks/eggs for.

As of right now, this is the current price structure that we're considering:

Barnyard mixes:
These would come from our original mixed flock of 40+ birds, too many breeds to list, most are from hatchery stock

$2 - 3 per chick, $10/doz hatching eggs

Experimental/hybrids:
-Zombies
-Fibro Easter Eggers
-Olive Eggers

$5 - 7 per chick, $20/doz hatching eggs

Common breeds:
-Orpingtons (buff/chocolate/lavender)
-Black Copper Marans
-Black Australorps

$7 - 10 per chick, $40/doz hatching eggs

Uncommon breeds:
-Salmon Favorelles
-Cream Legbars
-Appenzeller Spitzhaubens (silver/chamois)
-Bielefelders

$12 - 15 per chick, $60 - 75/doz hatching eggs

Rare/critically endangered breeds
-Vorwerks
-Icelandics
-Ayam Cemanis

$20+ per chick, $90 - 100/doz hatching eggs

 

[Mantisquailman]

That sounds like a pretty good deal

 

[SourRoses]

From a business standpoint, it's hard to make enough money with chickens... But it is possible.
Those who do, have a niche in the market, they don't try to cover the whole market.
One local lady I know deals in point of lay pullets. Others offer only rare breeds.
It's a matter of price point to make the investment worth it, but it's also super important to keep customer interest high and consistent.
I don't run as a business at all, but when I try to sell mixed birds it's hit & miss on having a customer in a timely fashion. Every week that you feed and heat chicks raises your overhead. I wind up losing money on my mixes, but my goal is my project.

On purebred birds I make money. And it's really nice to be able to list the birds and have interested customers vying for them right away.

There are people swamping the listings with barnyard mixes. You are not going to make money there. Same for anything a hatchery offers.
High quality stock of rare breeds are where it's at.

 

[SSHilltopHens]

From a business standpoint, it's hard to make enough money with chickens... But it is possible.
Those who do, have a niche in the market, they don't try to cover the whole market.
One local lady I know deals in point of lay pullets. Others offer only rare breeds.
It's a matter of price point to make the investment worth it, but it's also super important to keep customer interest high and consistent.
I don't run as a business at all, but when I try to sell mixed birds it's hit & miss on having a customer in a timely fashion. Every week that you feed and heat chicks raises your overhead. I wind up losing money on my mixes, but my goal is my project.

On purebred birds I make money. And it's really nice to be able to list the birds and have interested customers vying for them right away.

There are people swamping the listings with barnyard mixes. You are not going to make money there. Same for anything a hatchery offers.
High quality stock of rare breeds are where it's at.

Thanks for sharing your experience! The rare breeds are definitely where we anticipate to actually bring in the most money and where we want to focus our efforts. We specifically picked out those breeds, and the breeds on our uncommon list, based on a lack of availability in the local market and a demand for them. Plus, they all happen to be breeds that we personally love since we are quite fond of unique birds

The only reason we offer barnyard mixes is because my partner refuses to give up our mixed flock not the best move from a business perspective to feed forty-some birds that won't be an active part of our breeding program, but we have the extra space and they make my partner happy, so what can ya do I've cut my losses lol. I definitely won't be dedicating any incubator space to hatching out barnyard mixes in the near future, just planning on selling the fertile eggs.

As for the common ones, I chose to add them in because there's quite a demand for those breeds in our area; however, quite a few people already offer them locally, so we aren't filling any kind of niche - I'll have to consider if it's worth keeping them on

 

[SourRoses]

not the best move from a business perspective to feed forty-some birds that won't be an active part of our breeding program,

Yup.

It can take time to talk family out of certain approaches, lol. 40 is a LOT of feed. Perhaps you could start with a narrow-them-down approach?
I have 6 who obtained Forever Pet status for their personality and appearance... even that many is a bit excessive. But I'm not trying to make money yet, lol.

Is there a rare breed out there that they would truly adore? It can help convince someone if it's more of a swap than a loss. And if you're careful vetting buyers, the less valuable chickens could go to great new homes.

 

[Penpal]

Can you sell some of your younger mixed chickens? I'm sure there are people who would like to skip the chick stage. Will you have a website? You don't need anything fancy, just clean and easy to navigate. Glamour photos of the rare breeds. Encourage people to order before hatching.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

As for the common ones, I chose to add them in because there's quite a demand for those breeds in our area; however, quite a few people already offer them locally, so we aren't filling any kind of niche - I'll have to consider if it's worth keeping them on

As a buyer and avid poultry enthusiast.. having that many varieties shows an absolute lack of commitment to quality and actually knowing the ins and outs of any specific breed. More along the lines of reproducer like any standard hatchery and less along the lines of breeder that cares about what they raise.. more interested in $$$.

Now I'm not saying those things are true, nor do I actually think that based on your proposed (reasonable) pricing.. but I'm telling you my knee jerk reaction.

Keep your mixed flock for yourself,, if you choose to. It's nice to be able to tell birds apart! Maybe don't offer them.. unless under the guise of something like fry pan special.. even that seems a bit shady to me.. *maybe* offer groups of the auto sexing boys as fry pan special and charge a bit more for the girls.. offer anything locally only long enough and it'll be short time before the region is overran with all your buyers trying to sell their offspring to.. Much alleged non hatchery stock that I've seen were hatchery stock in the prior generation.. or the one just before.

Interestingly enough.. times change.. what was popular or rare always becomes common and average.. FBCM are a good example, Silkies are another.. Speaking to my local market specifically. Crazes change. Popularity and demand are dynamic.

I can make enough from my hobby to cover SOME of my cost without making it a business or any red tape.. But if you're going business.. gotta go all in.. (NPIP for shipping), write off shelters, veterinary visits, cost of the original birds, vehicle that transports feed, etc whatever the federal government allows as an itemized deduction, make it really pay for itself.. All that steals my joy.. but more power to you.. hope these are helpful considerations!

 

[growanstede]

On the Icie front, that is a LOT of money. They can be gotten much cheaper elsewhere for hatching eggs and shipped chicks, from preservation breeders who only raise Icelandics. I would revisit that pricing, to be competitive. That's over double what most charge. Unless you're including the shipping in that cost?

 

[Mantisquailman]

Thanks for sharing your experience! The rare breeds are definitely where we anticipate to actually bring in the most money and where we want to focus our efforts. We specifically picked out those breeds, and the breeds on our uncommon list, based on a lack of availability in the local market and a demand for them. Plus, they all happen to be breeds that we personally love since we are quite fond of unique birds

The only reason we offer barnyard mixes is because my partner refuses to give up our mixed flock not the best move from a business perspective to feed forty-some birds that won't be an active part of our breeding program, but we have the extra space and they make my partner happy, so what can ya do I've cut my losses lol. I definitely won't be dedicating any incubator space to hatching out barnyard mixes in the near future, just planning on selling the fertile eggs.

As for the common ones, I chose to add them in because there's quite a demand for those breeds in our area; however, quite a few people already offer them locally, so we aren't filling any kind of niche - I'll have to consider if it's worth keeping them on

I have one question... What is a zombie chicken?

 

[wrathsfarm]

@SSHilltopHens are you npip or ship out of state?