Selling poultry and hatching eggs

Guiggs

Member
Location
Leicestershire
Is anybody selling fancy pullets from fancy breeds or their hatching eggs and making reasonable money at it?
I'm talking selling to the back garden/ hobby flock types and by reasonable I mean making a profit!
Seems to me there's growing demand and why not have a piece of the pie if it stacks up?
@Pasty, is this something you do?
 
Yes got a friend thats breeding old style breeds,selling hatching eggs for silly money and taking batches of pullets
to farm sales and selling them private,has a good egg round aswell.
I didnt ask to many question as people think you are up to somthing,but as far as i could see he puts a batch of 100 pullet chicks in a shed which he sells for £16 each at pol and did 7 batches last year,do the maths looks good to me...he started in a shed in the garden.
 

Pasty

Member
Location
Devon
Same as anything I suppose. You have to have the right stock and then you can make a go of it but it's not a golden ticket by any means. Takes time and patience to get the right breeding groups together.

If you are selling fertile eggs you will soon get a poor reputation if they are not fertile enough or the resulting chicks are poor and poultry is a bit of a minefield with all the hybrid stock around. Then you'll have customers who complain that their eggs didn't hatch after being in the microwave for 3 months etc.
 

unlacedgecko

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Fife
Same as anything I suppose. You have to have the right stock and then you can make a go of it but it's not a golden ticket by any means. Takes time and patience to get the right breeding groups together.

If you are selling fertile eggs you will soon get a poor reputation if they are not fertile enough or the resulting chicks are poor and poultry is a bit of a minefield with all the hybrid stock around. Then you'll have customers who complain that their eggs didn't hatch after being in the microwave for 3 months etc.

I bought a dozen hatching eggs from an action as a boy. Only 3 hatched and only 1 was viable. But like any young lad I was very proud of my cock!
 

Lincs

Member
Livestock Farmer
I used to do this a fair bit but to make it pay you need a few different breeds and colours which means more feeders/drinkers to fill up each day. Also you risk mix ups with cocks getting in the wrong pen. you find your weekend consumed by no shows and people turning up and wanting to talk for an hour about chickens. To do it properly and keep your egg quality up you need to feed good quality feed and a chick eats a lot from birth to POL. you will also end up with half your stock with no value and depending on breed you will have to take them to a fair age before you know which are cocks and which are hens.
BUT your number one problem is Mr Fox several times I was hit by a passing through fox who could kill £500 worth of stock just for fun.
In summary if you do it well and you have the time it can be a profitable hobby and overall I made money, however, I don’t own a single Chicken now....
 
I've bought all sorts of hatching eggs on ebay, quail, bantams, large fowl, ducks, with varying success. Always try to collect in person.

First impressions count, so make sure your place is clean & tidy if customers are coming to you.

I used to breed Sebrights, then disturbed bandits looking at them in my garden at midnight and so I sold the whole lot rather than get them pinched :cry:
 

ImLost

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Not sure
Unless you know what you are doing and have decent parent stock, please dont sell hatching eggs, most pure bred poultry gene pools seem to be ruined enough in this country already!! Just saying....:cautious::cautious::cautious:

if you are looking to make some money out of poultry, about the best way nowadays is to sell POL pullets or just sell the eggs for eating.
If you do know what you are doing and have good parent stock, its probably best to specialise in one or two particular breeds, build up a good reputation by breeding quality stock, and then people wont think twice about paying good money for them.

Of course, those people who live in caravans never pay good money for a decent game cockerel do they :whistle::whistle:;)
 

Guiggs

Member
Location
Leicestershire
I'm not a novice to poultry, I hatched and sold breeding birds as a kid although they didn't have any real value like they do today, I've also hatched and reared a couple of hundred Turkey's a year for Xmas up until about 8 years ago and have ran a small flock (60) of laying hens, I shall be doing so again next year
I'd be interested to know what breeds people think would be popular, I'm thinking Buff orpington, lace whyndottes, Cochin or Brahma and something small like Pekin or seabrights?
 
In terms of purebreeds, Light Sussex (whichever strain) and Rhode Island sell well.

Suburban people just want docile hybrid layers.

Poultry that are nice to look at like Sebrights, CP Quail and call ducks are a bit niche and only proper enthusiasts want to pay enough to make all the time and effort worth it.


IMG_2786.PNG

Sebrights1.jpg
 

unlacedgecko

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Fife
In terms of purebreeds, Light Sussex (whichever strain) and Rhode Island sell well.

Suburban people just want docile hybrid layers.

Poultry that are nice to look at like Sebrights, CP Quail and call ducks are a bit niche and only proper enthusiasts want to pay enough to make all the time and effort worth it.


View attachment 590642
View attachment 590640

I used to keep Light Sussex as a boy. They were lovely birds, excellent layers and very friendly.

I also had a pair of Black Wyndotte Bantams. The cock was a vicious little bastar d.
 

waterbuffalofarmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Penzance
Sebrights although beauties, don't hate me for this tho, are vulnerable to a type of disease. Damn can't remember it now, but one thing's for sure it's not a good idea to keep em... Some of the breeders ik wouldn't touch ya stock if they knew there were sebrights in there :(
 
I only ever had one that showed any symptoms, a cockbird that was given to me because of his inability to hold his temper.

Luckily I never mixed him with any of my home bred birds and converted him into ferret food as soon as he became ill.
 
I keep poultry and sell hatching eggs out by post. This time of year I sell pullets and breeding groups.
It cost a lot to set it up..Runs/coops/equipment and quality stock.
A decent trio of breeding birds will cost you around £60 (large Fowl) with pullets about £30 each and exhibition/fancier breeds a lot more.
To produce 30 pullets you need to set around 90 eggs..Incubator costs about £500 for a decent model and running costs of incubator and heat lamp add about £10 a week after hatch to 6 -7 weeks old.
Cockerels you can't give them away and you get about 50% in a hatch.
It take years to build up a good reputation and only one miserable fecker to post bad feedback to ruin it.
So much crap out there masquerading as quality stock you need to have knowledge of the breeds.
No money in it, but done right you can cover your costs...after a number of years.
 

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