Starting a poultry farm?

[warksfarmer]

What would you consider a nice little earner?

No figures to hand but I’ll look it back up for you and report back.

 

[franklin]

I reckoned on a free range eggs job paying the same return as b and b pigs, subject to value and use of muck. Difference is that a million and a half of clucks is a fairly small setup whereas a million and a half of oink is a planning hassle. Both pay more than houses; is trading incone; etc. Some people just prefer one over another. I prefer the oink simply for the utility of the sheds and the not needing any grass for roaming chickens.

 

[Wastexprt]

Don't forget, anything over 40 000 poultry places will need a permit from the EA https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/intensive-farming-introduction-and-chapters https://www.gov.uk/government/colle...it-application-forms-for-a-new-bespoke-permit

 

[wellingtonfarmer]

Pullet rearing could be a low cost start up option?

 

[wellingtonfarmer]

That would buy a lot of property to rent out.....

I see even the FW is predicting an oversupply of free range eggs.

That's probably a bit like the daily mail predicting the weather.........


Although i do agree that the job will become tight.

 

[Grassman]

I don't know, where are these 20 houses for £100k each and how much do they rent out for a month?

It would be a lot easier to persuade a bank to let you build a chicken shed than to buy 20 buy-to-lets i'd imagine.

Only theoretical. I'm guessing a rent of £600 month so £144k tops a year.

 

[franklin]

The sort of houses that you will get for £100k and rent for £600 a month will require more than average repairs; have a higher than average tenant turnover; and have more empty periods. I think you would be lucky to be getting close to 6% after costs at current house prices, and thats before stamp duties and legals, with a good tenant on a longer-term deal.

 

[Grassman]

The sort of houses that you will get for £100k and rent for £600 a month will require more than average repairs; have a higher than average tenant turnover; and have more empty periods. I think you would be lucky to be getting close to 6% after costs at current house prices, and thats before stamp duties and legals, with a good tenant on a longer-term deal.

Yes. Perhaps 10 at 200 k then!

 

[7610 super q]

Or 5 at 400 k.....

Don't forget your £2 .5 million poultry house will be worth f**k all after 5 years......

 

[Bossfarmer]

thought tax changes had buggered the buy to let game?

 

[Grassman]

thought tax changes had buggered the buy to let game?

I did hear something about that. Can't say our neighbours who do it for a living are looking destitute yet

 

[7610 super q]

Alrighty then, buy a fleet of County tractors instead....

ANYTHING but free range eggs...

 

[Bossfarmer]

I did hear something about that. Can't say our neighbours who do it for a living are looking destitute yet

Dont think it affects those who buy the properties in cash

 

[wilber]

I reckoned on a free range eggs job paying the same return as b and b pigs, subject to value and use of muck. Difference is that a million and a half of clucks is a fairly small setup whereas a million and a half of oink is a planning hassle. Both pay more than houses; is trading incone; etc. Some people just prefer one over another. I prefer the oink simply for the utility of the sheds and the not needing any grass for roaming chickens.

Free range eggs are more lucrative than B&B Pigs, definitely so if you dont have your own straw.

Pullet rearing could be a low cost start up option?

Pullet rearing just doesnt add up imo. The pay back is longer than an egg shed and also involves alot more of the harder work associated with layers and more often. It should be a better return on your investment for the work involved which it doesnt seem to be from the contracts/figures i have seen.

 

[warksfarmer]

What would you consider a nice little earner?

Egg sales at the time were 7p/egg so 280 per year is £20/bird. Note the reduced laying days of 280 instead of 320 due to the environment not being brand new sheds. 2 sheds would be 32,000 birds so about £640k/year income before any costs or dead birds etc.
There was cost savings to be had by milling your own wheat and buying in the add ins instead of buying in a fully milled feed.
I found a 2 shed setup for sale at the time for £50k but we’d have to dismantle transport and erect. This included feed bins, conveyors etc. I had a very loose price of £100k to dismantle and put back up again, but we guessed by the time we’d concreted, done elec and water we’d be around £500k set up doing it second hand.

 

[Netherfield]

Pullet rearing could be a low cost start up option?

Explain please

 

[Clive]

why does everyone assume rental property is a good payer and compare everything else to it ?

it HAS been good but increasingly is not longer so

prices are flat so no real capital growth, good tenants increasingly hard to get and retain, tax pitfalls everywhere and increasing socialist attitude towards landlords from government !

we have been slowly but surely getting out of resi property for the last few years and a bloody good job to imo

land has been a better investment historically even

 

[Hampton]

Egg sales at the time were 7p/egg so 280 per year is £20/bird. Note the reduced laying days of 280 instead of 320 due to the environment not being brand new sheds. 2 sheds would be 32,000 birds so about £640k/year income before any costs or dead birds etc.
There was cost savings to be had by milling your own wheat and buying in the add ins instead of buying in a fully milled feed.
I found a 2 shed setup for sale at the time for £50k but we’d have to dismantle transport and erect. This included feed bins, conveyors etc. I had a very loose price of £100k to dismantle and put back up again, but we guessed by the time we’d concreted, done elec and water we’d be around £500k set up doing it second hand.

Thanks.
It's interesting to get real World figures. They are generally few and far between in the poultry sector.

 

[franklin]

Free range eggs are more lucrative than B&B Pigs, definitely so if you dont have your own straw.

I didnt make much in it, taking a range of factors into account; real users figures; true cost of land required for the birds; infrastructure etc. Admittedly, I am in an area of free straw and valuing the muck quite highly. Certainly there is a much higher degree of risk in the eggs too.

 

[Clive]

Looked seriously at egg production last year to the point of a meeting with planners. On a scale of 64,000 birds the figures were ok, but as mentioned above you need to remove all the fluff from any figures given to you from a contract company. Then its still not a bad return for the investment and your time. We've had a history of poultry so know what its like admittedly they were meat birds on a much smaller scale but never less its still a better understanding. Biosecurity is paramount and cutting corners will bite you badly. In the end we shelved it due to Brexit looming and the uncertainty that brings but also because the sheds don't lend themselves to an alternative future use due to their design. We wanted something more versatile but the specialist poultry building companies had good arguments and evidence why that would not suit the egg layers environment. However I still like the idea but now is not the right time.
You might be better looking to supply locally or as an independent to the larger suppliers but doing it with used equipment as you investment will be far far less, possibly with less output due to the shed aged design, but I can see two sheds totalling 32,000 birds could be a nice little earner doing it that way.

why not just build grain stores ? couple of million would return you at least 20% and shed can be used for other stuff in the future

are chickens really better than 20% ?