How to make money with chickens can be top of mind as the past few years prove that chickens are farm gateway animals. They appear easy to get into and lure non-agricultural people and children into trying out farm life. One of the qualities making chickens so attractive is the appeal to make money, or at least support a chicken operation. While there are several ways chickens can make a profit, these five ways are the easiest.
1. Sell Fresh Eggs
Eggs are a byproduct of chickens. Selling eggs is easy because there are no steps needed to take other than collecting and selling. Eggs can last two to four weeks unrefrigerated on the counter or up to six months if cleaned and stored in the refrigerator. This allows plenty of time for selling and is very appealing for customers.
Rhode Island Reds are often hailed as prolific egg layers. They lay 200-300 eggs per year, which equates to around 5 eggs per week. They are a great choice of egg layers because they can start laying eggs around 16 weeks while other breeds take up to one year.
As of Fall 2024, $4/dozen fresh eggs is a fair rate. The rule of thumb is to price just over the supermarket fee. Fresh organic eggs have a distinctly better homegrown taste and higher nutritional value. As in any business, economy of scale comes into play. The more chickens you have the more products you will have to sell. After setting up your coop, daily feeding and watering you might as well have multiple birds as it takes very little effort to care for more than one.
2. Sell Hatching Eggs
One rooster can cover 12 hens and be successful at fertilizing their eggs. No special breeding tactics are required to sell hatching eggs. Just access to hens for a rooster. Gathering eggs quickly and selling them garners a fee higher than fresh eggs, but not as high as hatched eggs. However, it takes much less time and effort and customers understand they can’t be choosy about the characteristics, colors or gender of the chicks. The more rare the breed, the more money people will spend and more willingness to buy eggs.
3. Sell Juveniles
Stepping up in difficulty is selling juvenile chickens. Juvenile chickens are around six weeks old and still unsexed. Selling unsexed chickens is a safe bet because many people do not want roosters and before they are old enough to be sexed you will be selling all chickens for the same price. The juvenile age is safely off the heat lamp and more hearty than day-old chicks. The price difference certainly reflects the additional time and supplies needed.
4. Sell Hens
The most difficult of these suggestions is to sell hens. The difficult part comes before the pullets become hens. Keeping birds healthy enough to be at an egg-laying age takes a lot of monitoring. Birds become much heartier as they near egg-laying age. The easier part is selling. Many customers will pay more for a hen ready to lay, rather than risking getting a rooster or getting a young chick. Rare and exotic breeds go for high dollars when they are ready to breed and produce offspring. Buying one hen ready to have lots of chicks in the near future is an investment people are looking to make.
5. Sell Manure
Chicken manure is considered a complete fertilizer as it contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. It also includes calcium, sulfur, manganese, magnesium, copper, zinc, boron, chlorine and iron. When the coop needs to be cleaned, simply save the litter and allow it to sit and compost for 90+ days. Gardeners are thrilled to use this black gold for several applications including; supplementing nitrogen, drainage enhancement, erosion reduction and soil aeration.
How to Make Money with Chickens: Business Principles
Basic business principles apply to profiting from chickens, as well as any other business. Economy of scale comes into play realizing with little more effort multiple birds mean multiple products to sell. General marketing should be used to communicate and educate clients. Understanding profit margins. Yes, butchering chickens and selling meat will make money, but if it requires a middleman your profit will decrease dramatically. Understanding time is money is another consideration. Hatching eggs yourself requires maintenance for three weeks plus the time it takes for them to be old enough to sell. Value time and reflect that in your pricing structure.
Intangible principles also help make this endeavor more fun than several other ways to make a profit. Watching genetics play out in each hatching is fascinating. Taking place in contributing to a heritage breed or a rare breed is humbling. If you already enjoy chickens, finding ways to profit from them is a fulfilling job.
This post about how to make money from chickens was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.
