Successfully Raising and Selling Chickens

I believe a fondest childhood memory would be my “chicken business” Which began when I was about 11 years old. I don’t remember what attracted me to raising chickens; maybe just the thought of having my flock was exciting. Anyways, I started reading book after book on the subject; I must have memorized the descriptions of over 50 breeds of chickens! My favorites were Rhode Island Reds and the popular “Easter Eggers” which went by the name “Americaunas”. My dream was to make money selling free ranged eggs to neighbors and friends.

          I began by researching online hatcheries, attempting to find the best deal on pullets. (Young female chickens). I ordered my first batch to arrive early February, and excitedly filled up a small pen with straw and hung a heat lamp. The chicks arrived on schedule and were promptly placed in the pen. However my Californian brain didn’t understand cold Washington Winters well enough to provide enough heating or proper infrastructure and half died the first night. Fortunately, in the middle of the night, Dad brought the chicks inside the house before they all died, and for two weeks they lived inside a cardboard box in the corner of house while we constructed an outdoor brooder box.

After building an insulated brooder the casualty rate improved. Fast forward about 3 months and I realized that simply selling eggs would barely even cover food expenses. Somewhat sadly I listed my now 4 month old precious hens on Craigslist for $15 each. Surprisingly they all sold quickly, and after calculating expenses I realized that a small profit was made, even with all my mistakes and most of the birds dying! Dad suggested trying again next year, but this time selling them as “young hens” at around 3 months old. It was a good idea, and the next year I bought more Rhode Islands from the Hatchery, this time getting “Black Sexlinks” and Americaunas as well. It was a lot of fun having such a variety of birds running around. A lot less died, and I made a profit. The next year was even better, and this time I ordered two batches of 100 Rhode Island Reds a month apart, I didn’t get any other varieties this time, it cost more to buy other egg laying varieties and didn’t sell for any more than the Rhode Islands. I built small moveable chicken coops which saved a lot of money, allowing the pullets to range on pasture.

          The next 3 years I gradually refined the system and the final year raised 400 chickens to 3 months old selling them all and making over a thousand dollars. That was a lot of money for a kid working all spring! If I were to state the most satisfying moments in raising chickens it would be replacing the bedding in the brooders and watching the chicks happily scratch about in the pine chips, clean and content after eating the mornings crumble chick food and drinking from the freshly filled waterers.

          If I were to advise someone just starting into the business, I would say a most important aspect is having an organized system, I also cannot stress enough the importance of providing a warm, humid free brooder, the first two weeks of raising chicks are the most crucial, make sure you do it right.