How to Sell Chickens

Anyone who breeds chickens generally does so to make a profit. And believe it or not, it can be an extremely profitable business. Some may choose to breed and sell chickens as a hobby, while others use it as their primary source of income. Advertisement is the key to your chicken business success; if you know how and where to advertise, you will see a profit in no time.

Research popular breeds. This can be done by requesting a catalog from Murray McMurray hatcheries, a popular Nationwide hatchery whose business is chickens. You want to take consider breeds that are good egg layers as well as those who will make good dinners once they have their egg laying days are done. These include Barred Rocks and Rhode Island Reds. Another popular breed are the Americanas, better known as the easter egg chicken, because they lay blue, green and pink eggs. These are a few of the breeds that will earn you top dollar.

Separate your breeds. This is important because you do not want cross-breeds, especially if you are in it for serious money. Many people who are interested in purchasing chickens want pure breds and will also want to know the blood line. For instance, the Blue Face, which is a type of game chicken, is popular with many because of the roosters. Sadly, these roosters are used in cock fighting and many will pay up to two hundred dollars for one. Once you have mated them with a another breed, their value decreases dramatically.

Set your price. The younger the chicken, the less you will get for it. Day old chicks, depending on the breed, generally cost between two to four dollars each. As they become of age to lay, usually between four and six months, their value increases and you can charge between ten and twenty dollars per chicken.

Know how to advertise. Before you advertise your chickens, you need to decide if you are selling hatching eggs, which allows the buyer to purchase the fertile eggs from you and hatch them themselves, day old chicks or older chickens. You can sell hatching eggs in batches of any increment you choose, but keep in mind that your chickens have to lay enough to produce that amount within at least five days. After ten days, a fertile egg is no longer good as they must be kept at room temperature to be incubated. You also want to include in your advertisement the breed you are selling, what kind of eggs they lay and how frequently they lay.

Know where to advertise. This can be done in numerous ways. The easiest way to advertise is by printing flyers with a picture of the chickens you are selling, and post them in your local area. Craigslist is also a popular method of advertisement, as is E-Bay. If you are serious about your business, you can take it one step further and build your own website, creating a business name, and post pictures of all the breeds in your flock, along with the individual prices. If choosing this method, you will want to register the URL of your site on places such as google and Jayde to increase the traffic to your site.