There are several ways chicken farmers can earn or make money in the poultry industry, but meat and egg production are the most profitable niches in the poultry business. There is a high demand for chicken protein globally. The stats from uspoultry reported that the combined value of production from broilers, eggs, turkeys, and the value of sales from chickens in 2020 was $35.5 billion-So why won’t I become a chicken farmer?

 

A chicken keeper feeding her backyard birds grains

The phrase Chicken farmer is interchangeable with poultry farmer which means a farmer who keeps or rear domesticated fowls such as chickens, ducks, turkeys, quail, etc, for the sole aim of making a profit, while to a lesser extent to keep them as pets or do it as a hobby.

 

As a chicken farmer or poultry farmer, your poultry products should be able to take care of your homestead and your farm’s bills and even have some money to keep for yourself.

On our school farm, we ensure that at least the farm produce is able to take care of bills like electricity, water, , security, sanitation levy, etc. In addition, it serves as a learning ground for our students. Most of them do pick up interest to study Animal or chicken-related course in the university.

 I Later borrowed a leaf that one can also make money from chicken by simply providing an online class or writing an ebook because people are now developing  interest in poultry farming, and obviously they will be needing  some guide, which you can provide and charge them for it.

 

 

Also read:  How Do You Know If a Chick is a Male or Female ?

So, in this post I am going to share with you 8 ways you can make money from your chickens.

 

1.Selling of Eggs

 

Selling chicken eggs one of the most profitable ways to make money from your chicken. If you are a hobby chicken keeper and you don’t know what to do with your surplus eggs, you can decide to sell them to at least maintain your chicken coop.

Furthermore, if you intend to go to commercial production as a side hustle then you really have to raise laying breeds that can lay about 300-350 eggs per annum.  I have written separate posts for cost and profit from rearing 200 layers and cost and profit from rearing 1000 layers. From the analysis,  you will be making a profit of approximately $6,000 from 1000 layers in 12 months.

 

 

2. FERTILE EGGS 

Another way your laying hens can bring in a profit to your hobby farm or backyard farm is by selling fertile eggs for hatching. Some people find it difficult to tame  and keep a rooster, so, they will usually buy fertilized eggs from local shops. So,   If you’re lucky enough to be able to keep a rooster in your flock…well he’ll do the hard work for you, and you can sell direct to homesteaders or supply to local shops in your vicinity.

 Also, you’ll be able to sell fresh hatching eggs to this neighbor and interested buyers. It will help to have one breed of chickens so that you get purebred eggs but you can sell a barnyard mix too.

On our school farm, we have about three roosters to  20 hens which lay pretty large numbers of fertilized eggs, although we don’t hatch them, the hens are good sitters so they do the hatching themselves, where you have poor sitters you can sell the Fertile eggs to those who needs them. Fertile eggs from purebred chickens will get a high price, especially if they are a rare breed.  You’ll just need to collect your eggs regularly and store them safely.

 

Also read:  How to hatch chicks naturally at your backyard farm

 

3. Selling Day-Old CHICKS 

Selling day-old chicks is another great way to make money with chickens. I could remember my grand mum do sell off her chicks every eke market day. Also at this stage, You have very little expense invested into to the chicks, and your incubator, if automatic, will do most of the work as well.  

It is a good marketing practice to check for an interesting market before you sell your eggs. Some potential buyers will be other homesteaders, farmers, feed, and farm supply stores. You can facilitate you selling by  advertising them on social medial groups and forums- again, have purebred chicks to offer.

If you do not know how to sex chicks you can sell them as straight-run, which means they can be either hens or roos. You can hatch eggs in less than 30 days. You may want to consider having multiple incubators  for starting a larger chick production- that is how major hatcheries started.

 

 

4. PULLETS

Another option for  to earn money as a chicken farmer  is by raising pullets. Pullets are hens under the age of one and near their laying time or already laying. Many backyard farmers/ homesteaders don’t want to raise chicks due to the stress usually associated with brooding or the equipment needed. While others cannot afford to wait for months to getting them laying eggs.

Your customers will be willing to pay more for a point of lay hen or hen already laying eggs. A pullet could be sold for $5 to $20 depending on the age and breed. Your time and expense should be taken into consideration when deciding on a price and if this is the right profit for you. You’ll need a considerable amount of space, preferably deep litter.

 

Also read:  40 Facts about chickens that will blow your mind !

5. Selling Meat Birds

Broiler chickens

The most common breed of bird for this purpose is your broiler chickens. Broiler chickens are hybrid breed created to grow fast with a lot of breast meat within 6 to 8 weeks of age. Meat production is one of the fastest ways to make money as a chicken farmer.

However, when it comes to meat production, there are a few different options. If you are planning to sell them processed and ready to eat or as a live bird you will need to check your area’s laws concerning meat processing and selling.

But if you are unable to  process them yourself , you can hire professionals to process and package them for sale. However this can be too costly, so do your background check before you buy  your birds. 

Such background check include knowing your target market and the types of breeds they prefer. Also, you should also learn how to market and sell your broilers before going into production. Never you put production before marketing, because you might get stranded. If you need more ideas on how to sell  and market broiler profitably, you can check out this ebook on amazon Broiler business training manual

However, farmers who don’t have space to rear meat birds but can butcher and process them can as well patronize you. It is important to consider breed, feed, free-ranging, etc. All these considerations can change the price you can ask for a full-grown chicken. 

Majority raise the Cornish Cross meat birds of their fast growing nature (less time for you) while others would prefer to purchase heirloom breeds.

 

6 . Sell Chicken Manure

Pelleted Briquettes made from chicken manure

Black gold is another name for chicken manure, for it numerous applications. Chicken poop is organic manure that is sky-high in nitrogen, and once aged for a few weeks, offers tremendous value for growing plants.

 

You can scrape up chicken poop under the roosts and sell them to the organic gardeners nearby.

Another way you can earn from chicken manure is by making briquettes from it, which  can be used as fuel in cooking and in brooding chicks. Briquette is more efficient than charcoal because it produces more heat with fewer fumes.

 

Also read:  How to Stop watery whitish, greenish, brownish-yellow and blood stain in your Chickens poops for full Recovery

7. Write About Chickens Online

Do you have a way with words? Are you are a prolific writer? You can monetize these skills and knowledge by writing an ebook, selling online courses, opening a YouTube Channel. There’s always a market for your chicken expertise online.

 

8. Make and Sell Chicken Coops

 If you’re good with your hands and looking to earn off other people’s interest in keeping chickens, If so, you might make money by building and selling homemade chicken coops.

There’s an open market for cute-cozy coops that match people’s homes, so offering customized coops provides an option chicken keepers can’t find elsewhere. If you connect with the right market, you can sell homemade coops for hundreds of dollars each.

 

 

 

In conclusion, Raising chickens on the homestead or at your backyard farm is rewarding, but you’ll get even more benefits if you can make money in the process.  

Consider following these tips for making money with chickens on your backyard farm, and you’ll start to feel rich in more ways than one.

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