Make Money From Your Backyard Chickens
Did you know you can make money from backyard chickens? There are countless ways to increase your earnings in poultry farming. Making extra earnings can come from many sources we will look at from further reading.
How profitable is chicken farming?
Earnings In Poultry is one of the main reasons why a lot of people get themselves into the poultry business knowing the earnings per share formula of any business, but things can get messy if not done right. And if done right, that’s a big earning opportunity for you.
Having the technical know-how knowledge can fetch you free money in the poultry farming business. There is no such thing as free in the real world, but there are ways to uncover how to earn money fast with these tips.
The most profitable chickens to raise
Broilers for example Cobb 500 broilers reach their maturity stage within seven (7) to eight (8) weeks. Broilers are for meat consumption purposes and best to raise them when the major market preference is meat.
For huge size chickens to get you high price value, the Brahma chicken is the best option to go for. Brahma chickens grow huge and are very attractive to the eyes. These chickens put on the extra weight and are very easy to attract you at decent prices.
The most profitable chickens to raise are the ones that survive the environmental conditions in your region. There are chickens that are okay to be raised in the temperate zone and others that may not survive the winter. If you find yourself in the winter zone, here is how to raise chickens in the winter.
Best-selling chicken breeds
Below is a table, displaying the best-selling chicken breeds in the United States. If you want to distribute chickens in the United States as a way to make money from poultry, kindly consider these chicken breeds.
| Chicken Breed | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Rhode Island Red | Dual purpose (Good for meat and egg production). |
| Leghorn chicken | Best for egg production. |
| Orpington chicken | Dual purpose and good for first timers. |
| Silkie | Dual purpose. |
| Sussex chicken | Dual purpose. |
| Wyandotte chicken | Dual purpose. |
| Plymouth Rock chicken | Mostly for egg production. |
| Marans | Good breed for eggs. |
| Australorp | Good for egg production and meat. |
| Ancona chicken | Dual purpose breed. |
Raising free-range chickens for profit
Raising free-range chickens for profit is one best way to make a profit from raising chickens. Raising free-range chickens does not involve much money in raising a structure, buying poultry farm equipment, and paying wages for poultry farm management.
Free-range poultry farming mostly requires an open field with a chicken coop where the chickens will sleep at night. If you want the best chicken in the United States, chicken coops from tractor supply have been ranked as best and most affordable to buy for free-range chickens.
With free-range chickens, you do not worry much about buying chicken feeds all the time. Chickens naturally pick food from the wild, they feed on insects and worms. You can buy feed once in a while, however, with or without formulated feed, chickens in the free range can survive.
Making money from poultry brooding
The most important part of any poultry stage is the brooding period. This stage has the potential to make or break your farming business. Day-old chicks can develop properly and without complications with the right quantity of heat supply.
When it comes to heat production, adopting the best source of heat can greatly impact your poultry earnings. In selecting your heat sources it’s best to consider the constant supply, how readily available it is and the cost involve.
What are the sources of heat for brooding?
List of sources of heat for brooding;
- Heat lamps
- Gas hoovers
- Burning coal in clay pots
It’s up to the management to figure out which of the numerous heat sources in brooding is the cheapest and most reliable. The death of day-old chicks will result in the loss of earnings.
Mortality in Birds
Birds, by nature, can be aggressive by nature. Cannibalism among birds is a normal occurrence in poultry farming with some breeds of birds.
Debeaking the birds and having the appropriate stocking capacity for the size of the housing unit are two approaches to prevent cannibalism. Birds can peck to kill when such happens.
Sanitation can go a long way toward preventing disease outbreaks among birds. Infections can spread within the farm as a result of inadequate hygiene practices, or transferred from outside. You can learn how to implement a biosecurity policy on your poultry farm to prevent loss of money while investing in your production to increase your earnings.
Feeding the right quantity of feed
A good feeding strategy can help you increase your profit margins. Layer birds are put on a weight check to prevent fat buildup, whereas broilers are fed ad-libitum. Fat accumulation can limit egg output as well as a layer’s lifespan.
Litter Management
Bedding materials for poultry production can include rice hulls, wood shavings, and maize cobs, among others. To make extra money, old litter can be sold as manure to crop farmers when replaced. On the farm, nothing goes to waste.
It would be ridiculous to keep a dirty enclosure when there is a chance of increasing your earnings by maintaining a clean environment by ensuring proper litter management. Not changing your litter after a very long time can also lead to bacterial infections like Coccidiosis infection which can be prevented with proper litter management.
Dressing of Birds
Dressing slaughtered birds is another way you can increase your earnings in poultry farming. Let’s say that is a service your farm provides.
Poultry bird consumers have these preferences of taking the live bird away or having it killed and dressed on the farm. The preference for a dressed bird by a consumer should come with extra charges.
How to make money with chickens?
In addition, the heads, legs, internal organs, and blood are a bonus to the slaughterhouse once the birds are slaughtered. These organs can be packaged and fed to pigs and dogs as feed. Blood from the slaughtered birds can also be used to make blood meals to earn extra money.
Quick Recap
We touched on basically normal poultry farm routines that when done right can directly increase your earnings or retained earnings from production cost.
- Brooding: Setting up a good foundation for your day old chicks goes a long way in ensuring a good production. Also, considering your heat sources can get down production costs.
- Mortality in Birds: Preventing overcrowding of birds and debeaking can prevent cannibalism in your flock. The more the number, the more income to generate.
- Feeding: Do not overfeed and do not underfeed your birds. Consider the right feeding strategy in order not to incur costs.
- Litter management: Don’t keep and dirty pen, change litter when dirty and you can as well exchange it for money from crop farmers.
- Dressing birds: Your farm can run dressing services for slaughtered birds at a fee to make extra earnings.
what are the sources of heat for brooding?
Can you make money from poultry?
What has increased the demand for poultry?
Is poultry farming a good investment?
What is the main problem facing poultry?
Conclusion
Increasing your earnings in poultry production is mostly dependent on your resources, inputs, and management strategies at all levels of your poultry farming production.
Source:PoultryABC.com
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