Chickens ?

[Arkansas]

Anyone here raise chickens ? I was thinking about getting a few, and does anyone know what amount you can have in the state of Arkansas ? I read that in some states you can kill/process up to 20,000 chickens a year and in others you can only do 1,000 ?

 

[CottageFarm]

We do raise them on a small scale. It's expensive. If you want to make money at it you'll need to charge $3.00/lb minimum. You're competing against big boys who sell in stores for $1.00/lb or less. The clientele willing to pay the higher prices can be hard to find. We can process up to 1000 birds (total poultry/fowl) per year and still meet State and Fed requirements. Even if Ark allows more than that the Feds don't without alot of additional hoops and red tape.

 

[cow pollinater]

My wife ran a free range egg business for a few years. It was pretty good money(and all in cash) but some days we'd sell out in ten minutes and have customers mad that they drove out of their way for nothing and other days we couldn't sell anything and we(meaning I) got tired of our(as in my) efforts being wasted on the days when they didn't sell out. Now I run a dozen hens and raise a few to butcher every spring.
With the laying hen laws that are going into affect this year in CA I might be tempted to start it up again as the price of eggs will likely triple. I doubt if I'd be able to sell for a premium like we were but it would still be more than what we were making since the cost of commercial eggs would be so much higher.

 

[CottageFarm]

:dunce: CP, I didn't think about him referring to layers, I figured he was talking meat birds.

I run about 70 layers and make okay money at $3.00/dz
I could raise my prices, and still sell everything I have (and may have to with the price of feed increasing every day). I only sell on-farm though, and it's mostly all regular customers. They know to call me ahead of time when they want to come over. We're to the point where we seldom have any left for us most of the time. :lol: Mine aren't exactly free range. I tried that for about an hour and lost a chicken to an owl (we think). I've got darn near every predator there is around here eying my girls, so they have a fenced yard surrounding the very spacious coop, where they can take quick cover from predators (or wind, rain, sun, clouds :lol2: ) They're such sissies about only going out in perfect weather.

I would think you could easily compete with the commercial producers and still get a premium for your eggs with the new regs coming your way.

 

[cow pollinater]

Duck eggs were where I really cleaned house. Not a big market but I had steady customers willing to pay $10 a dozen and ducks live on next to nothing and really take care of themselves. I guess alot of people with alergies to regular poultry and eggs can handle duck eggs with no problems. certain minority groups also see them as a delicacy and will splurge on that on thing that reminds them of home.
Turkeys were another hit for us. Mexicans will pay $50 for a dark colored turkey (but they won't take a free white one) ready to butcher and they'll buy them five and ten at a time and turkeys will raise themselves if you give them some room to forage. The funny part is that the less grain fed the bird is, the more they want them.

 

[CottageFarm]

I really like raising turkeys. Everyone told me how dumb they're supposed to be, but I don't see that at all. I raise the BB white & bronze. I like the bronze better, too. But not for any substantive reason. I've had no problems dressing attractive either, although I generally grind mine anyway. I find their curiosity a riot, especially when they're young poults. :lol: (yes, I'm easily entertained :lol: )
I love duck, so I raise a a dozen or so for us every year. It's my favorite meal! But I don't really like raising them. Keeping their water clean is such a chore, so I've never raised enough females to get many eggs. I, too, have heard that there's a specialty market for them, but never persued it.

 

[Bigfoot]

I keep 3 to 4 hens and a rooster at all times. I like the eggs. I let one go to seed every now and then to replenish the herd.

 

[Anonymous]

We've got roughly 25 chickens. Mostly hens, and a handful of roosters for the oven. They're free range, and we usually lose 3-5 a season to hawks and raccoons. Any excess eggs we have we usually give away to less fortunate friends and neighbors.to replenish the stock we have one if those incubators with the automatic egg turners and hatch out 2 dozen every spring.

 

[slick4591]

I also raise them. I have two groups which are layers and breeder quality. Some of the breeder quality will qualify as show quality so they really bring in the bucks. I sell eggs for $2.00 a dozen and they are not always easy to get rid of. We have a bunch of cheap asses around here that won't pay more than store price.

 

[Bigfoot]

A chicken might be my favorite farm animal to just sit and watch.

 

[skyhightree1]

My daughter has some we use for eggs .. its not on a commercial level only 7 is all

 

[greybeard]

No chickens here. Had a pair of geese most of last year that someone gave me and those were the nastiest 2 birds I've ever had the misfortune to be around. Pooped everywhere--and constantly. waddle and S--Q--U--I--R--T! Now I know what is meant by the phrase "That'll make ya shyte like a pet goose" came from.

 

[Coco Donatella]

I have raised a variety of turkeys, chickens, ducks and geese. The geese got mean and I had to get rid of them, but I was expecting that. The turkeys and chickens make wonderful mothers. I never ate them, but my family enjoyed their eggs.

 

[wv mud river]

slick 4591 is right on . people will not pay what it takes to keep them. they comment they can go to walmart and buy eggs. for .99 a dozen.the feed is expensive.but we have a few around just as a hobby and a few eggs for family and friends.love the taste of fresh eggs. no money in it.

 

[I luv herfrds]

I raised chickens and turkeys. Sold the eggs and I had a very steady group that would buy from me. I free range but will have to change that with the coyote trouble I've been having. Raised meat birds for my family only to eat. Raised turkeys and sold them to family and they just loved them.

Ran out of eggs and was forced to buy store eggs and only had the "organic" crap and talk about NASTY. Ended up paying over $4.00 a doz for garbage eggs.
Need to get more chicks this spring.

 

[Alan]

Raccoons learned they could tear a hole in the chicken wire , which I had up for the yotes. I got six coons but they got all the chickens. So next spring rebuild, stronger and heavier and maybe mount a 50 cal. on the coop. I miss the fresh eggs.

 

[CottageFarm]

Sorry to hear that Alan. :frowns:
I, too, hate racoons. They've never gotten into the coop, but they were getting into the feed for a while.
They were especially fond of the sweet feed. That was annoying, but when one of my 5 week old kittens disappeared that was the final straw . We trapped & dispatched 5 of them over 3 days. 3 were younguns that were in the trap together. Felt kinda bad about that, but I'm rather fiercly protective of my kittens.

 

[MO_cows]

Never messed with meat birds ourselves, but a friend raises 300-400 a year in two batches. Sets up little pastures with a shelter and electric net fencing. Most of his predator losses are from owls. Butchering is a lot of work but they aren't afraid of hard work. Has an electric plucker, that helps. Depending on the cost of feed, they sell for around $9 per bird. BIG birds, lots of 5-6 pounders. We love them, makes the store chicken taste like crap. And you can tell by the nice pink color on the livers how much healthier these birds are. Good food is worth paying a little more.

We keep a flock for eggs. We free range ours, but they get locked in the chicken house at night for protection. You get used to those bright yellow yolks and taste of really fresh eggs, it's hard to stomach those pale watery things from the store. And after seeing how active they are and how much personality they can have, makes ya feel bad for the caged hens. We keep several households supplied with eggs and sell extra for $2 per dozen. Not making any money, just making our family's eggs cheaper.

If you are gonna free range your birds, you have to have a trustworthy dog.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

Ahhh, there is nothing better than fried home grown chicken. Man I really miss it :cry2:.
I don't miss the plucking for sure, the smell of singed feathers, or having to shovel out the chicken coop.

 

[bigbull338]

i usd to raise chickens an turkeys a few years ago,an it was lots of fun.but it did get tiring.an i never lost that meny to vermitts.