[alotment shed]

ok i want to start selling chickens as so many people keep asking for them .  i want to do it as i enjoy it  so much . and if i can earan money doing it  ..... sounds good to me . so do i need any licences if i was selling say 15 birds a week ? some times 2 a week ?  do i need to get any think ? please ehlp me . thanks so much  ollie

[Aunt Sally]

Our GrannieAnnie is the person to advise you.  She'll be around later I'm sure !

[alotment shed]

yeah i dont nop what i need not shaw you see . i not going to be selling thousands . but just a bit of advatiseing and a few by word of mouth

[poultrygeist]

Bear in mind that you need to be happy they are all in top condition which needs a lot of experience to spot symptoms of illness, etc.

You'd need to consider the tax situation of course too, and if it's from your allotment, there may be rules in place to prevent trading.

Rob

[Vember]

What happens if you get loads of birds and they don't sell

Sorry if it sounds negative, but I think it needs a lot of thought

Sarah

[richyrich7]

If your selling 15 a week then your going to need to be DEFRA registered because you'll have over 50 birds easy and lot and lots of room. 

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi Ollie, like the others have mentioned. 

1. take it slowly, don't get too excited  People say they want a chicken then when you have them ready and ask that person how many they want, they say oh I'm not ready yet, can I come back in 6 months??

It's taken us 2 years to get to our little enterprise going.  And yes, you will have to register with DEFRA and you'll have to go on the Poultry Register of Great Britain, which is run by DEFRA.

2.  Yes, the tax man could be interested in you if you sell too many.  So think about that.

3.  Where is your start point?  Are you going to breed your own?  Raise them from day old (like we do) or buy them in just to re-sell?

Breeding your own, you'll need incubator(s) and then once hatched or bought as day old they'll need heat lamps for 4-6 weeks depending on time of year.  Feed is not cheap, so you must work out roughly how much feed they will need until they get to point of lay, then double it, because ours are greedy little so and so's!  Then work out the price you want to sell them for and then check on the internet or in local papers and see if you are charging enough, or too much.

Also like PG said, are you selling from your allotment?  Most of them hae no selling rules which would count with chickens as well as veggies.

I'm lucky now, the only advertising I do is to occasionally mention on here how my latest flock are doing, plus I have a blog where I keep people updated, and some of my past customers come back again and recommend me. 

So word of mouth is good, but you will only get that if your birds are of good quality.  Many people actually come here and visit the chickens before they decide to buy, so always welcome people and tell them what you're doing.  Then they'll know that you hae nothing to hide, unlike some peope we have experience of!

Can't think of anything else at the moment, apart from make ure you don't overcrowd them just to get more to sell, and like vember said, what if they don't sell?  I think worry about that, but this last lost of Babcock's we have here are only 15 weeks old and most of them have gone, and the other 20 odd are reserved, and the ones in the brooder which are only 1 week old.  100 of them are already reserved for someone.
Hope this helps a bit.

[alotment shed]

i have a plot of rented land for this idea    is it a avarage then ? say if i sold 20 one week and the next week only 6  do i need a licence ?   as long as its in genral less than 15 a week ?   and i wouldnt haver more than 50 at a time any way please help me help its just i must get asked twice a day if i know anyone that sells chickens .  just seems like i could be makeing money ? 

[Vember]

Where will you get the chickens from that you are going to sell?

Think of your costs to start with.
Is the area of land secure from fox visits or will you have to fence it? They will need housing.

If you get young birds and you have them for a week or more you will have to feed them keep their houses clean.

I keep just under 50 birds and feed cost's me £15 ish pounds a week, on top of that you have sawdust for bedding I can get through a bale in a couple of weeks.
What will do if one gets sick?



In my opinion if your selling healthy happy birds then there isn't going to much profit at the end of the day


Sarah

[alotment shed]

i have every think i need i have 7 foot metal fences  (harris fencing)  and have no problem with getting the birds and makeing profit . i just need to know if i will need any think licence wise if i have under 50 chickens ?   

[poultrygeist]

In my opinion, you shouldn't be seeing them as a way of just making profit. They have complex needs and if they don't sell as well as you hoped, are you sure you're prepared to keep them all as pets ?

Ann has built up slowly and has the experience to deal with all situations. She sells them because she enjoys keeping them and knows how to keep them in top condition. I don't think I'd be able to manage it to make a profit because I've seen some of the things that can go wrong.

Please think very carefully about this.

Rob

[Aunt Sally]

i have every think i need i have 7 foot metal fences  (harris fencing)  and have no problem with getting the birds and makeing profit . i just need to know if i will need any think licence wise if i have under 50 chickens ?   

I don't think anyone here can answer your question.  You should ask DEFRA who will be able to give you the correct answer !

http://www.defra.gov.uk/ask-defra/contacts/index.htm

[richyrich7]

Harris fencing wont stop foxes one of our members lost all theirs a few months back they climb the fence like a ladder you'd need a 30cm over hang to the out side approx 45^o better would be to add an electric strand to it.

Like Aunty says contact DEFRA for a definitive answer.

[alotment shed]

thank yuo so much for your advise it was my dream but i feel it may not be as easy as i thought . buying them in cheap is hard to find . and day old chicks go for 2 a penny i have bought day old chicks for 40 p if not less . i feel my life is chickens and if i could make money from doing somethink i do 12 hours a day any way it seemed good idea to me . but if i am buying chickens in at 4.50 and seeling for 7.50 im not going to be makeing big money not anouth to live on thats for shaw 12 birds a week at 8 pound ....3.50 profit x12  is not going to make a big diffrence realy its pocket money . ummmmmmmmmmmm well then im stuffed for ideas  .... my life is my chickens and im not impoyed at the min to was hpoeing to be able to go in to the poultry market no such luck by the looks of it tho    

[GrannieAnnie]

There isn't a 'licence' as such.  Anyone can sell a chicken, but I know of several people who sell chickens around here that shouldn't!!!

And yes, the others are right.  To keep your birds in good health and condition like I try to, doesn't come cheap.  Our garden may not be the tidiest one going, but you look around and its not just the housing fencing chickens and food.  There's the 3 pressure sprays we have for spraying the houses.  We have Jeyes fluid for disinfecting the houses down, poultryshield to spray against red mite, vanodine to wash and disinfect the chooks equipment, and we've just bought something called Saniblanc-D that you spread over the runs to help kill any nasties in the ground.  It's supposed to be more effective than Jeyes.  Then the last flock we got we vaccinated too, more money!!!

If a house is going to be empty for a while, we've also got creosote to try to keep the red mites out.

Also I try not to fleece anyone, so my prices are very reasonable.  And no, I don't make oddles of money out of it.  I just love it when people phone me or email me to say their new girls have started to lay eggs and the people who come back for more chickens because they are so pleased with them!

Please don't do it just for the money.  I earned a lot more working in an office!!!!