am i just day dreaming? -poultry

meath man123

alright folks, tried this on poultry.ie but that was 3/4 days ago and my thread still hasnt been posted, so trusty boards gets asked!!

right so ive been keeping hens for the last few months and their going well,
and the other day the idea struck me as to why i don't super size things a little!
as in invest in land, get a much larger flock 4-500+ birds, free range them in green grass paddocks, and sell their eggs as free range.
(i know this isnt a fully lanned business plan so easy with the flak!)

the questions i want answered if possible!
-how easy is it to buy 4-500 birds?
-would that many birds be producing enough to make the business or viable or would i need much much much more?!?
-how easy is it to go from the nest box to the shelves?
-would it be easier to sell to a wholesaler?
-what sort of regulations would i have to adhere to when producing eggs for consumption?
-where would i send the hens after their past their prime?
-is it just a fantasy?

cheers.

johngalway

Teagasc do a (fee payable) online course on what you're asking about, there are a lot of in's and out's to it. Free draining land is something consistently mentioned through out the course.

One thing to read up on (for free) is the Bord Bia Quality Assurance scheme for eggs, that'll give you some indication of what's involved, but only a partial picture.

I suspect you'll get caught between the cost of meeting the regulations for supplying the public or shops yourself OR meeting the regulations to supply a packer, more so if the packer wants "free range" eggs.

1chippy

i know someone who tried this. sheds up, meal silos the lot. all closed now. they had 4-5000
heard the problems ranged from disease, expenses, wasted eggs (after grading). theres a lot of work involved to get the right eggs to the right suppliers.
have you ever seen what sort of area it takes to keep 100 hens on nice green fields let alone 500. they surprisingly do a lot of digging.

blue5000

1chippy wrote: »

i know someone who tried this. sheds up, meal silos the lot. all closed now. they had 4-5000
heard the problems ranged from disease, expenses, wasted eggs (after grading). theres a lot of work involved to get the right eggs to the right suppliers.
have you ever seen what sort of area it takes to keep 100 hens on nice green fields let alone 500. they surprisingly do a lot of digging.

+1

chickenfarmer

wrote:

the questions i want answered if possible!
-how easy is it to buy 4-500 birds?
-would that many birds be producing enough to make the business or viable or would i need much much much more?!?
-how easy is it to go from the nest box to the shelves?
-would it be easier to sell to a wholesaler?
-what sort of regulations would i have to adhere to when producing eggs for consumption?
-where would i send the hens after their past their prime?
-is it just a fantasy?

cheers.

Buying the birds is no problem, talk to Whitakers in Cork.
500 birds is too small a scale tbh.
The things to take into a/c are that you will have to be licenced by the dept of agri. You will need the proper housing and environment to do so.
Sale into shops you will need a constant supply and they have to be graded into size. To do this you need a grader and packaging. Wholesaler is a better option.
Now you are into the feed for 500 birds and your labour in collecting the eggs, caring for the birds etc versus the return from sale of 450 ungraded eggs a day. (a wholesaler isn't going to make you rich for a case of eggs a day)
Maybe I am been very pesimistic but there are a lot to look into. Last time I worked in commercial eggs there were 80,000 hens on the farm. Its all about economy of scale.

fodda

Its already a cut throat business supplying eggs to wholesalers and forget hotels who are a main user as they get them near cost and you could be waiting for your money.

Find out if there is any spare capacity and for how many eggs in your area before embarking on any poultry venture which is a numbers game.

There are many strict regulations regarding poultry meat eggs and sales.

PMU

go free range and sell the eggs yourself thru small shops and door to door locally

whelan1

bump