Making a Profit from Your Chickens

If you're like most backyard chicken owners, you bought hen so they could produce eggs (and maybe meat) for your family. However, if you're enterprising, it's likely you can also use chickens to make a little extra money for your family. Here are a few ideas to get you started.


Eggs
The most obvious way to bring in a little extra hen-related dough is to sell eggs. Many people find they end up with more eggs than their family can eat, and while it's possible to freeze and even dehydrate chicken eggs, selling the surplus is a route to consider.

There are many potential markets for fresh, organic eggs, including co-ops, farmer's markets, and grocery stores. It can take quite a bit of effort to sell eggs in these locations, but in my neck of the woods, I often see signs offering fresh eggs in the most unlikely places: At beauty parlors and video stores, for instance, as well as in families' yards. But the easiest and least time consuming way to sell eggs is to sell to neighbors and friends.

In some areas, you'll need a license to sell eggs. Contact your state Department of Agriculture, as well as your county extension office to determine how to sell eggs legally.

One question that frequently comes up is the cleanliness of eggs. If you have chickens, you know eggs sometimes get dirty or have manure on them. Whenever possible, use an abrasive sponge, loofah, or even sandpaper to rub off dirty eggs; this keeps the eggs' natural "bloom" - which includes a natural antibacterial coating - in tact.


Occasionally a broken egg's contents will dry on another egg, and this must be washed off. When this happens, don't use cold water, which causes eggshell pores to pull bacteria from the shell surface into the egg itself. Select warm running water, instead. If desired, diluted bleach can be sprayed onto the egg, then washed away under running warm water.

To determine how much to charge for your eggs, see how much ordinary grocery store eggs sell for first. Your eggs are fresher - and probably organic, to boot - so you can charge more. You might also want to check out the local farmer's market and listings on Craigslist to see what farm fresh eggs are selling for in your area.

Feathers
I've also heard of chicken owners gathering and selling chicken feathers to artists. craftspeople, and fishermen This seems like it could be more work than it's worth to me (especially since the feathers must be sanitized before selling), but it's something to look into if you're ambitious.

Manure
Even if you love composted chicken manure for your garden, you can only apply so much before the soil becomes unbalanced - hurting rather than helping plants. What to do with all the extra? Sell it, of course.

The easiest way to do this is to post an ad on Craigslist, but you might also hang up fliers at local nurseries or gardening clubs.

However, you'll most likely need to sell the manure after it's aged. (Fresh chicken manure can "burn" plants in a garden.) This means having a pile somewhere in the yard that you turn about once a week. In about 6 months - or when any bedding in the manure pile is fully decomposed, it should be fine for the garden.

Check out the cost of chicken manure in gardening centers, as well as any competition on Cragislist, before pricing your garden-ready manure.

Do you earn extra cash through your chickens? Tell us about it!

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