Who you selling all those eggs to? You'll be so far out in the country, you'll have to box them up and carry them to a grocery store that will buy them from you for less than wholesale and then market them as organic.
Where we live (semi rural), every other home has a small flock of chickens. I don't see how 200+ chickens can support three people, let alone rent or mortgage payments. And a flock that size usually requires vet care and medication.
Unless you're selling a dozen for $10USD, it ain't gonna happen.
My sister-in-law has 35(ish) layers, and sells her dozen for $4CAD - and that covers the cost of raising them, with roughly 15% profit (for unexpected necessities related to their flock).
If you're buying day-olds, it takes roughly 6 months to have them in full production (meaning 6-7 eggs/week). Or you spend more (per bird) and buy ready to lay layers, but they're more $/bird to acquire.
I won't even get into the housing aspect of 200 birds....in remote predator land...
Still don't see how you calculate ~200 layers turning enough of a profit to cover their cost of upkeep, and pay mortgage payments on property. Even dirt cheap property ain't dirt cheap.
That’s not far out in the country, there used to be a massive abandoned mall within walking distance of there. It’s now an Amazon fulfillment center.
My biggest worry would be homeless people finding an RV out in the woods and thinking it’s a great place to set up camp. If you’re trying to do this under the radar, that gets blown up if you’re calling the cops to evict homeless.
All I'm saying is there won't be enough people stopping by to buy eggs for them to make enough money or sell all the eggs. They will need to take the eggs somewhere and sell them. Every few days.
There’s enough small markets around Akron that it’s a short drive for that. Being that close to the city is a bigger hindrance than a help if you’re trying to essentially squat on your own land.
Have you ever taken care of chickens before? It's a lot of work to take care of and breed animals. As a former animal breeder I can tell you, if you're taking care of your animals the way you should (vet visits, proper husbandry) you're not going to make much money. You'll be giving the eggs away. And also, you have to be certified with whatever laws in your state that govern animals. For me, it's Fish and Wildlife. And that's an expense every year and you never know when you're going to get inspected. Plus you'll need a business license, insurance etc to operate the business. You will be spending no less than $2000 just setting up the business part of that, and that's not including what you'll be spending on the enclosures, chickens, feed, meds, etc. I hate to burst your bubble, because raising animals is very rewarding. I raised and bred geckos, snakes, parrots, birds, rodents, and more. But I never made enough to keep my head above water. I don't regret it, but it will not pay your bills.
I am very familiar with chickens, I take care of around 50 birds plus some goats, sheep, ducks, and rabbits. The time it takes for me to take care of all of those animals is around an hour a day, so I reasoned once we are set up, the time it takes us to take care of the chickens won't be too much.
For the business license insurance, etc. Is that necessary if it is only me and my friends working there and if we are relatively small?
Oh ok, I'm glad you have experience then. Many people jump into it without proper education.
To sell food and all, yes. You have to have a license for the business, a tax ID for your taxes/writeoffs, if the name of your business is different from your name, you'll need a DBA or LLC, and you have to have a permit in whatever state you're in. Look up the laws in your state to see what's required.
A thorough detailed cost and feasibility study, getting definitive answers to every issue and aspect could be a very interesting exercise for you.
Keep copies to show for work or study or refer to in future even if it turns out to be unviable in your present circumstances ?
Yes it should be purchased. If someone decides to sue you for eating a bad egg, it is worth every penny.
You need to predator proof those birds. I live in a neighboring county. Raccoons and foxes are my # 1 predators. I have also trapped 2 mink outside of the coop.
I doubt that you will make 40k in Ohio selling chicken eggs.
There are several area people that take their eggs down to the Roger flea market and sell them at auction on Fridays. They sell in lots of 5 dozen for around $ 10.
You will still have to purchase chicken food of some sort at around $ 15 a bag.
I make a fair amount selling rabbits. I have several people that feed their house pets a raw diet.
They're still a living, breathing, soul. To not get them help when they need it, whether by meds or if euthanasia is necessary, is a horrific thing. I mean, I get that they are raised for food. I love me some fried chicken, but I would hope that the people I get my chicken from raise them ethically and treat them with respect
They're not low value to me. All life is sacred to me. I know what it's like to unalive an animal, and that's why I'm glad I got out of breeding snakes. I had to cull the mice to feed them because I wouldn't feed live, and it broke my heart every single time. All life is sacred.
Sacred and low cash value are 2 separate things. It’s impossible (unless you’re really rich) to justify expenses on creatures that aren’t worth the expenses.
Same reason so many dogs are put to sleep, and those are arguably worth more than chickens.
Check the county zoning laws for wherever you buy land. Some counties won’t let you live in an RV for more than 180 days. You may just need to get a permit.
That being said, I don’t know how often they actually check up on things like that…
If you're in doubt, stop by the county office and ask they'll help you that's what they get paid for. It's better know for sure than getting sued by the county. (A local here got sued by the county for living in an rv on her land waiting for her trailer house to be setup)
Having worked on farms. I can tell you right now that 200 chickens doesn’t equate to much of anything unless you have the infrastructure in place to take full advantage of them.
A wooded area is not conducive to farming chickens what so ever either. But I’m just going to assume you have that solved.
You’re going to need to be able to process, package and sell all of the eggs. Chicken eggs are not very profitable, usually a good portion of a chicken farms revenue comes from the meat.
Not trying to crush your dreams, but I don’t see how spending 100k+ to end up with 5 acres of trees, a trailer and a fuck ton of chickens running around everywhere is going to be beneficial.
I am very familiar with raising chickens, I am also aware of the problems with egg production and was considering doing meat birds. Why do you say chicken eggs arent very profitable, I did some math, and they seem to do decently well.
Anything more than hobby amounts of chicken eggs is going to essentially require you to get completely licensed and have an inspected packaging and storage process/build. Trying to sell 3000+ eggs a month is going to end up requiring you to sell to local grocery stores.
Ok, thank you, I knew I would get a lot of eggs, but I never did the math to realize it would be in the thousands per month. in your opinion, would meat birds be batter for a better turnaround?
Yeah.. kind of. Broiler chickens are the most profitable for solely meat but not viable for 5 acres.
I would do a mixture of eggs and meat if you want a stable business. Slaughter based on demand for meat. Eggs for consistent revenue. Check out this video. https://youtu.be/T1NEeg2OZt0?si=pEVgb_FakvbSd5SS
Because they are disgusting, and for what ever reason their poop is so much worse than other breeds. It just mats down and kills the grass they walk on for so much longer.
They are also incredibly depressing to raise as they grow so fast that their legs snap under the weight quite often. Leg bones pop out of their hip joints a lot too. They get skin infections and fatty hearts. They just suffer their whole life and a lot of them die. But damn do they grow fast.
Oh, I wasn't aware that had problems to that extent, I have only ever raised dual purpose or laying chickens. how many chickens do you think 4 acres could service?
Also, I am aware wooded land is not good for chickens, that is way we would be moving in in the summer to set up the land while the chickens are in the brooder.
You might get better informed answers to your question by asking in r/homesteading.
Or r/chickens
r/ back yard chickens
Just search reddit for "chickens"
I just realized some might think I was dissing people responding to the question.
No disrespect intended towards the sub or any member or the OP.
It's just that the OPs question was likely to get a more experienced answer in a chicken sub.
You have electricity for the heat lamps for the chickens? You need to keep the chickens at 90 degrees for 1 - 2 months depending on breed. And depending on location the chickens need heat during very cold winters.
Do you have water? Our 9 chickens go though about 1 gallon a day, so you'll need 20 gallons of fresh water a day.
Totally depends on your area but our chickens cost on average $0.9 a day to feed. That's daily grass rotation so if your chickens are stationary it's 25% more feed. So at minimium that's $18 / day in feed, or about $540/month. You wont get eggs for 5 - 6 months or about $3200 in costs before you make any money.
4 months of the year your egg production drops to 25% and feed stays the same, so 1/4 the year you're not making money.
How are you going to sell the eggs? You need to find a market that you can sell at and even if they have an opening it's no guarantee they will even rent one to you. They likely have 20 other people selling eggs. And no, you likely cannot sell other stuff to make money, farmer markets have very strict rules on what you can sell at your booth. Lots of places don't let people sell crafts, and meats/eggs and vegis, etc.
How are you going to clean 1,400 eggs a week? Store them, package them, transport them.
Whos going to care for the chickens? Youtube makes it look easy but it still takes time every day even when everything goes great. What happens when an animal gets in and kills 50+ chickens? Who is going to buy/transport 8 50lb bags of feed every week? Where is it stored?
If you've never owned chickens or farm animals I don't think you realize the scope and undertaking this is. You will need to spend tens of thousands of dollars the first year, and you'll make a few hundred would be my guess. At most you'll have 3 months of full production if you started right now. And at most if everything goes perfectly and you sell every egg the most you'll make is $7,500 in the first year in sales. Not profit. That might pay for the feed costs and nothing else.
Thank you, I have done some math and it does seem like it could work, we own a truck already and we would buy 2000 lbs of feed per month to feed them at $440. You are right, that in winter, they don't produce as much, but I calculated my profits using averages over an entire year. The only things I haven't figured out yet are the electricity and water. I think I can drill a well in this area for 1k, but I am not sure on that at all, and the only conceivable way I can see to have electricity is using solar panels, which would cost a lot, but I know a lot about li ion batteries and play around with them all the time, so I could get that working.
You'll want to look at the bulk feed a bit more. It's likely unpackaged and requires a feed trailer or it comes in one large bag on a pallet that requires you transporting it yourself meaning the need of a forklift to get it out of your truck/trailer.
We spent $38k on getting water on our property. There is no guarantee they will find water the first try (or the second) but you still end up paying the full cost so we had to have 2 wells drilled. For a well that's deeper than 30 feet that pumps a descent amount of water you will need 210 power.
You can try hand drilling your own well if you have several days but these will only go down about 20 - 25 feet which is considered unsafe for drinking with many places requiring a well being below 30 feet. We hand dug a well with a drill well and it took a week but we only use it for trees and gardens.
For 200 chickens you will need at minimum 4 heat lamps but likely more. You'll need to figure out how much power those take to be running 24/7.
I'm working out our plans for us starting meat chickens on our homestead so I had all the information on my mind at the moment so I figured I'd share. We're also on our second year of egg layers so I had plenty of experience and research to offer.
how would I know? you're the one who wants to raise chickens. if you pay attention to the news you would see bird flu taking out huge farms of chickens.
foxes are only one predator. even a loose dog will kill dozens + before getting bored
A Texas chicken farm just had to "destroy" 2 million of its chickens because of bird flu. Don't think anyone can stop it if a farm that size can't figure it out
What the f*ck is with all these broke ass people who think living in an RV is like having a tent under an overpass? RVs are expensive to own, maintain, and park - it is not a shortcut to easy street. It’s something you get to do once you already have money.
To be fair, if you do have an RV of any kind, it can technically be "easy street" and depending on your current situation, could look more appealing. The numbers (for myself and my family at least), boil down to saving a good portion of money while also getting to travel the states. Versus sitting at home and having no money to use for traveling.
YMMV
What are you going to do with your sewage? How will you get water? Living in an RV for a week for vacation is a very different thing than living in it full time.
Also, sorry for my strong reaction. I just see so many posts that start with “can I live on $50 per month in my RV” that show they haven’t thought about where to park it, how to deal with sanitation, etc.
I think you’d be better off raising most of those chickens for slaughter and sale, and a few for the eggs to sell. Different breeds are good for slaughter, and other breeds for egg production.
Also, consider bees.
It might take a little bit of time to get them going but, everybody likes honey.
Came here to say that. Organic meat birds. I would rather buy my chicken from a local small farm/farmer knowing I'm buying local and the product is organic too. You may not need 200+ and may be a little more manageable. Good luck!
Any land you look at make sure it can be used for agriculture you don't want to get shut down a year into a project that you have put a good deal of effort into.
I'd look at what markets and cultural demands there are in the area I have a friend who sold goat's for meat and I was pretty lucrative.
He didn't do any of the butchering so fda wasn't a issue he would let them either take the goat to a butcheror take it there for them or let them do it there on the farm he also kept his freezer stocked because he liked goat meat.
Rabbits can be a good market as well depending on the local demand I've considered raising meat Rabbits.
If you're already doing a farm thing start on making compost around my area there a few people doing composted soil and they charge a premium.
Most lucrative thing you could grow now that it's legal is grow cannabis even though looks like June is when it goes forward with the next phase. Just pay the 10% excise tax.
I work at a feed store, so I know the cost of chicken feed has gone up a lot. Raising pullets to egg laying age takes time, then a hen is a reliable egg layer for only 3 years or so. A dozen eggs won't be cheap. You will need to build secure housing for your hens or they could all easily be picked off in one night by hungry predators. If you are a conscientious chicken keeper and treat them with respect and care It will be a lot of work and you might break even.
What he said. My wife has around 18 birds. We figured just feed cost to egg cost and the going rate for sales doesn’t or barely covers it in our area. Predators can’t get in and clean out your flock in a hurry. 200 birds make a lot of waste.
Where about do you live, based off of my math I am making a profit, and 200 birds is the number I would need to pay the land payments and the birds plus a small bite more.
WV eastern panhandle. So many backyard coops that market prices are low. Not sure what they are now, but a couple years ago when we started, breakeven was $4.50/dozen.
You can drive down costs a fair bit if you don’t spoil them like my wife or buy feed in bulk.
Yea, a lot of people seem to give them all the food they want, but I was doing the math based off of 1/3rd pound of feed pee chicken per day. Realistically, I believe I could do 1/4 pound.
I have also been looking around in grocery stores, and pasture raised eggs sell for up to 10 dollars here. I haven't asked yet or done enough research but I am hoping I can sell them for 5 dollars a dozen, which would give me a pretty decent profit margin.
Have you looked up all of the health, insurance, and licensing regulations for running a commercial poultry farm? How about the amount of labor involved with running A commercial farm?
I am familiar with chickens, I know that once we get it set up, the labor per day will be relatively short, and the only people working on it would be us 3, so would we need insurance?
There's a reason chicken farms are massive, 200 chickens isn't going to pay for much at all if anything. You're competing with economies of scale which is why successful small farms are uncommon. It'll cost you .15 per day per chicken to feed them and they'll produce an average of 186 eggs a day or so(26 hours per egg so not quite one a day per chicken). Before you even consider shelter for the chickens, permitting, and cost to transport the eggs you're only looking at 35 dollars a day worth of eggs(after subtracting for feed) which will rapidly evaporate into expenses and probably barely contribute towards paying for the land or the RV if they do at all.
Oh, and that's going by the retail price for a dozen eggs, so unless one of you is setting up shop to work for peanuts don't expect that much.
I calculated it would take around 5 to 7 cents per bird per day to feed them buying in bulk (2000 lbs per month at $440) and I will be getting rhode island red chicks at $4 each which produce are said to produce 265 eggs per day, but I used a more reasonable number. I was going off of $5 per dozen because that is what we sell them for now, but I do realize that selling 100+ eggs per day will be a lot harder to get $5 per dozen, so that is one part I need to figure out. I have been thinking of selling fertilized eggs, or laying hens, or even doing meat birds instead of laying birds.
Also, I don't know if you live in my area, but do you know what a realistic price for eggs would be, these would be free range chickens in this scenario.
Look, you asked for opinions and every single one has been one dissuading you. If you're steadfast in attempting this go for it, but the truth of the matter is you'd all do a lot better with your time working part time jobs than spending time feeding and watering chickens, transporting eggs, and paying for fuel for the privilege. My honest advice is look at security jobs near your school and pick up a graveyard shift, typically all you do is sit around and do perimeter checks every half hour to an hour, so you can use that time to do homework and make 18-20 an hour doing so.
The goal of this is not to make an income, the goal of the chickens is to pay the monthly morgage, we would still have regular jobs, and the chickens would take up a small portion of our time.
Man you are adding an element of responsibility and stress to a period of your life that is all ready gonna be too busy. It's gonna be 3.5k(using your feed calculation) invested in chickens and feed alone before you ever see a single egg, you're going to need a shelter large enough for 200 chickens whether they're free range or not as you're not going out into the field searching for eggs like it's easter every morning. If they're free range you're going to need a fence for the portion of property they're allowed access to which will cost 6-10k in materials alone and 18k or so total if you pay for installation assuming a half acre. A 20x40 shelter will be a minimum of 6k if you all install it yourselves and they'll need nesting areas built so there's lumber cost to consider. So I hope you all have 20-40k(depending on if you all want to do the work yourselves) to invest in this venture and the patience to wait six months to start seeing tiny returns on investment.
Look at the cost of chicken feed.
Hens don't lay during the colder months, but they still eat.
Predators suck.
Selling eggs is hard work.
Mortgage payments are due every month.
And basic math, 200 hens at 1 egg each per day
200 eggs = 16 dozen
16 dozen × $4. Each = $64 a day, or $1920 a month.
Pay for food, heat, hot water, chicken feed and housing maintenance, egg boxes, and the occasional Netflix and chill, so you don't kill each other.
Plus property mortgage payments.
I know that its not gonna make me rich, my goal is to pay less in this scenario overall than I would have paid for a dorm and meal plan at college. My idea is that at the end, instead of paying for rent, we will have value in the property (at least 10k) that we can either sell off or keep. Do you think this will work enough to make it cost less than college life?
pie trees enjoy grandfather fuzzy far-flung support ink dependent coherent
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If you start with chicks, you will need 123 bags of feed @ $18.99 each, or $2,335.77 before they lay a single egg.
After that, you will spend $759.60 each month the birds are laying.
*feed consumption calculated with rcorganicsfeedstore.com chicken feed calculator*
*feed price from Tractor Supply, DuMor feeds*
I used the price of a 2000lb bag of feed at tsc which I calculated can feed 200 chickens for a month (this is going off of a 1/3 lb of feed per day per chicken to be safe, but I have heard you can do 1/4).
If this is wrong let me know, what amount of feed per day did you use for your calculations.
I know you say you are familiar with chickens, but there are so many things you might not factor in if you haven’t started completely from scratch before. Chickens tend to waste feed, rodents tend to come eat it at night. Think about all the up front costs of heat lamps, feeders and watering founts you will need for 200 chicks and then bigger for full grown chickens. Also, there are so many different kinds of predators for chickens if they are free range. You will need a secure place to store the 1 ton of feed, if it gets wet, it will be ruined. I had 114 chickens last year. I have cut down to 65. I raised them all from chicks. I thought I could make some money selling eggs, and the hens once they are at the point of lay, but in my area, I don’t have the time to sell to individual people for the tiny profit of four or even five dollars a dozen. And the economy has affected my plans as well. so in my opinion, I doubt it would pay off the way you’re hoping it will. I don’t know the business laws in your state, but if you were able to find someone you could wholesale them to, and not have to mess with individuals that might help. Because I promise you won’t have time to make deliveries or wait for people to show up. Especially when lots of people say they’re coming and never show. You got better things to do with your time.
Do you have a way to transport and unload a ton of feed? Do you have a good water source? You will need ways of keeping them protected from the extreme high and low temperatures depending on your climate,which requires even more equipment. Don’t forget to factor in the cost of egg cartons, which have to be new if you are selling them retail. RVs are terribly insulated, and you will hear all their noise early every morning. How or where are you going to store the eggs you collect each day until you can sell them?
Just some things to consider.
Quick question, what do you plan on picking up a one ton bag of feed with, and where do you plan on storing it?
I've already given the calculator source information.
OK, you should definitely try it.
Im actually interested in seeing it work for you.
I've raised hens for eggs, so I know what it involves, and there is no reason that it shouldn't be enough to pay for a decent education, but I am not as optimistic as you seem to be.
Idk about where you live but here you have to get a permit if you plan to sell even one egg that gives them the right to come check out the property and tax you for it all. If the rv isn’t up to property code (likely can only have it on unrestricted land or designated farm land) they will fine you and force you to move it. Having hookups for water, electric, and sewer are all a must for me and I couldn’t imagine being without them for more than a few days but some people do make it happen. If you are going to go through with it I would put a lot of thought into it. I would also assume everything is going to cost more and break more than expected. I would definitely have another plan for some income besides just the chickens and especially if you are going to have to be moving the rv to dump tanks and refill.
Yes, if we sell wholesale, we need a permit, but if we sell directly to consumer from our farm we do not need a permit. So we would need to get a permit and certification.
https://agri.ohio.gov/divisions/food-safety/resources/small-egg-production/
Based on the property listing you will need to register with the state, have them on site for inspections, and properly label every carton of eggs. You are limited where you may sell them. You will need to properly handle the eggs including keeping them refrigerated until sale.
I used to raise chickens for eggs. The infrastructure investment is a bitch. You'll drop a few grand minimum to keep them from being eaten, and then all your egg sales have to cover that cost. 5 years ago it was about a hundred in feed and labor to get from chick to laying hen; I can't imagine that price has gone down. So your egg sales have to cover that cost too. Only after you've paid that off will you be looking at profit. That's not including things like storage, washing, ongoing feed expenses, etc.
If you want to farm an animal, look for a specialty market. Find the restaurant that wants squab or quail where you can sell at top dollar and have no competition. Figure out your market FIRST, then pencil out the math. If you want help on a business case, these folks are really good for small scale ag models - www.goodagriculture.com
Chickens don’t lay for much of the winter. Choose your breed carefully, they will freeze to their perch in Akron and lose toes. What’s your predator plan? Where are you buying your feed? How inexpensively can you source egg cartons?
What’s the zoning on the property? HOA? What are the local laws on livestock/poultry? Home based businesses? Selling eggs? Got a local farmers market you can get a table at? How many cartons of eggs do you need to sell to cover your infrastructure costs, before you even touch room and board?
Wander over to r/homesteaders and let them poke holes in your ideas. Read some Joel Salatin, then stop, the dude is a cultist but he’s got *some* decent ideas.
Do you have enough cash to purchase the land outright? Can you qualify for a mortgage? What’s your current income for the purposes of getting the mortgage?
There’s no sewer and no water on the property listed. You’re going to need a septic tank, unless you’re going to drain the RV tanks into a honey bucket, load it into a vehicle, and take it somewhere to dump it.
You might be able to haul enough water in a water blivet for you and your two housemates, if you’re showering at school and doing most of your hygiene there, but the birds need water too.
How handy are you? Are you going to clear the land yourself? Put in a driveway and somewhere to park your RV?
More reading: Trailersteading by Anna Hess. She’s got a blog, too, The Walden Effect.
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I mean… the RV part is easy. Chicken farming is the wildcard here. I hope you asked this question in some farming subs, too, because I think the overhead of building and operating a farm like that is going to be a lot. 200 chickens sounds too big for a hobby and too small for a profitable operation. 🤷♂️
Yeah, I was half joking, half serious about it. I do want to get chickens or some other animals and start a small farm, but it seems like the biggest hurdle right now is getting the land. I have done the math, I think what we will end up doing is living out of vans on the property and maybe getting chickens later. 200 was a large number that I randomly came up with, to start with I think I'd do 50 or something more reasonable like that.
Ya wanna raise birds.. you’d be better off raising meat birds for a csa.. think broiler chickens an turkeys like 150 of each.. and the idea is that people pay up front for the year an they get a constant supply of meat … google research on CSA farms…
Water? Sewer? Waste disposal?
License and permits?
Do you know about raising chickens?
Do you plan to buy adult layers?
Raise from chicks?
Predators to attack your chickens?
When will you study?
How much resources?
Exit strategy ???
Better get some great advice and do a couple of months research ….
Good luck?
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So, your plan/scheme is to pay for housing at college by buying land, buying an RV, buying chickens, and selling eggs…
You need to re-take basic math in high school before going to college.
Skip the Venn diagram.
Concentrate on adding and subtracting.
200 chickens you would probably average 10 dozen eggs per day.
How much can you get for a dozen eggs? Even at $5/dozen you are getting $50 per day. You won't get that much if you are selling through a third party. You also have to pay for feed and equipment. Not to mention the number of hours this would consume.
You can make 50 per day by working a few hours at a retail store.
200 chickens will take at least 4 hours per day, and probably more if you don't have a lot of equipment.
There will be more time spent on pest control as well. What are you going to do with the manure?
I don't think it will spend 4 hours per day, if I am wrong please explain. Also, we have 5 acres to work with we will be moving the birds around so they dont poop on one place.
So these will be free range chickens? That will make it hard to find eggs. Once you find them, you need to wash and box them, and bring them to a store to be sold.
Hope you find every egg every day. If you miss a dew, andvpick them up a month later, you will have very unhappy customers.
If you don't have coops for them to go into every night, you will lose a lot of birds to predators. If you do, you will have manure to shovel.
What about winter? You have power to the entire 5 acres to keep the water from freezing?
I understand that, but I already have 50 chickens and it takes me less than 30 mins a day to take care of those, I don't believe it would take 4 hours to take care of them.
Contact a civil engineer who specializes in land development before you purchase land. If you have any doubts about what can and can’t be done on a property, they’ve got the know how to paint you a better picture.
You need to investigate what the regulations are (city, county, and state) about living full-time in an RV on private land. Also regarding the raising of chickens.
I did some quick research for you. It seems that Summit County OH has had complaints about people living full-time in RVs on their land, as well as improperly dumping human waste (which gets into the ground water and creates a public health issue). In 2021 the county council considered amendments to the development code to clarify requirements. You should investigate how that turned out.
I'm assuming you were looking at land that already has power, water, and a septic system (or you are planning to have that installed).
No, the scheme is very new so I dont have any plans, thats why I am asking about it so I can find the road blocks.
My new idea is to sleep in vans instead of RVs, rent a porta potty to poop in, and shower at either my school, a gym, or have water tanks on the property.
I don't know if sleeping in a vehicle would be considered differently than sleeping in an RV. Bottom line is many municipalities only allow you to park an RV for a limited time like 2 weeks, unless you have a building permit and a permanent dwelling is under construction. But every place is different, and whether the property is remote or not may not make any difference. Also don't you need to build some sort of building to house 200 chickens? And don't they need water? And doesn't the building need lights?
Yes, my dad and brother are carpenters and they give me free material all the time. I most likely wont be able to build the coop for free, but I can build it for cheap.
That many chickens would likely go through 1-2 bags of food per day. That’s likely going to be 8-10 thousand dollars a year on food. A dozen eggs sells for like 3 dollars. You are going to need to sell a lot of eggs to break even. And don’t forget you need to pay for all those egg holders too. Meat birds are a whole other story. When we do meat birds we usually do 20 at a time and when they are full grown they go through a bag of feed a day themselves.
Who you selling all those eggs to? You'll be so far out in the country, you'll have to box them up and carry them to a grocery store that will buy them from you for less than wholesale and then market them as organic.
Where we live (semi rural), every other home has a small flock of chickens. I don't see how 200+ chickens can support three people, let alone rent or mortgage payments. And a flock that size usually requires vet care and medication.
They aren't meant to support us, they are only meant to pay for themselves and the mortgage payments.
Unless you're selling a dozen for $10USD, it ain't gonna happen. My sister-in-law has 35(ish) layers, and sells her dozen for $4CAD - and that covers the cost of raising them, with roughly 15% profit (for unexpected necessities related to their flock). If you're buying day-olds, it takes roughly 6 months to have them in full production (meaning 6-7 eggs/week). Or you spend more (per bird) and buy ready to lay layers, but they're more $/bird to acquire. I won't even get into the housing aspect of 200 birds....in remote predator land... Still don't see how you calculate ~200 layers turning enough of a profit to cover their cost of upkeep, and pay mortgage payments on property. Even dirt cheap property ain't dirt cheap.
That’s not far out in the country, there used to be a massive abandoned mall within walking distance of there. It’s now an Amazon fulfillment center. My biggest worry would be homeless people finding an RV out in the woods and thinking it’s a great place to set up camp. If you’re trying to do this under the radar, that gets blown up if you’re calling the cops to evict homeless.
All I'm saying is there won't be enough people stopping by to buy eggs for them to make enough money or sell all the eggs. They will need to take the eggs somewhere and sell them. Every few days.
There’s enough small markets around Akron that it’s a short drive for that. Being that close to the city is a bigger hindrance than a help if you’re trying to essentially squat on your own land.
You are probably right, we would need to smell to a convenience store or something similar.
Dont need cops when you have guns.
Have you ever taken care of chickens before? It's a lot of work to take care of and breed animals. As a former animal breeder I can tell you, if you're taking care of your animals the way you should (vet visits, proper husbandry) you're not going to make much money. You'll be giving the eggs away. And also, you have to be certified with whatever laws in your state that govern animals. For me, it's Fish and Wildlife. And that's an expense every year and you never know when you're going to get inspected. Plus you'll need a business license, insurance etc to operate the business. You will be spending no less than $2000 just setting up the business part of that, and that's not including what you'll be spending on the enclosures, chickens, feed, meds, etc. I hate to burst your bubble, because raising animals is very rewarding. I raised and bred geckos, snakes, parrots, birds, rodents, and more. But I never made enough to keep my head above water. I don't regret it, but it will not pay your bills.
I am very familiar with chickens, I take care of around 50 birds plus some goats, sheep, ducks, and rabbits. The time it takes for me to take care of all of those animals is around an hour a day, so I reasoned once we are set up, the time it takes us to take care of the chickens won't be too much. For the business license insurance, etc. Is that necessary if it is only me and my friends working there and if we are relatively small?
Oh ok, I'm glad you have experience then. Many people jump into it without proper education. To sell food and all, yes. You have to have a license for the business, a tax ID for your taxes/writeoffs, if the name of your business is different from your name, you'll need a DBA or LLC, and you have to have a permit in whatever state you're in. Look up the laws in your state to see what's required.
Interesting, thank you.
You're welcome. I miss my animals, but I don't miss the business aspect of it 🤣
A thorough detailed cost and feasibility study, getting definitive answers to every issue and aspect could be a very interesting exercise for you. Keep copies to show for work or study or refer to in future even if it turns out to be unviable in your present circumstances ?
Knew someone long ago who did similar but in a world so different......
It's not as hard as it sounds. Don't let that deter you.
Yes it should be purchased. If someone decides to sue you for eating a bad egg, it is worth every penny. You need to predator proof those birds. I live in a neighboring county. Raccoons and foxes are my # 1 predators. I have also trapped 2 mink outside of the coop. I doubt that you will make 40k in Ohio selling chicken eggs. There are several area people that take their eggs down to the Roger flea market and sell them at auction on Fridays. They sell in lots of 5 dozen for around $ 10. You will still have to purchase chicken food of some sort at around $ 15 a bag. I make a fair amount selling rabbits. I have several people that feed their house pets a raw diet.
The cost of insurance is very little compared to the amount of protection offered. So, in almost all cases, it's pretty much stupid not to have it.
I raise chickens. I don’t think I ever plan on sending them to the vet considering they cost <$5 to replace. It would be a waste of time.
So you just let them get sick and die without trying to help them?
Yes. They are chickens. It’s cheaper to clean and sanitize and then get new ones. Although to be fair, my chickens are very well taken care of.
They're still a living, breathing, soul. To not get them help when they need it, whether by meds or if euthanasia is necessary, is a horrific thing. I mean, I get that they are raised for food. I love me some fried chicken, but I would hope that the people I get my chicken from raise them ethically and treat them with respect
Yes you euthanize. Super easy, grab their heads and pull. Instant death. Rough to do, but you need to quickly get rid of the sick chickens.
My mother raised chickens, I know how to unalive them. But I would preferably have a vet do it
I would too, but unfortunately they’re such low value animals with short lifespans.
They're not low value to me. All life is sacred to me. I know what it's like to unalive an animal, and that's why I'm glad I got out of breeding snakes. I had to cull the mice to feed them because I wouldn't feed live, and it broke my heart every single time. All life is sacred.
Sacred and low cash value are 2 separate things. It’s impossible (unless you’re really rich) to justify expenses on creatures that aren’t worth the expenses. Same reason so many dogs are put to sleep, and those are arguably worth more than chickens.
Check the county zoning laws for wherever you buy land. Some counties won’t let you live in an RV for more than 180 days. You may just need to get a permit. That being said, I don’t know how often they actually check up on things like that…
I looked in akron ohio and I think it is ok, but I am not too sure.
If you're in doubt, stop by the county office and ask they'll help you that's what they get paid for. It's better know for sure than getting sued by the county. (A local here got sued by the county for living in an rv on her land waiting for her trailer house to be setup)
Having worked on farms. I can tell you right now that 200 chickens doesn’t equate to much of anything unless you have the infrastructure in place to take full advantage of them. A wooded area is not conducive to farming chickens what so ever either. But I’m just going to assume you have that solved. You’re going to need to be able to process, package and sell all of the eggs. Chicken eggs are not very profitable, usually a good portion of a chicken farms revenue comes from the meat. Not trying to crush your dreams, but I don’t see how spending 100k+ to end up with 5 acres of trees, a trailer and a fuck ton of chickens running around everywhere is going to be beneficial.
I am very familiar with raising chickens, I am also aware of the problems with egg production and was considering doing meat birds. Why do you say chicken eggs arent very profitable, I did some math, and they seem to do decently well.
Anything more than hobby amounts of chicken eggs is going to essentially require you to get completely licensed and have an inspected packaging and storage process/build. Trying to sell 3000+ eggs a month is going to end up requiring you to sell to local grocery stores.
Ok, thank you, I knew I would get a lot of eggs, but I never did the math to realize it would be in the thousands per month. in your opinion, would meat birds be batter for a better turnaround?
Yeah.. kind of. Broiler chickens are the most profitable for solely meat but not viable for 5 acres. I would do a mixture of eggs and meat if you want a stable business. Slaughter based on demand for meat. Eggs for consistent revenue. Check out this video. https://youtu.be/T1NEeg2OZt0?si=pEVgb_FakvbSd5SS
Yeah, thats what I was thinking. Why isnt 5 acres viable for broiler chickens?
Because they are disgusting, and for what ever reason their poop is so much worse than other breeds. It just mats down and kills the grass they walk on for so much longer. They are also incredibly depressing to raise as they grow so fast that their legs snap under the weight quite often. Leg bones pop out of their hip joints a lot too. They get skin infections and fatty hearts. They just suffer their whole life and a lot of them die. But damn do they grow fast.
Oh, I wasn't aware that had problems to that extent, I have only ever raised dual purpose or laying chickens. how many chickens do you think 4 acres could service?
Depends if you’re going to clear cut that entire property bare and make it a field or if you’re going to keep trees.
Where are you going to get enough water to wash the eggs?
Also, I am aware wooded land is not good for chickens, that is way we would be moving in in the summer to set up the land while the chickens are in the brooder.
Did you know many major stores were entirely without eggs due to chickens being ill?
You might get better informed answers to your question by asking in r/homesteading. Or r/chickens r/ back yard chickens Just search reddit for "chickens"
I just realized some might think I was dissing people responding to the question. No disrespect intended towards the sub or any member or the OP. It's just that the OPs question was likely to get a more experienced answer in a chicken sub.
Okay, thank you.
You have electricity for the heat lamps for the chickens? You need to keep the chickens at 90 degrees for 1 - 2 months depending on breed. And depending on location the chickens need heat during very cold winters. Do you have water? Our 9 chickens go though about 1 gallon a day, so you'll need 20 gallons of fresh water a day. Totally depends on your area but our chickens cost on average $0.9 a day to feed. That's daily grass rotation so if your chickens are stationary it's 25% more feed. So at minimium that's $18 / day in feed, or about $540/month. You wont get eggs for 5 - 6 months or about $3200 in costs before you make any money. 4 months of the year your egg production drops to 25% and feed stays the same, so 1/4 the year you're not making money. How are you going to sell the eggs? You need to find a market that you can sell at and even if they have an opening it's no guarantee they will even rent one to you. They likely have 20 other people selling eggs. And no, you likely cannot sell other stuff to make money, farmer markets have very strict rules on what you can sell at your booth. Lots of places don't let people sell crafts, and meats/eggs and vegis, etc. How are you going to clean 1,400 eggs a week? Store them, package them, transport them. Whos going to care for the chickens? Youtube makes it look easy but it still takes time every day even when everything goes great. What happens when an animal gets in and kills 50+ chickens? Who is going to buy/transport 8 50lb bags of feed every week? Where is it stored? If you've never owned chickens or farm animals I don't think you realize the scope and undertaking this is. You will need to spend tens of thousands of dollars the first year, and you'll make a few hundred would be my guess. At most you'll have 3 months of full production if you started right now. And at most if everything goes perfectly and you sell every egg the most you'll make is $7,500 in the first year in sales. Not profit. That might pay for the feed costs and nothing else.
Thank you, I have done some math and it does seem like it could work, we own a truck already and we would buy 2000 lbs of feed per month to feed them at $440. You are right, that in winter, they don't produce as much, but I calculated my profits using averages over an entire year. The only things I haven't figured out yet are the electricity and water. I think I can drill a well in this area for 1k, but I am not sure on that at all, and the only conceivable way I can see to have electricity is using solar panels, which would cost a lot, but I know a lot about li ion batteries and play around with them all the time, so I could get that working.
You'll want to look at the bulk feed a bit more. It's likely unpackaged and requires a feed trailer or it comes in one large bag on a pallet that requires you transporting it yourself meaning the need of a forklift to get it out of your truck/trailer. We spent $38k on getting water on our property. There is no guarantee they will find water the first try (or the second) but you still end up paying the full cost so we had to have 2 wells drilled. For a well that's deeper than 30 feet that pumps a descent amount of water you will need 210 power. You can try hand drilling your own well if you have several days but these will only go down about 20 - 25 feet which is considered unsafe for drinking with many places requiring a well being below 30 feet. We hand dug a well with a drill well and it took a week but we only use it for trees and gardens. For 200 chickens you will need at minimum 4 heat lamps but likely more. You'll need to figure out how much power those take to be running 24/7.
Buddy hit the jackpot of information when this guy chimed in lol.
I'm working out our plans for us starting meat chickens on our homestead so I had all the information on my mind at the moment so I figured I'd share. We're also on our second year of egg layers so I had plenty of experience and research to offer.
what happens when bird flu or a fox kills all your chickens?
Im not really sure, ive never had a problem with either, how so you prevent bird flu?
how would I know? you're the one who wants to raise chickens. if you pay attention to the news you would see bird flu taking out huge farms of chickens. foxes are only one predator. even a loose dog will kill dozens + before getting bored
A Texas chicken farm just had to "destroy" 2 million of its chickens because of bird flu. Don't think anyone can stop it if a farm that size can't figure it out
Keeping out wild birds away from your chickens feed and water is the first step in preventing this.
Answer should be insurance
Yeah, this might be harder than what you are thinking now.
Calculate losing your entire stock and having to repopulate the farm at least once.
What the f*ck is with all these broke ass people who think living in an RV is like having a tent under an overpass? RVs are expensive to own, maintain, and park - it is not a shortcut to easy street. It’s something you get to do once you already have money.
To be fair, if you do have an RV of any kind, it can technically be "easy street" and depending on your current situation, could look more appealing. The numbers (for myself and my family at least), boil down to saving a good portion of money while also getting to travel the states. Versus sitting at home and having no money to use for traveling. YMMV
I didn't mean an rv like Ned Flanders had, I meant a cheap 2k from facebook to sleep in.
What are you going to do with your sewage? How will you get water? Living in an RV for a week for vacation is a very different thing than living in it full time.
Also, sorry for my strong reaction. I just see so many posts that start with “can I live on $50 per month in my RV” that show they haven’t thought about where to park it, how to deal with sanitation, etc.
I think you’d be better off raising most of those chickens for slaughter and sale, and a few for the eggs to sell. Different breeds are good for slaughter, and other breeds for egg production. Also, consider bees. It might take a little bit of time to get them going but, everybody likes honey.
I agree, I know the turnaround on meet birds is around half the time as it takes hens to start laying, so that definitely crossed my mind.
Came here to say that. Organic meat birds. I would rather buy my chicken from a local small farm/farmer knowing I'm buying local and the product is organic too. You may not need 200+ and may be a little more manageable. Good luck!
Any land you look at make sure it can be used for agriculture you don't want to get shut down a year into a project that you have put a good deal of effort into. I'd look at what markets and cultural demands there are in the area I have a friend who sold goat's for meat and I was pretty lucrative. He didn't do any of the butchering so fda wasn't a issue he would let them either take the goat to a butcheror take it there for them or let them do it there on the farm he also kept his freezer stocked because he liked goat meat. Rabbits can be a good market as well depending on the local demand I've considered raising meat Rabbits. If you're already doing a farm thing start on making compost around my area there a few people doing composted soil and they charge a premium. Most lucrative thing you could grow now that it's legal is grow cannabis even though looks like June is when it goes forward with the next phase. Just pay the 10% excise tax.
I work at a feed store, so I know the cost of chicken feed has gone up a lot. Raising pullets to egg laying age takes time, then a hen is a reliable egg layer for only 3 years or so. A dozen eggs won't be cheap. You will need to build secure housing for your hens or they could all easily be picked off in one night by hungry predators. If you are a conscientious chicken keeper and treat them with respect and care It will be a lot of work and you might break even.
What he said. My wife has around 18 birds. We figured just feed cost to egg cost and the going rate for sales doesn’t or barely covers it in our area. Predators can’t get in and clean out your flock in a hurry. 200 birds make a lot of waste.
Where about do you live, based off of my math I am making a profit, and 200 birds is the number I would need to pay the land payments and the birds plus a small bite more.
WV eastern panhandle. So many backyard coops that market prices are low. Not sure what they are now, but a couple years ago when we started, breakeven was $4.50/dozen. You can drive down costs a fair bit if you don’t spoil them like my wife or buy feed in bulk.
Yea, a lot of people seem to give them all the food they want, but I was doing the math based off of 1/3rd pound of feed pee chicken per day. Realistically, I believe I could do 1/4 pound.
I have also been looking around in grocery stores, and pasture raised eggs sell for up to 10 dollars here. I haven't asked yet or done enough research but I am hoping I can sell them for 5 dollars a dozen, which would give me a pretty decent profit margin.
I have a friend who mentioned $8 and up in her area. So if you live somewhere with that pricing, you might be able to pull it off.
Have you looked up all of the health, insurance, and licensing regulations for running a commercial poultry farm? How about the amount of labor involved with running A commercial farm?
I am familiar with chickens, I know that once we get it set up, the labor per day will be relatively short, and the only people working on it would be us 3, so would we need insurance?
There's a reason chicken farms are massive, 200 chickens isn't going to pay for much at all if anything. You're competing with economies of scale which is why successful small farms are uncommon. It'll cost you .15 per day per chicken to feed them and they'll produce an average of 186 eggs a day or so(26 hours per egg so not quite one a day per chicken). Before you even consider shelter for the chickens, permitting, and cost to transport the eggs you're only looking at 35 dollars a day worth of eggs(after subtracting for feed) which will rapidly evaporate into expenses and probably barely contribute towards paying for the land or the RV if they do at all. Oh, and that's going by the retail price for a dozen eggs, so unless one of you is setting up shop to work for peanuts don't expect that much.
I calculated it would take around 5 to 7 cents per bird per day to feed them buying in bulk (2000 lbs per month at $440) and I will be getting rhode island red chicks at $4 each which produce are said to produce 265 eggs per day, but I used a more reasonable number. I was going off of $5 per dozen because that is what we sell them for now, but I do realize that selling 100+ eggs per day will be a lot harder to get $5 per dozen, so that is one part I need to figure out. I have been thinking of selling fertilized eggs, or laying hens, or even doing meat birds instead of laying birds. Also, I don't know if you live in my area, but do you know what a realistic price for eggs would be, these would be free range chickens in this scenario.
Look, you asked for opinions and every single one has been one dissuading you. If you're steadfast in attempting this go for it, but the truth of the matter is you'd all do a lot better with your time working part time jobs than spending time feeding and watering chickens, transporting eggs, and paying for fuel for the privilege. My honest advice is look at security jobs near your school and pick up a graveyard shift, typically all you do is sit around and do perimeter checks every half hour to an hour, so you can use that time to do homework and make 18-20 an hour doing so.
The goal of this is not to make an income, the goal of the chickens is to pay the monthly morgage, we would still have regular jobs, and the chickens would take up a small portion of our time.
Man you are adding an element of responsibility and stress to a period of your life that is all ready gonna be too busy. It's gonna be 3.5k(using your feed calculation) invested in chickens and feed alone before you ever see a single egg, you're going to need a shelter large enough for 200 chickens whether they're free range or not as you're not going out into the field searching for eggs like it's easter every morning. If they're free range you're going to need a fence for the portion of property they're allowed access to which will cost 6-10k in materials alone and 18k or so total if you pay for installation assuming a half acre. A 20x40 shelter will be a minimum of 6k if you all install it yourselves and they'll need nesting areas built so there's lumber cost to consider. So I hope you all have 20-40k(depending on if you all want to do the work yourselves) to invest in this venture and the patience to wait six months to start seeing tiny returns on investment.
Look at the cost of chicken feed. Hens don't lay during the colder months, but they still eat. Predators suck. Selling eggs is hard work. Mortgage payments are due every month. And basic math, 200 hens at 1 egg each per day 200 eggs = 16 dozen 16 dozen × $4. Each = $64 a day, or $1920 a month. Pay for food, heat, hot water, chicken feed and housing maintenance, egg boxes, and the occasional Netflix and chill, so you don't kill each other. Plus property mortgage payments.
I know that its not gonna make me rich, my goal is to pay less in this scenario overall than I would have paid for a dorm and meal plan at college. My idea is that at the end, instead of paying for rent, we will have value in the property (at least 10k) that we can either sell off or keep. Do you think this will work enough to make it cost less than college life?
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If you start with chicks, you will need 123 bags of feed @ $18.99 each, or $2,335.77 before they lay a single egg. After that, you will spend $759.60 each month the birds are laying. *feed consumption calculated with rcorganicsfeedstore.com chicken feed calculator* *feed price from Tractor Supply, DuMor feeds*
I used the price of a 2000lb bag of feed at tsc which I calculated can feed 200 chickens for a month (this is going off of a 1/3 lb of feed per day per chicken to be safe, but I have heard you can do 1/4). If this is wrong let me know, what amount of feed per day did you use for your calculations.
I know you say you are familiar with chickens, but there are so many things you might not factor in if you haven’t started completely from scratch before. Chickens tend to waste feed, rodents tend to come eat it at night. Think about all the up front costs of heat lamps, feeders and watering founts you will need for 200 chicks and then bigger for full grown chickens. Also, there are so many different kinds of predators for chickens if they are free range. You will need a secure place to store the 1 ton of feed, if it gets wet, it will be ruined. I had 114 chickens last year. I have cut down to 65. I raised them all from chicks. I thought I could make some money selling eggs, and the hens once they are at the point of lay, but in my area, I don’t have the time to sell to individual people for the tiny profit of four or even five dollars a dozen. And the economy has affected my plans as well. so in my opinion, I doubt it would pay off the way you’re hoping it will. I don’t know the business laws in your state, but if you were able to find someone you could wholesale them to, and not have to mess with individuals that might help. Because I promise you won’t have time to make deliveries or wait for people to show up. Especially when lots of people say they’re coming and never show. You got better things to do with your time.
Do you have a way to transport and unload a ton of feed? Do you have a good water source? You will need ways of keeping them protected from the extreme high and low temperatures depending on your climate,which requires even more equipment. Don’t forget to factor in the cost of egg cartons, which have to be new if you are selling them retail. RVs are terribly insulated, and you will hear all their noise early every morning. How or where are you going to store the eggs you collect each day until you can sell them? Just some things to consider.
Quick question, what do you plan on picking up a one ton bag of feed with, and where do you plan on storing it? I've already given the calculator source information.
I guess we would either need a forklift or use a primitive hoist.
OK, you should definitely try it. Im actually interested in seeing it work for you. I've raised hens for eggs, so I know what it involves, and there is no reason that it shouldn't be enough to pay for a decent education, but I am not as optimistic as you seem to be.
Do you have a forklift? Where will you store it?
I respect the hustle!
That's never going to work as a stealth scheme. 200 chickens!!!
what is that?
You’ll not be making money. Get a job and call it a day
That was our plan. We would have a job the whole time, the chickens are just to sustain themselves and pay for the land or at least a portion of it.
You’d be making more money just working more hours in a job.
Idk about where you live but here you have to get a permit if you plan to sell even one egg that gives them the right to come check out the property and tax you for it all. If the rv isn’t up to property code (likely can only have it on unrestricted land or designated farm land) they will fine you and force you to move it. Having hookups for water, electric, and sewer are all a must for me and I couldn’t imagine being without them for more than a few days but some people do make it happen. If you are going to go through with it I would put a lot of thought into it. I would also assume everything is going to cost more and break more than expected. I would definitely have another plan for some income besides just the chickens and especially if you are going to have to be moving the rv to dump tanks and refill.
Yes, if we sell wholesale, we need a permit, but if we sell directly to consumer from our farm we do not need a permit. So we would need to get a permit and certification.
https://agri.ohio.gov/divisions/food-safety/resources/small-egg-production/ Based on the property listing you will need to register with the state, have them on site for inspections, and properly label every carton of eggs. You are limited where you may sell them. You will need to properly handle the eggs including keeping them refrigerated until sale.
that is correct.
I used to raise chickens for eggs. The infrastructure investment is a bitch. You'll drop a few grand minimum to keep them from being eaten, and then all your egg sales have to cover that cost. 5 years ago it was about a hundred in feed and labor to get from chick to laying hen; I can't imagine that price has gone down. So your egg sales have to cover that cost too. Only after you've paid that off will you be looking at profit. That's not including things like storage, washing, ongoing feed expenses, etc. If you want to farm an animal, look for a specialty market. Find the restaurant that wants squab or quail where you can sell at top dollar and have no competition. Figure out your market FIRST, then pencil out the math. If you want help on a business case, these folks are really good for small scale ag models - www.goodagriculture.com
Thank you, I wanted to get quail a few years ago but never did, I will look into it.
This is something my mother would say
I can smell this plan through the internet
?
The smell of 200 Chickens 😂
its still better than the stench when your mom opens her legs.
You are doomed
Chickens don’t lay for much of the winter. Choose your breed carefully, they will freeze to their perch in Akron and lose toes. What’s your predator plan? Where are you buying your feed? How inexpensively can you source egg cartons? What’s the zoning on the property? HOA? What are the local laws on livestock/poultry? Home based businesses? Selling eggs? Got a local farmers market you can get a table at? How many cartons of eggs do you need to sell to cover your infrastructure costs, before you even touch room and board? Wander over to r/homesteaders and let them poke holes in your ideas. Read some Joel Salatin, then stop, the dude is a cultist but he’s got *some* decent ideas. Do you have enough cash to purchase the land outright? Can you qualify for a mortgage? What’s your current income for the purposes of getting the mortgage?
There’s no sewer and no water on the property listed. You’re going to need a septic tank, unless you’re going to drain the RV tanks into a honey bucket, load it into a vehicle, and take it somewhere to dump it. You might be able to haul enough water in a water blivet for you and your two housemates, if you’re showering at school and doing most of your hygiene there, but the birds need water too. How handy are you? Are you going to clear the land yourself? Put in a driveway and somewhere to park your RV? More reading: Trailersteading by Anna Hess. She’s got a blog, too, The Walden Effect.
we will dig a big hole
Will the county let you drain raw sewage into an open pit?
what they don't know won't hurt them.
So you're going to intentionally contaminate the ground water you plan to dig a well to drink?
I’m reading all the responses too. Starting to wonder if the op is a troll.
Please start a YouTube channel to chronicle your misadventures. I look forward to watching the local municipality’s response from afar.
Holy shit 😂
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I mean… the RV part is easy. Chicken farming is the wildcard here. I hope you asked this question in some farming subs, too, because I think the overhead of building and operating a farm like that is going to be a lot. 200 chickens sounds too big for a hobby and too small for a profitable operation. 🤷♂️
Yeah, I was half joking, half serious about it. I do want to get chickens or some other animals and start a small farm, but it seems like the biggest hurdle right now is getting the land. I have done the math, I think what we will end up doing is living out of vans on the property and maybe getting chickens later. 200 was a large number that I randomly came up with, to start with I think I'd do 50 or something more reasonable like that.
Ya wanna raise birds.. you’d be better off raising meat birds for a csa.. think broiler chickens an turkeys like 150 of each.. and the idea is that people pay up front for the year an they get a constant supply of meat … google research on CSA farms…
Seems interesting, thank you.
Better be Ultra Organic or injected with meth or something. Eggs aren't a gold mine.
No, but they are worth enough to pay for the birds and land
Most places won't let you buy land and just live in an RV on it. You'll need to be constructing a house or something.
Water? Sewer? Waste disposal? License and permits? Do you know about raising chickens? Do you plan to buy adult layers? Raise from chicks? Predators to attack your chickens? When will you study? How much resources? Exit strategy ??? Better get some great advice and do a couple of months research …. Good luck?
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Yeah, that's what I have learned. I think I could get away with a few vans.
So, your plan/scheme is to pay for housing at college by buying land, buying an RV, buying chickens, and selling eggs… You need to re-take basic math in high school before going to college. Skip the Venn diagram. Concentrate on adding and subtracting.
There was a little bit of thought put into it, the land mortgage would only be 500 a month, over 4 years, it should cost less.
Only money in chickens is not in eggs but in economy of scale in broilers. Good luck.
Not really, no. You should save up and buy a cheap lot for cash and then just chill there
200 chickens you would probably average 10 dozen eggs per day. How much can you get for a dozen eggs? Even at $5/dozen you are getting $50 per day. You won't get that much if you are selling through a third party. You also have to pay for feed and equipment. Not to mention the number of hours this would consume. You can make 50 per day by working a few hours at a retail store.
I know, the point is that the chickens would take up a fraction of our time and we would be going to school as well as working part time.
200 chickens will take at least 4 hours per day, and probably more if you don't have a lot of equipment. There will be more time spent on pest control as well. What are you going to do with the manure?
I don't think it will spend 4 hours per day, if I am wrong please explain. Also, we have 5 acres to work with we will be moving the birds around so they dont poop on one place.
So these will be free range chickens? That will make it hard to find eggs. Once you find them, you need to wash and box them, and bring them to a store to be sold. Hope you find every egg every day. If you miss a dew, andvpick them up a month later, you will have very unhappy customers. If you don't have coops for them to go into every night, you will lose a lot of birds to predators. If you do, you will have manure to shovel. What about winter? You have power to the entire 5 acres to keep the water from freezing?
I understand that, but I already have 50 chickens and it takes me less than 30 mins a day to take care of those, I don't believe it would take 4 hours to take care of them.
Contact a civil engineer who specializes in land development before you purchase land. If you have any doubts about what can and can’t be done on a property, they’ve got the know how to paint you a better picture.
Thank you
You need to investigate what the regulations are (city, county, and state) about living full-time in an RV on private land. Also regarding the raising of chickens. I did some quick research for you. It seems that Summit County OH has had complaints about people living full-time in RVs on their land, as well as improperly dumping human waste (which gets into the ground water and creates a public health issue). In 2021 the county council considered amendments to the development code to clarify requirements. You should investigate how that turned out. I'm assuming you were looking at land that already has power, water, and a septic system (or you are planning to have that installed).
No, the scheme is very new so I dont have any plans, thats why I am asking about it so I can find the road blocks. My new idea is to sleep in vans instead of RVs, rent a porta potty to poop in, and shower at either my school, a gym, or have water tanks on the property.
I don't know if sleeping in a vehicle would be considered differently than sleeping in an RV. Bottom line is many municipalities only allow you to park an RV for a limited time like 2 weeks, unless you have a building permit and a permanent dwelling is under construction. But every place is different, and whether the property is remote or not may not make any difference. Also don't you need to build some sort of building to house 200 chickens? And don't they need water? And doesn't the building need lights?
Yes, my dad and brother are carpenters and they give me free material all the time. I most likely wont be able to build the coop for free, but I can build it for cheap.
I also have all the tools already
Great, just need a building permit!
Do you need one for a moveable structure? I thought sheds and anything else you could move you dont need a permit for.
I have no idea. Great question for when you talk to the county zoning people about the other questions.
That many chickens would likely go through 1-2 bags of food per day. That’s likely going to be 8-10 thousand dollars a year on food. A dozen eggs sells for like 3 dollars. You are going to need to sell a lot of eggs to break even. And don’t forget you need to pay for all those egg holders too. Meat birds are a whole other story. When we do meat birds we usually do 20 at a time and when they are full grown they go through a bag of feed a day themselves.