How to Start a Backyard Laying Hen Business

A backyard laying hen business can be very promising. Besides earning from the eggs, you can also sell the birds for meat once their productivity declines. Getting started is neither especially hard nor especially easy. You need to make careful choices about the type of laying hen, the coop location and design, the DOC (day-old chicks) you buy and the daily care routine. If you are serious about this business, here is how to start a backyard laying hen operation that you can use as a reference.

Types of Laying Hens

Before you start raising laying hens, you need to decide which type you will keep. There are at least two types on the market today. The first is the light layer, also known as the white layer. This type can lay up to 260 eggs a year. Unfortunately, white layers are very sensitive to hot weather and tend to get stressed easily in noisy surroundings. The second is the medium layer, often called the brown layer. This type is a meat-type bird, so you can use it for its eggs and also sell it for meat once its productivity declines. The downside is that these meatier birds do not lay as well as white layers.

Also read Raising 100 Laying Hens: Startup Costs and Profit Potential

Coop Location

Next, you need to choose a location for the laying hen coop. Finding the right spot for a chicken farm is not always easy. First, pick a place away from crowds so the hens do not get stressed by busy surroundings. Stressed hens are less productive. Also look for a location with easy access to buyers, so you do not have to work hard every day just to sell your eggs.

Coop Design

Once you have a suitable location, the next step is deciding on the coop design. Laying hen farmers generally use one of two types. The first is the colony coop, where all the hens share one large enclosure. Its advantage is the low construction cost. Its drawback is that it is hard to spot illness in one bird before it spreads to the rest of the flock. The eggs also get dirty when other hens trample them. The second type is the individual cage. Its advantages are easier egg collection and earlier detection of disease. The drawback is cost: individual cages tend to be expensive to build and require solid construction.

Choosing Your Chicks (DOC)

The final step is choosing your DOC. Day-old layer chicks should come from superior parent stock so the results meet your expectations. Avoid chicks from parent birds with pale, reddish faces, as they are prone to disease. Make sure the chicks also have well-proportioned feathers and move actively. These signs indicate that the chicks are ready to grow into good laying hens later on.

That covers how to start a backyard laying hen business. Raising laying hens takes a lot of preparation if you want the results to match your expectations. We hope you find it useful.

Also read How to Raise Backyard Laying Hens for Guaranteed Profit