Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Any chicken house owners here

Buying an existing farm is my plan. I’m going to look at a pullet farm tomorrow that needs lots of upgrades. I’ve looked at a 16 house broiler farm but I don’t think I want that much commitment.

I wish I had pullets. Definitely the way I woulda went if I knew then what I know now.

I worked with breeder hens and pullet growers for 12 years. Pullets aren't as much work as broilers, or breeder hens, but unless something has changed in a big way, the pay sucks. The litter isn't nearly as marketable as broiler or hen litter either, because it isn't very good fertilizer due to their heavily restricted diet. YMMV

Have contracts changed that much in 10 years? When I was still working in the poultry industry you couldn't get people to build pullet houses because the pay wasn't there. They'd barely cash flow.

Pullet pay is better but still have to pay big building incentives to get and built. My brother has 2 pullet farms. The new technology has made it much easier. Been it the business all my life. No way I would build but each to their own.

Pretty sure they still pay on square footage around here. I’ve been around it my whole life and been in it several year. I love it. I wouldn’t build either but I wouldn’t buy a money pit either. Only thing I hate about it, is it isn’t American operated from way up. Pretty shady stuff goes on

I've got 2 neighbors that have houses, one has 6, the other has 8. Been doing it for years. Both owned the land they built the houses on.
It's lifestyle, it's what you do everyday you have birds. They both do it mostly with 2 people except chicken wrangling day. Only free time is between batches and gotta do maintenance when houses are empty.
You're married to the company supplying the chics. They can be demanding and can make or break you. There's only 1 game in town in this area. They require costly house upgrades regularly and they aren't negotiable. Their way or highway. Both have been successful and made a good living but it sure as hell ain't hobby farming

i have 8 broiler houses

The real question will be, can you remember the security code….

I seriously doubt it.

My in-laws farmed chickens for 52 years, and never worked 1 hour on a public job. My wife would build houses tomorrow if I’d agree to it, I’ve done the math several times and the risk vs reward just doesn’t equal out to me at all. Robinhedd

Can you owners take a vacation? How?

The only thing worse i can think of would be if you started milking cows.

Folks make money at this chicken business. And everyone thinks they work hard. 10 hrs a day in an office or in a chicken house. Only difference is the smell. Slave to either take your pick.

Just throwing my hat in the ring

I am the largest poultry insurer with Alfa in Calhoun/Talladega/Clay counties (frankly probably all of east-central AL), have been doing it since 2001. If you're gonna buy chicken house insurance, you better do it with someone who has a clue what they're doing (there's a million different things to cover, and half of them aren't obvious)
I've also got a farm insured near Dothan, another in Coosa county, and two in Etowah county too.... I can do them anywhere in Alabama, granted the distance sometimes makes it difficult since poultry farm insurance is so "hands on", but if you're willing to work with me, I can do it from a distance.

If you aren't with Alfa, most likely you're with Nationwide. Nationwide has publicly stated they want out of the business, and you can probably tell by your latest renewal they mean it! I am 5-for-5 this year on taking business away from Nationwide, and our internal ag specialists tell me we'll beat them 100/100 times on chain-wall houses. If your Nationwide policy has gone up (along with mandatory $15,000 deductibles, broad/named perils coverage only, and a few other terrible things), they will offer to move you to State Auto...really can't tell you anything about them though. And honestly I do NOT like the idea of how NW does a single policy with everything on it....the farm, your autos, etc. Keeping them separated keeps your price from going up on everything just because you had a car claim or something.

Just to give you an example, I did a broiler farm in Talladega two weeks ago. Their renewal with Nationwide was $24,100 for only their personal residence, two 66x600 broilers, and a few items of equipment (about $85,000 worth).
I did all of that, a rental house, a secondary residence, 4 other barns, and $260,000 of equipment, for just over $18,000. (Just for reference, my apples to apples quote was $13,000ish) My policy was also fully comprehensive replacement cost on the houses, $10,000 deductibles instead of $15,000, employers liability for their help, and a handful of other neat endorsements they didn't have before.
Anyway, many of the farmers I'm talking to are being very honest with me, the price of insurance is killing them....especially breeder houses. If this in any way catches your interest, shoot me a text 256-312-0216

Heck, it ain’t that bad to milk cows. Do what you love and you won’t work a day in your life, that what they say anyway

The time constraint is what concerns me the most. I travel so much currently between my real job and my hunting job. I'm not sure I want that much of a life change.

Goatkiller summed it up. I’ve done both and I prefer to build my on equity vs someone else.

I can go somewhere for a week twice a year and a few days here and there. Because my boss men are good enough to allow it. I choose NOT to bc I don’t like to vacate. Some companies may not be like that at all. But you will not spend 10 hours a day working on them. You will have some long days and very short days. If you hunt local, you will get to hunt a lot.

Banker told me chicken houses need to go along with another spouses job or another job you work. Its a lot of investment but right now, Im ok. Go ahead and plan on getting you some help so you aren’t overwhelmed in the beginning. Everyone’s situation is different so you will get a variety of opinions.

The company I grow for grows a big bird. 9 or 10 pounds. We keep them around 58 days. The out time in between flock can be anywhere from 7 to 21 days just depending on the time of year. Generally get 4 flocks a year. Sometimes 5. But during the out time you have to get the litter ready. Blow everything out, clean everything and fix things that broke so it usually doesn’t leave a whole lot of time off. Of course you can pay people to do some of those things if you want to go somewhere but that cuts into your profit