Hi everyone,

I've recently decided to switch my laying flock over to a flock of rare birds to breed and sell.  I was originally planning on doing Silver Spangled Hamburgs, but as the time comes to place the order with the hatchery, I'm getting nervous and remembering mistakes I've made in the past because I jumped in with both feet before researching a whole lot.  I KNOW you all have opinions, so please let me know – would Silver Spangled Hamburgs be a good choice to breed and sell (are they rare enough, is there anything I need to know about them specifically) or is there another breed you'd recommend, and why?  I DO want to get a rare enough breed that there will be a market for them.  Thank you so much! 

Thanks for the suggestion; I'll look up the Henderson chicken breed chart.  No, I don't need the hens to sit on the eggs; I'm planning to get an incubator.  Maybe I'll browse online for fancy breeds. 

I am into the rare and endangered breeds too. If you are on BYC my username is The Sheriff. I currently have Icelandic chickens, Cream Legbars, and Blue Isbars, the latter two being recent imports by Greenfire Farms (www.greenfirefarms.com) into the US. 

If you plan to get something to sell I think you need to first think about your market. To whom do you plan to sell them? If you are selling to locals you might want to look around and see what others have. Most locals are interested in good layers, chickens suited to their particular climate, and dual purpose birds. Locals will laugh at your Craigslist ads, thinking you are out of your mind asking those prices if you are selling expensive birds. If you want to sell to locals get the best stock of a particular breed you like and think will go over in your area. The heritage breeds are very popular right now and buyers like the idea of preserving them. Here is a great link to help you chose a heritage breed at the American Livestock Conservancy: http://www.albc-usa.org/herita…..index.html  You can find out what breeds are endangered and where to get them.  I have sold lots of chickens and chicks and people love to know they are helping preserve a heritage breed. If you are rural and have 4H kids in your community offering a reduced price to them is also a great way to get started. This Spring I provided Many local 4H'ers birds their parents would have never been able to get for them. 

If you are planning to buy and raise a rare breed to sell hatching eggs and chicks that is a whole different ball game. That is a decision that needs to be made carefully after lots of research. Many of the options are very costly and if you are not one of the first sellers out of the gate, you may have missed the opportunity. Some of these birds are fads and, once the newness passes, nobody wants them. I have seen birds such as the Light Sussex and Coronation Sussex that were selling 18 months ago for hundreds of dollars for hatching eggs, go without a single bid when offered at $5.99 now. Go to the auction section of http://www.backyardchickens.com and see what is selling. For the really rare breeds go to Rare Breed Auctions at http://www.rarebreedauctions.com/Poultry,category,1866,parent_id,categories to see what is selling there. I was one of those who fell for the Light Sussex fad but was luckily one of the first to re-sell mine while they were still in demand. The buyers of rare breeds will be the ones buying when the breed is first offered. What I decided to do was to pick breeds that would appeal to those buyers but that would continue to sell, albeit at a lower price, after that. I chose my Blue Isbars because I felt that a blue chicken will always be popular. They are the only single combed chicken that lays a green egg. They lay a beautiful moss green egg that is sometimes speckled. I chose the Cream Legbars because they lay sky blue eggs and are autosexing, meaning they will always hatch chicks that can be sexed at hatch, unlike sex links that can only be sexed at hatch for that mating. Autosexing has obvious benefits for the backyard chicken enthusiast as well as the homesteader.

Rare breed bantams appeal to some people but I don't think they are as popular as large fowl. I often see beautiful bantam eggs not getting any bids. 

This is my third year raising chickens and it took me this long before I decided where I wanted to go with it. My main breed and first love will always be my Icelandics but I plan to have some fun breeding and selling my Legbars and Isbars as well. Good luck with your decision. If you haven't been on BYC it is a great place to learn and ask questions. There are forum threads for almost every breed of chicken where you can ask questions and get answers from knowledgeable people.

Mary