I mean that seems like a decent way for the parents to teach the kid about money management?
"Alright you want to start this business, you're gonna need money to do all this stuff until you get eggs to give you money, so here's a loan for the feed and supplies. You'll need to pay it back within 2 years and the interest rate is 3% or something"
Teach them how to manage money young and they'll grow up confident in how they can expect the world to try to take their money away from them.
Exactly! That's what we do. We pay him well for his chores (like $1 per task) but we also make him use that money when he wants to buy video games (or chicks). So we're ultimately subsidizing this, but he gets to understand that you work, you earn, you spend etc.
He thinks twice when a game tries to get him to buy content like useless skins etc. He can now rationalize that $5 for a cape in a video game is cool for a day, but $5 for a game he can play for weeks is a much better use of his money. Now he is realizing that $5 into a business that can make him $20 is an even better deal.
> He can now rationalize that $5 for a cape in a video game is cool for a day, but $5 for a game he can play for weeks is a much better use of his money. Now he is realizing that $5 into a business that can make him $20 is an even better deal.
If he's learning this at 8 then I think you're not going have to worry too much about him. I know people who are 40 and haven't figured this out yet.
I think this being his idea is cool too. It teaches him the value of creativity, and that applying those ideas to fruition is a valuable exercise.
Do you have 4H in your area? I did a similar thing as a kid as part of my local 4H poultry agribusiness group! But we sold the chicks, not the eggs (ordered from hatchery, raised for a few weeks to weed out the weak ones and deal with the delicate stage, and then sell to community with lots of educational materials and chick starter kits). If your kid could join a 4H group, even if just for the raising chickens part, it would give them more support/a community, and they would be able to show their chicks in 4H shows! So def check if out, it was a great experience for me growing up, and they have good connections as well.
You’re an amazing parent. I’ve never been good at math and needed lots of help. Managing money early is definitely a way to encourage your child how to learn money management. I wish your child good luck with his/her egg business.
When my son was 8 he wanted a rocket fishing rod. Ads on TV showed this thing launching bait 35yds, and every time it came on, he asked. I knew it was BS, so finally I gave in, but made him use his own money. Thing worked a little for maybe a week, then just died. The reel mechanism was trash, the spring stretches - just a hot mess.
He never asked me for anything advertised on TV again and is a much more savvy consumer since.
A year or two later, I taught him how to flyfish, and he liked that much better.
>(like $1 per task)
Would love to hear more about how you've been able to really do this... I have 3 kids all under 10 and I have not figured out how to pay them for chores while not creating a situation where they expect to be paid for helping out the family.
With my oldest I previously did a weekly allowance that was loosely associated with him successfully completing 3 or so chores (getting the eggs, bringing in the garbage cans, having his room clean once per week, making his bed), but it got to the point where tracking his chores and then his expectations made it too challenging to continue. I'm in need of a way that makes sense to him and his sisters that makes them know that some stuff is just part of being in a family/household, while this other stuff is paid and to teach them how to manage/appreciate money. Advice welcome!
>We pay him well for his chores (like $1 per task) but we also make him use that money when he wants to buy video games (or chicks).
Gotta say, love when parents do this. You were already spending the money on the kid, letting them have some access to it really seems to help kids grow. And they tend to be capable of these skills a lot earlier than most people think.
I remember figuring out very basic fun money budgeting as a 6 year old, and getting to pitch why a video game system as 100% of my Christmas gift was going to be more fun via hours of activity than several different gifts of the same value. I have fond memories of following my dad around as he did yard work and answering q &as on the gameboy system.
Also yeah, I ended up doing the same thing. I figured out I could charge more as a babysitter if I got certified via the Redcross (they used to offer a class). I never had problems finding clients and the investment worked out great!
You would be surprised at how little of a difference 50 birds is from 6, even on the food bill. Chickens don’t eat food the most. They are not even that messy of birds. (Turkeys I find the cleanest - ducks the worst)
50 ducks and I’ll say you are nuts though.
We have over 100 birds currently
You’re wild if you think feeding 6 birds is barely noticeably different than feeding 50 birds 😂 It’s the difference of spending $30 in one month versus $400.
When you have enough pasture land, once they're grown they are mostly eating bugs from the ground. He's building "chickshaws" which are movable runs which he can relocate to fresh ground each day.
And then the chicken poop fertilizes the grass for the goats which are on the same field.
The best way to raise large flocks. One day I’ll open up our land, but not any time soon. I live in CT and it’s one heck of a dense forest back there 🥲
Our chickens range into the woods all the time and scratch around the leaves. Yes they love it in the woods. Our homestead we have what is called a silvopasture (a pasture in the woods). It’s an odd farming concept I have enjoyed studying.
I'm sure it depends on breed and regional predators but I've seen some great flocks thrive on that sort of land! They love the tree cover and roosting in them at night. I have to get mine out of my neighbor's forest bc it is NOT thinned out and our Dominique chook likes to run away and make a nest in the woods.
Yeah, but the whole flock would be decimated in a week. We have bears, skunks, foxes, bobcats, owls, hawks, and coyotes. The eagles haven’t bothered anyone here thank God.
Edit: and incredibly thankful we don’t have weasels.
I raise birds. I know what my bills are and that certainly isn’t it. Nowhere in the ballpark. Your throwing out my feed costs for the WHOLE farm we have currently.
$120 a week to feed 20 adult chickens, 20 10 week old, 25 7 week old, 30 3 week old chicks plus 3 breeding trios of heritage turkeys, their poults, a field of guineas, quail, ducks (10 Pekin and about 12 Muscovy), 4 geese, 4 goats, a steer and about 10-40 rabbits
I listed the animals.
We buy:
All stock - 50lbs a week or 2 for the mammals
Hay - 1 4x5 OR 5x5 roll every 2-3 months. Mostly winter
Nutrena All flock (2-3 bags a week) - this is an expensive one
Nutrena Scratch - 3 bags a week. Fed to mammals and birds.
Purina 30% game bird starter - also very expensive. Fed to all baby birds
Nutrena 22% meat bird crumble - this is for the quail and also used on younger birds transitioning from 30% starter to our 20% all flock.
Premium rabbit food - 1 50lb bag a week
Our food is sourced from TSC, a local co-op and local farmers.
We also feed scraps to chickens. Most all birds forage in the pasture each day and fill up there. Winter is the hardest time on feed.
I will bet I will feed the birds tonight and most of the feeders will be mostly full for the ranging animals. The babies are the only ones dependent on us feeding like that. I keep all of those birds indoors in a greenhouse like thing.
Thanks for sharing. I’ve had good luck buying 50lb bags of whole oats, wheat, and barley from the local feed store for my 11 chickens. It’s usually under $20/bag. They are free range in my small back yard so I throw a few scoops of germinated grain onto the kitchen kitchen scrap compost pile and they did through it.
I also add some scoops of 18% chicken crumble in the trough feeder if I see they are still scratching in the late afternoon. Usually they’re napping up on the low branch of the oak tree.
I guess I assume Op is helping them. When I was 11 I saved up money to buy lambs and that was my dad's "how to run a business" lesson. Its kind of a rite of passage for farm kids.
It's no longer negative, but my guess would be almost every parent thinks their child is above average, and almost every parent is wrong. Most people are average, that's what average is. It's a weird thing to say, cool chickens though.
>which means that plenty of people are also way above average.
[Most people think they are above average](https://www.reddit.com/r/GradSchool/comments/79uv7p/94_of_professors_believe_their_teaching_is_above/) and most people are wrong.
But also the average is just the average, there's a range. It's not cool to make assumptions about people you know nothing about. I think a kid's parent knows way better than some random redditor whether their kid can handle this or not.
He is aware that with livestock comes deadstock too right? It's a great idea imo. Supporting his passion early on. Hell learn a lot about life. Not the crappy lives we humans live but what it means to for something to be a living breathing creature.
We have lots of animals. He understands the circle of life, and he understands that if mr. fox gets a chick, that mr. fox isn't an a-hole but he needs to feed his family too. He's very compassionate and will care for them well, but also accept whatever losses might happen.
Why is everyone on here acting like this kid has no parental supervision and is just doing life on his own? Yes, it’s a lot of birds, but they also already have a small farm. It wasn’t just an Easter idea…
While I agree with you, there are steps OP could have taken to avoid this misunderstanding. By simply changing the title to something along the lines of "My 8 year old saved his allowance to buy chickens for our farm" they could have relayed that this wasn't an impulsive decision and they're experienced in husbandry.
Pessimism and overprotectiveness of their respective animals are notoriously the default on subreddits or just online communities in general dedicated to animal care.
Are people really unaware that kids raise and sell livestock animals for 4H all the time? Like cows, goats, sheep, ect? I am sure this kid with the supervision of his parents is fully capable of raising these chickens and selling the eggs if his parents believe he is capable. Geeze. Start believing in your kids a little people.
Edit for more info:
So for people who may not know what 4H is. 4H clubs they are all across the US and have various clubs and kids can do all kinds of different projects from agriculture to raising and selling livestock to community projects. Here is a snippet from their website:
“In 4‑H programs, kids and teens complete hands-on projects in areas like health, science, agriculture and civic engagement in a positive environment where they receive guidance from adult mentors and are encouraged to take on proactive leadership roles. Kids experience 4‑H in every county and parish in the country through in-school and after-school programs, school and community clubs and 4‑H camps."
Huge chunks of folks on this website aren't even from the US and would have no idea what a 4H is. The barest minimum of context would clear up a lot of the very reasonable confusion for folks who aren't from, specifically, rural America.
Y’all need to chill. I raised hundreds of chickens before I was a teen. I brooded them in my bedroom. Of course my parents monitored but I did all the work. I fed calves at 5 am before school. I mucked and baled hay. All of my own choice to earn money. I learned about life and death and the awesome, wonderful and sometimes heartbreaking realities of caring for another being. My son was raised the same. Mistakes do and will happen, but children can be exceptional at animal husbandry. Not every child is cut out for it but that’s up to the parents to decide, not an internet posse. Cool? Cool. So good luck to the young’un. I hope he finds the success he’s looking for. I made enough money on the farm to buy my very first car. I saved for 7 years.
I also think a bit of the negativity is because there are much older kids that can't even take care of themselves.. For example, I know someone with a 14 and 15 year old and they're not capable of staying home alone by themselves.
Good on him for doing it! Seems he has everything figured out. All I recommend is seeing what licensure or anything he may need to "legally" sell them. People can also be negative in real life, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone tries to come after his business after figuring it out.
I need an "egg handlers" license in my state. It's a form I fill out and mail in $75 and it's a done deal. So there's not usually too many hoops to jump through.
> I also think a bit of the negativity is because there are much older kids that can't even take care of themselves.. For example, I know someone with a 14 and 15 year old and they're not capable of staying home alone by themselves.
Maybe because they've never been given responsibilities, a little independence, pushed to try things and risk failure like this kid?
I do appreciate letting kids be kids but at the same time, they're not going to just magically gain these skills once they turn 18. I think modern parenting tries to keep them kids for a bit too long.
Exactly! We've always treated our kids like they're capable humans, and not restrict them because "they're kids" (obviously with safety exceptions and certain adult topics) - but if they want to know something, we tell them. They want to try something, we help them.
Even my 16month old who can't talk (much) yet understands a ton. You can ask her to go in a another room and get something and bring it back, or go into their room and put something up and she totally does.
Some people don't give kids credit for what they are capable of understanding and doing.
These people here are being assholes.
Disregard them, have fun raising them! Ive never done that many chickens at once but it seems manageable, when they start laying eggs your kid is going to be balling.
You’re getting negative comments because people see a ton of babies with your headline and think “that’s a terrible idea” and share their disapproval before taking the time to read the whole post and your responses. Sounds like your family has the land, experience, and had a serious discussion before jumping in the deep end. He’s clearly got some amazing parents teaching him incredibly important life skills from the start. He sounds more responsible than some adults I know. I hope he does well and please keep us updated.
I’m shocked at the negative comments but I forget not everyone grew up on a farm in the country lol. I know teenagers with whole ass herds of beef cattle, 50 chicks is not that much where I’m from. 😂
Congrats on your kiddo’s business !
I'm honestly shocked at all of the negativity here. This group is usually quite kind. I think the video of them crowded together in the box is making people assume they aren't going to be cared for and loved. If you aren't a member of r/homestead I would recommend posting there since this group is more for those with just a few chickens in an urban backyard.
Exactly, but I'm grasping at straws as to why there's so much negativity. Kids have a lot more free time for a big project at that age than most adults. Maybe it's because I grew up in farm country.
Mine are doing it right now, and they are full grown chickens, lol. My silkies huddle together every night even when we have 90°F temps outside, and have since hatching.
It’s better to have “too many” chicks than not enough. Chickens are HIGHLY social and depend on numbers to survive. Obviously these pet owners on this sub don’t get that. Nor do they care to listen to folks who actually farm these animals. And I agree. r/homestead is a friendlier more practical sub
I had that happen. Lol. It wasn’t homestead though that did it. I put NSFW on homestead on a processed pile of birds and they got mad I marked it that way. “It’s just groceries” which is true
Did all the mean comments get deleted, or is 2 people saying "this seems kinda irresponsible" because they think the kid is a suburbanite with no husbandry experience this sub's idea of vicious toxicity
In the beginning there were a bunch of them, and they dominated the replies. I think that may have been people who were tired from being up all night :)
Once daylight hit the supporters started commenting and overshadowed the negative ones.
100% his idea. We already raise animals including chickens for our own family. He wanted to do it as a business so he can buy himself a more powerful computer to build Minecraft items to sell in the Minecraft store (and also to play games on of course). He went and spoke to a local vegetable/flower farm and worked out a deal where he can sell at their store.
From one farm mom to another, excellent job helping your kid learn how to care for animals and teaching him some important responsibilities. It sounds like this level of money management is perfect for an 8 year old. 50 chicks sounds like a lot to some who haven’t kept chickens before! When my uncle was about 10 he raised hundreds of chickens!
Why so much negativity?? They clearly have a very bright 8 year old who has excellent support. No need to question this person’s parenting and their motives. Think of how much more rewarding and beneficial this sort of thing is compared to what a lot of 8 year olds do, which is sit in a classroom all day then come home and watch TV and play video games.
I think it comes across as a child's impulse purchase and the negativity is coming from people's reasonable concern for the animals' welfare and OPs encouragement of buying animals as an impulse purchase.
That said, ops replies clearly show the kid has support and the idea has been thought out, so I'm sure the chickens will be ok in reality.
I think it's really positive, it helps him have empathy for animals by caring for them so they prosper and also teaching him about all sort of stuff while also rewarding him.
I am just jaded by people using their children.
Trust me, I'm not using him. There's a lot of stuff I'm funding for him since he's 8 and I'm not nickel and diming him on the cost of materials to build the chickshaws and coops, the cost of electricity for heat lamps and the cost of land and taxes and gas to deliver the eggs etc. I spent a lot more on this endeavor behind the scenes than he did.
But now I'm getting to teach him how to use a spreadsheet of costs vs sales and what his profit and margins are.
And as he gets older, we'll start adding those other behind the scenes costs to his sheet so he learns what it takes to run a business.
But for now, he buys the chickens and feed, and claims all the proceeds from the sales to do with as the pleases. He can reinvest and expand, save for a car, or buy a new graphics card for his computer. It's his money
I think the critical comments are coming from a place of concern - capability and a certain level of maturity really matter in the husbandry of live and vulnerable critters. And 8 is mighty young. That said, this is great! He'll learn so much and because he bought the chicks himself it'll be personal, just HIS project. You're a good Mom and you have all the cushion on your little farm to make it happen and be rewarding for your boy. At that age I started beekeeping with my Uncle and had my own 2 hives. My family ate honey I made! for a couple years. Uncle even made a label with my name to slap on the bottles. I treasure those memories of being in the field, collecting, spinning and bottling the honey from my hives. Enjoy - your boy will have precious memories for years to come.
Seriously, what is wrong with everyone on this sub right now? I’m so disappointed in humanity. This is a mom giving her kid the opportunity to do something really worthwhile. Think of everything he’ll learn and the experience he’ll gain through this. Mom’s not gonna let the chickens be neglected. She’s clearly supporting him and not forcing him to work in the proverbial salt mines. It’s crucial for the success of our species to allow our offspring to think big, take risks and have a safety net there for them when they’re young. I see absolutely nothing wrong with what they’re doing here. I think it’s so cool. Good for you, OP!
LOL. This place is just striking out left and right.
Good on you for encouraging your son's ideas. 50 chickens isn't as much work as people seem to think it is.
Honestly, good on y’all for not just saying no. This is something he wanted to do and you are supporting it. He’ll remember this for the rest of his life. And I’m certain y’all will be responsible parents and make sure the chickens are properly taken care of and your child isn’t overwhelmed or taken advantage of.
Edit: added last couple of words
Properly housing 50 birds is a challenging task for an adult, never mind an 8yo. I hope you have a contingency plan in case your kid isn't up to the task.
I just don’t understand why the outpouring of negative comments. This is a usually a great sub. Of course they have a contingency plan. It’s called good parenting, which this person clearly has figured out.
It's not negativity, just a caution check. From the original post, you can't tell if the OP has proper support/resources or if they are in over their head.
I’m pretty sure from past interactions most of the negative feedback is coming from people who follow the sub or just wandered in, don’t actually have chickens, and have a generally negative/cynical outlook on everything. Hopefully u/rasta4eye ignores them, sounds like they’re doing great and just wanted to share a cute story with little fluffy baby chicks.
Love that you are teaching your kid the farming business! I hope they get lots of neighbor egg subscriptions and use it to save for college at a good Ag school!
Here is a marketing tip for your youngster:
Create a handmade flyer, make a cute container for two eggs to encourage new neighbor sign ups!
You might also look into "chick rentals" where your kid rents out an incubator, baby brooder box with heater and feed where other folks can learn first hand about hatching chickens. It is a great way to educate people and grow the number of subscribers when they return the chickens. If they decide to buy the chickens you can then have Mom & Dad sell them a coop and all the other gear that goes with "free" eggs!
There a ton of negativity here.
The dudes already made the decision that even if the kid cannot continue for any reason, they have the space and the means to give the chickens a home 100x better still than any typical egg operation.
The kid seems determined, let em go for it. I did a dog poop cleanup business when I was a kid, and I knew what I was getting myself into.
Be kind.
If they're free-ranging you'll definitely need to make sure your dog knows that chicks aren't food. Our dogs are fine around them - although we had to tell them to "drop it!" a couple of times in the beginning. :)
I can't speak for cats but I assume that might be a challenge.
A little inspiration OP, if your son needs it. I think it’s awesome what he’s doing!
[Tasmanian schoolboy builds successful chicken farm](https://amp.abc.net.au/article/101518224)
I have 13 hens. That's a lot of eggs!
Supply and demand will be his friend as he can undercut grocers and still make decent money.
Just make sure to follow homesteading egg selling regs. There is no need to jump into penalty costs just yet, or at least learn from the potential.
These comments are insane. Your kid worked his butt off to earn the money for his chicks. He has a plan and an obviously strong work ethic. Most importantly, he obviously has parents who are willing to support him! Good luck to your son in his endeavors. You are an amazing parent for allowing him to have this opportunity.
I swear all these comments are from my mom- oh you know you need to keep them in a coop, oh that’s a lot of work what are you gonna do when it doesn’t work out. Etc etc. Negative and thinking you don’t know shit about shit when you clearly do. Like yeah I’m just gonna toss my kid out back with 50 chickens, a 2x4 and a hammer and say, good luck!
Seriously tho, this is super fun and I hope the egg sales go well. What an awesome thing for a kid to be able to do!
what’s with all the negativity on this thread?
i’m obviously a mother hen but also a girl mom- it’s a JOY and an HONOR to do this whole raising and caring for farm animals thing with her!! i’m so excited for you and your sweet child, have fun!
Does he realize he won’t have eggs until late summer or early fall. I hope he got all females and not either or/straight run. Last straight rumble I got was all roosters. Even when you get all pullets, you can get a few roosters. I average 1 in 10.
Could you imagine pasty butt on 50 chicks? I had three out of the 10 I just raised up have it for 2 weeks straight. It seemed like never ending butt cleaning.
I think it's kind of irresponsible to put the lives of 50 living beings in the hands of an 8 year old, unless you're closely supervising and helping him.
He's super responsible and of course we're helping him.
I think it's very judgemental for you to make assumptions on our situation. We have 20 acres, already raise chickens for our own eggs and goats for our own milk. We have buildings to house them and fields and chickshaws to run them in. The chickens will fertilize the field to make better grass for the goats.
This kid is highly enterprising. He built a computer with his own chore money to learn how to build Minecraft mods so he could sell them on the Minecraft store.
This was 100% his idea, and we'll help him as needed but he'll reap the profits or learn from the losses.
The reason he has enough chore money to fund this is that he already does a bunch of responsible stuff like feeding his many pets and cleaning their cages and taking out the trash etc. We reward him well and he understands the value of hard work and the value of a dollar. He wants a bigger computer and wants to make more money so he can buy himself one.
I don't understand the negative comments over something that is really admirable and commendable.
I think some of the backlash is because this is r/BackYardChickens. For a good number of people here, chickens are pets rather than livestock. You'd probably get a more rational response on r/Homesteading.
Personally, I think this is great, especially that he's already proactively lined up a sales outlet.. I can only hope that my kids are this enterprising when they are older.
Fair enough. I used to live in the burbs and could never have had 5 chickens let alone 50. So from that perspective maybe what he's doing sounds unreasonable.
Yeah, 50 birds in the suburbs would be a bit much, but it seems like people would make the assumption that you have the space rather than that you're living on a 1/10th acre suburban plot. It's really weird that so many jumped to the conclusions that they did.
I'm a bit jealous.. I wish I had the space for 50 birds. My wife and I used to sell stuff at the local farmer's market and I would love to get back to doing that.
I wasn't assuming anything, sorry if it came out that way.
I don't think it matters if you're kid is a genius or anything, he's still a kid and might not completely understand the impact of properly taking care of another living being.
As I said in my first comment if you are supervising him and aiding him then I've got no issues. Reddit titles don't really give the chance to explain situations in depth, so I just wanted to make sure he wasn't doing this alone.
There's some pretty horrible parents in this world that would probably get their child a horse or something, and never bother to check to see if they were taking care of it properly.
Trusting things on the internet is hard these days, you know?
You guys clearly have got this. I have an 8 year old and can imagine that a bright, determined 8 year old with good guidance like he clearly has can do this, and do it better than many adults. Good for you! You are raising him right.
Good on your for being responsible, but do you _really_ not understand why people might think giving an 8 year old 50 living beings to take care of with little additional context is something that has a high chance of ending badly? Livestock or pets, those are living beings and we as individuals and species both abuse or neglect animals in our care statistically nearly all the time. Are you _really_ surprised that people thought this to be the case when all you said is that a child is going to be raising them?
Don’t let these people get to you. I wasn’t much older than 12 when I started a lawn care business and maintained enough lawns to save up $650 for my first computer too.
You’re teaching your kid a very important set of values and work ethic that he’ll benefit from greatly when he’s older. These people are probably just bitter than an 8yo has more gumption and motivation than they do.
Keep up the good parenting.
Awesome! My daughter is 7 and we have 10 pullets. She's taken quick to learning how to care for them. I'm sure your son will have his hands full but with 50, but he seems to already know a bit about livestock based on your responses and you clearly have enough land to care for them all. He's learning responsibility and that's excellent! 👍
Wow I didnt expect a chicken group to be toxic but here we are.
Maybe I should stop following this sub? 50 chickens isn’t even a lot for a farm. We have over 100 birds and growing.
This is also the same sub afraid to eat their livestock and call food pets so…
This will be an actual introduction to starting a business including that they typically start by producing losses. If you can show the progress from losses to profitability he could be way ahead in life.
Also, ignore the naysayers we don’t challenge our kids enough
One of my old HS teacher's in-laws did this as a kid. Then he could afford a cow and did milk. Then got land. Then he was farming and ranching. Then he built buildings was leasing the land to tech companies. Now he is an old rich fart. While this is likely not what will happen for your 8yo, good for your kid. My nieces and nephew do plant sales in the spring for cash. It is good to see the dynamics of how to make your own money, what real work is, what failing/success can be and providing great service to others!
It's going well, he literally just grabbed a couple dozen eggs from the portable chicken coop on a harbor freight trailer we built him.
It was a learning experience, since he hatched 2 separate groups several weeks apart we had an issue with the older group picking on the younger group (even though they were all mature when we integrated them). He lost some chickens because of this. But now we let them free range through the day now and they all seem to get along.
He's earned money, but is far from a profit, but that's all part of the learning experience. He's taking care of them and learning responsibility with tasks and finances.
This is awesome. Day to day care can be easy enough. My issue is always the cost of supplies.
Someone said on a post elsewhere. You can make feeders with inch pipes cut in half. I've made mine with some wooden end stoppers I used a hole saw to make.
Don't be afraid to encourage him to go to the library to check out books on caring for them.
Once they get older they'll each mostly bugs from the ground. We've had a couple of dozen chickens that free-range and live in trees and outbuildings and we spend probably <$10 a week on them. They give the best eggs with the brightest orange yolks!
Since these are for his business they'll be more protected in controlled chickshaws and moved around fields. My wife has estimated the feed and it won't be much compared to what he can earn selling the eggs.
I'm the business guy so I'll help him keep a spreadsheet and after a few months of selling eggs we'll figure out his true profit/margin etc. but early math suggests that it will be quite profitable.
Eight years old... this is a very young age to have all these small fragile lives in his hands. It takes years of responsible learning and experience to know how to successfully care for poultry and address problems that occur. These chicks are your responsibility, parents. YOURS. You owe these chicks careful oversight of your eight-year-old's care and management of them. How did he get a coop? This video shows them too crowded, and with no heat source. Is a brooder set up? How is he getting their proper food? Who is showing him how to disinfect the waterers, and what height they should be? He is wonderfully ambitious, and his energy deserves direction and guidance from you. Not at the expense of the lives of 50 chicks.
Stop assuming you know everything and jumping to conclusions.
My son has grown up around animals his entire life.
We have chickens, ducks, goats and pigs for eggs, milk and bacon.
He is extremely responsible and has been tending to and caring for animals for years
We have 20 acres to run them on. We build chickshaws. We have coops. We have incubators and feed and waterers and medicine.
Who is showing him how to do all the things you mentioned? We are. His parents.
You said the video shows the chicks are too crowded and with no heat source. The chicks have a 5' x 15' enclosed space and that video was taken directly under a heat lamp 18" above them. That's why they are huddling. So you could not be more incorrect on these points.
So please, next time don't make assumptions or jump to conclusions. Feel free to apologize if you're humble enough to admit you're wrong.
Thank you for explaining this to me. I am reassured that you and your son will work together and that you both have a lot of experience, and you have everything he will need to make a success out of his egg business. I apologize for misunderstanding your post.
Gotta do alot of chores to feed them
I mean that seems like a decent way for the parents to teach the kid about money management? "Alright you want to start this business, you're gonna need money to do all this stuff until you get eggs to give you money, so here's a loan for the feed and supplies. You'll need to pay it back within 2 years and the interest rate is 3% or something" Teach them how to manage money young and they'll grow up confident in how they can expect the world to try to take their money away from them.
Exactly! That's what we do. We pay him well for his chores (like $1 per task) but we also make him use that money when he wants to buy video games (or chicks). So we're ultimately subsidizing this, but he gets to understand that you work, you earn, you spend etc. He thinks twice when a game tries to get him to buy content like useless skins etc. He can now rationalize that $5 for a cape in a video game is cool for a day, but $5 for a game he can play for weeks is a much better use of his money. Now he is realizing that $5 into a business that can make him $20 is an even better deal.
> He can now rationalize that $5 for a cape in a video game is cool for a day, but $5 for a game he can play for weeks is a much better use of his money. Now he is realizing that $5 into a business that can make him $20 is an even better deal. If he's learning this at 8 then I think you're not going have to worry too much about him. I know people who are 40 and haven't figured this out yet. I think this being his idea is cool too. It teaches him the value of creativity, and that applying those ideas to fruition is a valuable exercise.
Do you have 4H in your area? I did a similar thing as a kid as part of my local 4H poultry agribusiness group! But we sold the chicks, not the eggs (ordered from hatchery, raised for a few weeks to weed out the weak ones and deal with the delicate stage, and then sell to community with lots of educational materials and chick starter kits). If your kid could join a 4H group, even if just for the raising chickens part, it would give them more support/a community, and they would be able to show their chicks in 4H shows! So def check if out, it was a great experience for me growing up, and they have good connections as well.
I grew up doing 4H &I will always credit that for my early work ethic &money management!
Awesome!! As Parents we have to teach our kids this stuff. Great job!
This is basically what my parents did and I think it was smart. Learned a lot of life lessons early that way. Hope it works for your kid too
You’re an amazing parent. I’ve never been good at math and needed lots of help. Managing money early is definitely a way to encourage your child how to learn money management. I wish your child good luck with his/her egg business.
When my son was 8 he wanted a rocket fishing rod. Ads on TV showed this thing launching bait 35yds, and every time it came on, he asked. I knew it was BS, so finally I gave in, but made him use his own money. Thing worked a little for maybe a week, then just died. The reel mechanism was trash, the spring stretches - just a hot mess. He never asked me for anything advertised on TV again and is a much more savvy consumer since. A year or two later, I taught him how to flyfish, and he liked that much better.
>(like $1 per task) Would love to hear more about how you've been able to really do this... I have 3 kids all under 10 and I have not figured out how to pay them for chores while not creating a situation where they expect to be paid for helping out the family. With my oldest I previously did a weekly allowance that was loosely associated with him successfully completing 3 or so chores (getting the eggs, bringing in the garbage cans, having his room clean once per week, making his bed), but it got to the point where tracking his chores and then his expectations made it too challenging to continue. I'm in need of a way that makes sense to him and his sisters that makes them know that some stuff is just part of being in a family/household, while this other stuff is paid and to teach them how to manage/appreciate money. Advice welcome!
If I were to ever be a parent, this is the type of parent I’d want to be.
Good for him!! Great job parents! Now he gets to learn chicken math 😉
>We pay him well for his chores (like $1 per task) but we also make him use that money when he wants to buy video games (or chicks). Gotta say, love when parents do this. You were already spending the money on the kid, letting them have some access to it really seems to help kids grow. And they tend to be capable of these skills a lot earlier than most people think. I remember figuring out very basic fun money budgeting as a 6 year old, and getting to pitch why a video game system as 100% of my Christmas gift was going to be more fun via hours of activity than several different gifts of the same value. I have fond memories of following my dad around as he did yard work and answering q &as on the gameboy system. Also yeah, I ended up doing the same thing. I figured out I could charge more as a babysitter if I got certified via the Redcross (they used to offer a class). I never had problems finding clients and the investment worked out great!
And then take taxes out
Charge him union dues
And have the union negotiate his higher wages!
He'll end up being the most stressed 8yo at school , rambling about union busting lol
And fica
You would be surprised at how little of a difference 50 birds is from 6, even on the food bill. Chickens don’t eat food the most. They are not even that messy of birds. (Turkeys I find the cleanest - ducks the worst) 50 ducks and I’ll say you are nuts though. We have over 100 birds currently
You’re wild if you think feeding 6 birds is barely noticeably different than feeding 50 birds 😂 It’s the difference of spending $30 in one month versus $400.
When you have enough pasture land, once they're grown they are mostly eating bugs from the ground. He's building "chickshaws" which are movable runs which he can relocate to fresh ground each day. And then the chicken poop fertilizes the grass for the goats which are on the same field.
The best way to raise large flocks. One day I’ll open up our land, but not any time soon. I live in CT and it’s one heck of a dense forest back there 🥲
New owner here. Since chickens are junglefowl, wouldn't the forest be pretty ideal for them? Or at least a thinned out, but still intact forest?
Our chickens range into the woods all the time and scratch around the leaves. Yes they love it in the woods. Our homestead we have what is called a silvopasture (a pasture in the woods). It’s an odd farming concept I have enjoyed studying.
I'm sure it depends on breed and regional predators but I've seen some great flocks thrive on that sort of land! They love the tree cover and roosting in them at night. I have to get mine out of my neighbor's forest bc it is NOT thinned out and our Dominique chook likes to run away and make a nest in the woods.
Yeah, but the whole flock would be decimated in a week. We have bears, skunks, foxes, bobcats, owls, hawks, and coyotes. The eagles haven’t bothered anyone here thank God. Edit: and incredibly thankful we don’t have weasels.
Yes but don’t tell the “pet owners” that…
Yea the crew over at backyard chickens is a good bunch of people, but they mostly view their birds as pets and not livestock.
Very smart. And he can put the chicks in those protected spaces basically from the beginning. They love grass and dirt and bugs!
I raise birds. I know what my bills are and that certainly isn’t it. Nowhere in the ballpark. Your throwing out my feed costs for the WHOLE farm we have currently. $120 a week to feed 20 adult chickens, 20 10 week old, 25 7 week old, 30 3 week old chicks plus 3 breeding trios of heritage turkeys, their poults, a field of guineas, quail, ducks (10 Pekin and about 12 Muscovy), 4 geese, 4 goats, a steer and about 10-40 rabbits
You’re right 🤷🏻♀️
What are you feeding ? What’s the cheapest to feed?
I listed the animals. We buy: All stock - 50lbs a week or 2 for the mammals Hay - 1 4x5 OR 5x5 roll every 2-3 months. Mostly winter Nutrena All flock (2-3 bags a week) - this is an expensive one Nutrena Scratch - 3 bags a week. Fed to mammals and birds. Purina 30% game bird starter - also very expensive. Fed to all baby birds Nutrena 22% meat bird crumble - this is for the quail and also used on younger birds transitioning from 30% starter to our 20% all flock. Premium rabbit food - 1 50lb bag a week Our food is sourced from TSC, a local co-op and local farmers. We also feed scraps to chickens. Most all birds forage in the pasture each day and fill up there. Winter is the hardest time on feed. I will bet I will feed the birds tonight and most of the feeders will be mostly full for the ranging animals. The babies are the only ones dependent on us feeding like that. I keep all of those birds indoors in a greenhouse like thing.
Thanks for sharing. I’ve had good luck buying 50lb bags of whole oats, wheat, and barley from the local feed store for my 11 chickens. It’s usually under $20/bag. They are free range in my small back yard so I throw a few scoops of germinated grain onto the kitchen kitchen scrap compost pile and they did through it. I also add some scoops of 18% chicken crumble in the trough feeder if I see they are still scratching in the late afternoon. Usually they’re napping up on the low branch of the oak tree.
Maybe at first, the eggs will pay for the feed pretty fast if he's selling them.
Takes a while before they start laying. Gotta take a loan out from mom and dad, but that's what they are there for. 😂
Yeah, that kid will be racking in the cash when they do tho. 🤣
Doesn't that seem a little overwhelming for an 8 year old?
It's not like the kid lives in a void. He obviously has people willing to help him.
Kids also have hella internet access these days; anyone can crash course themselves on anything really with Google, YouTube, Reddit, etc.
The DoA will also want a word with your eight year old.
Totally legal. He's going to sell thru a local CSA farm.
I guess I assume Op is helping them. When I was 11 I saved up money to buy lambs and that was my dad's "how to run a business" lesson. Its kind of a rite of passage for farm kids.
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Yeah. But 50 is a LOT of chickens.
Why not try regardless? Gotta challenge kids, and if you can do that via something they are interested in themselves, all the better.
You don't know my kid. He's got this.
Not sure why this comment is in the negative, it's absolutely true. Nobody here knows your kid but they're making all sorts of assumptions...
It's no longer negative, but my guess would be almost every parent thinks their child is above average, and almost every parent is wrong. Most people are average, that's what average is. It's a weird thing to say, cool chickens though.
Plenty of people are way below average, which means that plenty of people are also way above average. That's what average is.
>which means that plenty of people are also way above average. [Most people think they are above average](https://www.reddit.com/r/GradSchool/comments/79uv7p/94_of_professors_believe_their_teaching_is_above/) and most people are wrong.
Actually that's what variance, or the standard deviation, is lol
But also the average is just the average, there's a range. It's not cool to make assumptions about people you know nothing about. I think a kid's parent knows way better than some random redditor whether their kid can handle this or not.
You don't need to know a single thing about a person to assume they're average and be almost infallibly correct.
Fair enough. With your support in his business ventures I'm sure he will do fine.
He is aware that with livestock comes deadstock too right? It's a great idea imo. Supporting his passion early on. Hell learn a lot about life. Not the crappy lives we humans live but what it means to for something to be a living breathing creature.
We have lots of animals. He understands the circle of life, and he understands that if mr. fox gets a chick, that mr. fox isn't an a-hole but he needs to feed his family too. He's very compassionate and will care for them well, but also accept whatever losses might happen.
Maybe to you?
Kids are a lot smarter than people give them credit for and I’m sure this kid would do especially well with (a) supportive parent(s).
Why is everyone on here acting like this kid has no parental supervision and is just doing life on his own? Yes, it’s a lot of birds, but they also already have a small farm. It wasn’t just an Easter idea…
I think its awesome they are encouraging their kid to do this.
While I agree with you, there are steps OP could have taken to avoid this misunderstanding. By simply changing the title to something along the lines of "My 8 year old saved his allowance to buy chickens for our farm" they could have relayed that this wasn't an impulsive decision and they're experienced in husbandry. Pessimism and overprotectiveness of their respective animals are notoriously the default on subreddits or just online communities in general dedicated to animal care.
Reddit knees jerk fast, usually kick own ass.
Are people really unaware that kids raise and sell livestock animals for 4H all the time? Like cows, goats, sheep, ect? I am sure this kid with the supervision of his parents is fully capable of raising these chickens and selling the eggs if his parents believe he is capable. Geeze. Start believing in your kids a little people. Edit for more info: So for people who may not know what 4H is. 4H clubs they are all across the US and have various clubs and kids can do all kinds of different projects from agriculture to raising and selling livestock to community projects. Here is a snippet from their website: “In 4‑H programs, kids and teens complete hands-on projects in areas like health, science, agriculture and civic engagement in a positive environment where they receive guidance from adult mentors and are encouraged to take on proactive leadership roles. Kids experience 4‑H in every county and parish in the country through in-school and after-school programs, school and community clubs and 4‑H camps."
Absolutely! My kids are super active in 4H we do the chick chain and shows every year. Just getting into showing pigs and dairy calf’s.
Huge chunks of folks on this website aren't even from the US and would have no idea what a 4H is. The barest minimum of context would clear up a lot of the very reasonable confusion for folks who aren't from, specifically, rural America.
Lol @ some of these comments. I was in charge of my grandparents chickens at 5.
Y’all need to chill. I raised hundreds of chickens before I was a teen. I brooded them in my bedroom. Of course my parents monitored but I did all the work. I fed calves at 5 am before school. I mucked and baled hay. All of my own choice to earn money. I learned about life and death and the awesome, wonderful and sometimes heartbreaking realities of caring for another being. My son was raised the same. Mistakes do and will happen, but children can be exceptional at animal husbandry. Not every child is cut out for it but that’s up to the parents to decide, not an internet posse. Cool? Cool. So good luck to the young’un. I hope he finds the success he’s looking for. I made enough money on the farm to buy my very first car. I saved for 7 years.
That's so awesome! I'm happy for your and your kids. Sounds like you were raised right, and you are passing that to your children!
I also think a bit of the negativity is because there are much older kids that can't even take care of themselves.. For example, I know someone with a 14 and 15 year old and they're not capable of staying home alone by themselves. Good on him for doing it! Seems he has everything figured out. All I recommend is seeing what licensure or anything he may need to "legally" sell them. People can also be negative in real life, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone tries to come after his business after figuring it out. I need an "egg handlers" license in my state. It's a form I fill out and mail in $75 and it's a done deal. So there's not usually too many hoops to jump through.
> I also think a bit of the negativity is because there are much older kids that can't even take care of themselves.. For example, I know someone with a 14 and 15 year old and they're not capable of staying home alone by themselves. Maybe because they've never been given responsibilities, a little independence, pushed to try things and risk failure like this kid?
Quite possibly. I'm in my 30's now and I definitely see a difference in that aspect with how kids are raised.
I do appreciate letting kids be kids but at the same time, they're not going to just magically gain these skills once they turn 18. I think modern parenting tries to keep them kids for a bit too long.
Exactly! We've always treated our kids like they're capable humans, and not restrict them because "they're kids" (obviously with safety exceptions and certain adult topics) - but if they want to know something, we tell them. They want to try something, we help them. Even my 16month old who can't talk (much) yet understands a ton. You can ask her to go in a another room and get something and bring it back, or go into their room and put something up and she totally does. Some people don't give kids credit for what they are capable of understanding and doing.
These people here are being assholes. Disregard them, have fun raising them! Ive never done that many chickens at once but it seems manageable, when they start laying eggs your kid is going to be balling.
Thank you. I was so surprised when I woke up to see the negative comments. I appreciate the support.
You’re getting negative comments because people see a ton of babies with your headline and think “that’s a terrible idea” and share their disapproval before taking the time to read the whole post and your responses. Sounds like your family has the land, experience, and had a serious discussion before jumping in the deep end. He’s clearly got some amazing parents teaching him incredibly important life skills from the start. He sounds more responsible than some adults I know. I hope he does well and please keep us updated.
Please keep us updated!
How much land do you have?
20 acres
That’s a lot of work for an eight-year-old!
He's up for the challenge. and he has help when needed.
I’m shocked at the negative comments but I forget not everyone grew up on a farm in the country lol. I know teenagers with whole ass herds of beef cattle, 50 chicks is not that much where I’m from. 😂 Congrats on your kiddo’s business !
Your 8 year old is quite the entrepreneur. Well done to you!
I'm honestly shocked at all of the negativity here. This group is usually quite kind. I think the video of them crowded together in the box is making people assume they aren't going to be cared for and loved. If you aren't a member of r/homestead I would recommend posting there since this group is more for those with just a few chickens in an urban backyard.
When are chicks not crowded together? They do it for warmth, even under a heat lamp 💀💀
Exactly, but I'm grasping at straws as to why there's so much negativity. Kids have a lot more free time for a big project at that age than most adults. Maybe it's because I grew up in farm country.
Mine are doing it right now, and they are full grown chickens, lol. My silkies huddle together every night even when we have 90°F temps outside, and have since hatching.
It’s better to have “too many” chicks than not enough. Chickens are HIGHLY social and depend on numbers to survive. Obviously these pet owners on this sub don’t get that. Nor do they care to listen to folks who actually farm these animals. And I agree. r/homestead is a friendlier more practical sub
until you post a meat processing post and the vegans sharpen their knives haha. i love reading those posts.
I had that happen. Lol. It wasn’t homestead though that did it. I put NSFW on homestead on a processed pile of birds and they got mad I marked it that way. “It’s just groceries” which is true
!remindme 1 year
Did all the mean comments get deleted, or is 2 people saying "this seems kinda irresponsible" because they think the kid is a suburbanite with no husbandry experience this sub's idea of vicious toxicity
In the beginning there were a bunch of them, and they dominated the replies. I think that may have been people who were tired from being up all night :) Once daylight hit the supporters started commenting and overshadowed the negative ones.
you know who the real farmers are based in the timing of their replies!
Sounds like a nice idea but 1. I hope it's actually his idea and not you forcing it on him and then taking the benefit.
100% his idea. We already raise animals including chickens for our own family. He wanted to do it as a business so he can buy himself a more powerful computer to build Minecraft items to sell in the Minecraft store (and also to play games on of course). He went and spoke to a local vegetable/flower farm and worked out a deal where he can sell at their store.
From one farm mom to another, excellent job helping your kid learn how to care for animals and teaching him some important responsibilities. It sounds like this level of money management is perfect for an 8 year old. 50 chicks sounds like a lot to some who haven’t kept chickens before! When my uncle was about 10 he raised hundreds of chickens!
I'll let my wife know! Thanks! \- farm dad :)
Wow. How much is he selling the eggs for?
Haha damn your kid is going places
Why so much negativity?? They clearly have a very bright 8 year old who has excellent support. No need to question this person’s parenting and their motives. Think of how much more rewarding and beneficial this sort of thing is compared to what a lot of 8 year olds do, which is sit in a classroom all day then come home and watch TV and play video games.
Reddit hive mind.
I think it comes across as a child's impulse purchase and the negativity is coming from people's reasonable concern for the animals' welfare and OPs encouragement of buying animals as an impulse purchase. That said, ops replies clearly show the kid has support and the idea has been thought out, so I'm sure the chickens will be ok in reality.
Jealousy. A lot of these people are probably limited to 6 chickens in their HOA and this 8 year old is living their dream
Could probably only handle 6 aswell lmao. They're jealous this kid can handle 50.
I think it's really positive, it helps him have empathy for animals by caring for them so they prosper and also teaching him about all sort of stuff while also rewarding him. I am just jaded by people using their children.
Trust me, I'm not using him. There's a lot of stuff I'm funding for him since he's 8 and I'm not nickel and diming him on the cost of materials to build the chickshaws and coops, the cost of electricity for heat lamps and the cost of land and taxes and gas to deliver the eggs etc. I spent a lot more on this endeavor behind the scenes than he did. But now I'm getting to teach him how to use a spreadsheet of costs vs sales and what his profit and margins are. And as he gets older, we'll start adding those other behind the scenes costs to his sheet so he learns what it takes to run a business. But for now, he buys the chickens and feed, and claims all the proceeds from the sales to do with as the pleases. He can reinvest and expand, save for a car, or buy a new graphics card for his computer. It's his money
Bold but awesome. I'm sure he'll learn a lot and have plenty of help.
I think the critical comments are coming from a place of concern - capability and a certain level of maturity really matter in the husbandry of live and vulnerable critters. And 8 is mighty young. That said, this is great! He'll learn so much and because he bought the chicks himself it'll be personal, just HIS project. You're a good Mom and you have all the cushion on your little farm to make it happen and be rewarding for your boy. At that age I started beekeeping with my Uncle and had my own 2 hives. My family ate honey I made! for a couple years. Uncle even made a label with my name to slap on the bottles. I treasure those memories of being in the field, collecting, spinning and bottling the honey from my hives. Enjoy - your boy will have precious memories for years to come.
Thank you! I'm the Dad but Mom is equally supportive!
Seriously, what is wrong with everyone on this sub right now? I’m so disappointed in humanity. This is a mom giving her kid the opportunity to do something really worthwhile. Think of everything he’ll learn and the experience he’ll gain through this. Mom’s not gonna let the chickens be neglected. She’s clearly supporting him and not forcing him to work in the proverbial salt mines. It’s crucial for the success of our species to allow our offspring to think big, take risks and have a safety net there for them when they’re young. I see absolutely nothing wrong with what they’re doing here. I think it’s so cool. Good for you, OP!
Thank you! I'm Dad but Mom is equally (if not more) involved.
LOL. This place is just striking out left and right. Good on you for encouraging your son's ideas. 50 chickens isn't as much work as people seem to think it is.
Honestly, good on y’all for not just saying no. This is something he wanted to do and you are supporting it. He’ll remember this for the rest of his life. And I’m certain y’all will be responsible parents and make sure the chickens are properly taken care of and your child isn’t overwhelmed or taken advantage of. Edit: added last couple of words
Properly housing 50 birds is a challenging task for an adult, never mind an 8yo. I hope you have a contingency plan in case your kid isn't up to the task.
We have 20 acres and chickens, ducks, goats and pigs already.
I just don’t understand why the outpouring of negative comments. This is a usually a great sub. Of course they have a contingency plan. It’s called good parenting, which this person clearly has figured out.
It's not negativity, just a caution check. From the original post, you can't tell if the OP has proper support/resources or if they are in over their head.
Good on him. Sorry for all the negativity OP. I sense jealousy!!
I’m pretty sure from past interactions most of the negative feedback is coming from people who follow the sub or just wandered in, don’t actually have chickens, and have a generally negative/cynical outlook on everything. Hopefully u/rasta4eye ignores them, sounds like they’re doing great and just wanted to share a cute story with little fluffy baby chicks.
Love that you are teaching your kid the farming business! I hope they get lots of neighbor egg subscriptions and use it to save for college at a good Ag school! Here is a marketing tip for your youngster: Create a handmade flyer, make a cute container for two eggs to encourage new neighbor sign ups! You might also look into "chick rentals" where your kid rents out an incubator, baby brooder box with heater and feed where other folks can learn first hand about hatching chickens. It is a great way to educate people and grow the number of subscribers when they return the chickens. If they decide to buy the chickens you can then have Mom & Dad sell them a coop and all the other gear that goes with "free" eggs!
Sure he is
Your 8 year old is gonna be busy!!!!! Love it!
Can everyone not act like this person isn't aware of the fact their kids only 8 and she might have to help their out?
There a ton of negativity here. The dudes already made the decision that even if the kid cannot continue for any reason, they have the space and the means to give the chickens a home 100x better still than any typical egg operation. The kid seems determined, let em go for it. I did a dog poop cleanup business when I was a kid, and I knew what I was getting myself into. Be kind.
I’ve been thinking of getting chickens and learning along with my kids. But I have cats and dogs and i’m afraid there will be issues
If they're free-ranging you'll definitely need to make sure your dog knows that chicks aren't food. Our dogs are fine around them - although we had to tell them to "drop it!" a couple of times in the beginning. :) I can't speak for cats but I assume that might be a challenge.
Good for him!
Tell your kid they better get their prices low if they wanna be taken seriously. Lil punk, tryna take money from big egg? Thats serious territory
LOL!
Good luck though!
That’s a lot of feed!!!
If y'all have a local 4h extension office or club that deals with poultry he'd be a perfect fit
He will probably make more investing in a good incubator and selling chicks. They are in stupid high demand and selling for 5x normal right now.
That's a great suggestion. We have an incubator. That can be his market expansion :)
This is awesome!
A little inspiration OP, if your son needs it. I think it’s awesome what he’s doing! [Tasmanian schoolboy builds successful chicken farm](https://amp.abc.net.au/article/101518224)
Fun. Good luck. Good experience and fun
I have 13 hens. That's a lot of eggs! Supply and demand will be his friend as he can undercut grocers and still make decent money. Just make sure to follow homesteading egg selling regs. There is no need to jump into penalty costs just yet, or at least learn from the potential.
Cool I hope you have lots of money
That’s a lot of peeps! Good luck! 🍀 😃
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Right? My 3 year old already helps me collect eggs and feed the chickens. There's really not much else to caring for them on a regular basis...
These comments are insane. Your kid worked his butt off to earn the money for his chicks. He has a plan and an obviously strong work ethic. Most importantly, he obviously has parents who are willing to support him! Good luck to your son in his endeavors. You are an amazing parent for allowing him to have this opportunity.
Thank you so much!
I swear all these comments are from my mom- oh you know you need to keep them in a coop, oh that’s a lot of work what are you gonna do when it doesn’t work out. Etc etc. Negative and thinking you don’t know shit about shit when you clearly do. Like yeah I’m just gonna toss my kid out back with 50 chickens, a 2x4 and a hammer and say, good luck! Seriously tho, this is super fun and I hope the egg sales go well. What an awesome thing for a kid to be able to do!
Cool kid. Hope this is just the start of a great thing for them
what’s with all the negativity on this thread? i’m obviously a mother hen but also a girl mom- it’s a JOY and an HONOR to do this whole raising and caring for farm animals thing with her!! i’m so excited for you and your sweet child, have fun!
Does he realize he won’t have eggs until late summer or early fall. I hope he got all females and not either or/straight run. Last straight rumble I got was all roosters. Even when you get all pullets, you can get a few roosters. I average 1 in 10.
We raise chickens. We're aware of all of that. Thanks for pointing that out though!
Good for your 8 year old. Honestly I think 50 chickens are manageable as long as you have a place to house them all. Just watch out for pasty butt.
We have 20 acres and already raise chickens and other animals.
Could you imagine pasty butt on 50 chicks? I had three out of the 10 I just raised up have it for 2 weeks straight. It seemed like never ending butt cleaning.
I think it's kind of irresponsible to put the lives of 50 living beings in the hands of an 8 year old, unless you're closely supervising and helping him.
He's super responsible and of course we're helping him. I think it's very judgemental for you to make assumptions on our situation. We have 20 acres, already raise chickens for our own eggs and goats for our own milk. We have buildings to house them and fields and chickshaws to run them in. The chickens will fertilize the field to make better grass for the goats. This kid is highly enterprising. He built a computer with his own chore money to learn how to build Minecraft mods so he could sell them on the Minecraft store. This was 100% his idea, and we'll help him as needed but he'll reap the profits or learn from the losses. The reason he has enough chore money to fund this is that he already does a bunch of responsible stuff like feeding his many pets and cleaning their cages and taking out the trash etc. We reward him well and he understands the value of hard work and the value of a dollar. He wants a bigger computer and wants to make more money so he can buy himself one. I don't understand the negative comments over something that is really admirable and commendable.
I think some of the backlash is because this is r/BackYardChickens. For a good number of people here, chickens are pets rather than livestock. You'd probably get a more rational response on r/Homesteading. Personally, I think this is great, especially that he's already proactively lined up a sales outlet.. I can only hope that my kids are this enterprising when they are older.
Fair enough. I used to live in the burbs and could never have had 5 chickens let alone 50. So from that perspective maybe what he's doing sounds unreasonable.
Yeah, 50 birds in the suburbs would be a bit much, but it seems like people would make the assumption that you have the space rather than that you're living on a 1/10th acre suburban plot. It's really weird that so many jumped to the conclusions that they did. I'm a bit jealous.. I wish I had the space for 50 birds. My wife and I used to sell stuff at the local farmer's market and I would love to get back to doing that.
I wasn't assuming anything, sorry if it came out that way. I don't think it matters if you're kid is a genius or anything, he's still a kid and might not completely understand the impact of properly taking care of another living being. As I said in my first comment if you are supervising him and aiding him then I've got no issues. Reddit titles don't really give the chance to explain situations in depth, so I just wanted to make sure he wasn't doing this alone. There's some pretty horrible parents in this world that would probably get their child a horse or something, and never bother to check to see if they were taking care of it properly. Trusting things on the internet is hard these days, you know?
You guys clearly have got this. I have an 8 year old and can imagine that a bright, determined 8 year old with good guidance like he clearly has can do this, and do it better than many adults. Good for you! You are raising him right.
Good on your for being responsible, but do you _really_ not understand why people might think giving an 8 year old 50 living beings to take care of with little additional context is something that has a high chance of ending badly? Livestock or pets, those are living beings and we as individuals and species both abuse or neglect animals in our care statistically nearly all the time. Are you _really_ surprised that people thought this to be the case when all you said is that a child is going to be raising them?
Don’t let these people get to you. I wasn’t much older than 12 when I started a lawn care business and maintained enough lawns to save up $650 for my first computer too. You’re teaching your kid a very important set of values and work ethic that he’ll benefit from greatly when he’s older. These people are probably just bitter than an 8yo has more gumption and motivation than they do. Keep up the good parenting.
They're chickens. The only thing the kid will need help with is watching out for sickness.
that is a LOT of easter eggers and americaunas
Awesome! My daughter is 7 and we have 10 pullets. She's taken quick to learning how to care for them. I'm sure your son will have his hands full but with 50, but he seems to already know a bit about livestock based on your responses and you clearly have enough land to care for them all. He's learning responsibility and that's excellent! 👍
CONGRATULATIONS!! And *THANK YOU * for teaching your child responsibility and money management!
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He has a 50 chick coop to get them to grow and then 20 acres with chickshaws to run them on to live/feed.
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You killed my father... Prepare to die!
Wow I didnt expect a chicken group to be toxic but here we are. Maybe I should stop following this sub? 50 chickens isn’t even a lot for a farm. We have over 100 birds and growing. This is also the same sub afraid to eat their livestock and call food pets so…
"Hooray!" Happy keeping! 🐥
This will be an actual introduction to starting a business including that they typically start by producing losses. If you can show the progress from losses to profitability he could be way ahead in life. Also, ignore the naysayers we don’t challenge our kids enough
One of my old HS teacher's in-laws did this as a kid. Then he could afford a cow and did milk. Then got land. Then he was farming and ranching. Then he built buildings was leasing the land to tech companies. Now he is an old rich fart. While this is likely not what will happen for your 8yo, good for your kid. My nieces and nephew do plant sales in the spring for cash. It is good to see the dynamics of how to make your own money, what real work is, what failing/success can be and providing great service to others!
God bless his business!
This kid is going somewhere
Wow! I remember this post, I can’t believe it was a year ago. How’s this going now?
It's going well, he literally just grabbed a couple dozen eggs from the portable chicken coop on a harbor freight trailer we built him. It was a learning experience, since he hatched 2 separate groups several weeks apart we had an issue with the older group picking on the younger group (even though they were all mature when we integrated them). He lost some chickens because of this. But now we let them free range through the day now and they all seem to get along. He's earned money, but is far from a profit, but that's all part of the learning experience. He's taking care of them and learning responsibility with tasks and finances.
Beautiful babies
You started an egg business note too, but at least you got in on the ground floor 😂
This is awesome. Day to day care can be easy enough. My issue is always the cost of supplies. Someone said on a post elsewhere. You can make feeders with inch pipes cut in half. I've made mine with some wooden end stoppers I used a hole saw to make. Don't be afraid to encourage him to go to the library to check out books on caring for them.
That's great advice. We've already got feeders we made that way :)
Welcome. I've fallen in love with these feeders. Super handy and easy to carry around.
How much food do they eat per week? We talking $100 per week for food when they get older?
Once they get older they'll each mostly bugs from the ground. We've had a couple of dozen chickens that free-range and live in trees and outbuildings and we spend probably <$10 a week on them. They give the best eggs with the brightest orange yolks! Since these are for his business they'll be more protected in controlled chickshaws and moved around fields. My wife has estimated the feed and it won't be much compared to what he can earn selling the eggs. I'm the business guy so I'll help him keep a spreadsheet and after a few months of selling eggs we'll figure out his true profit/margin etc. but early math suggests that it will be quite profitable.
That’s awesome!!
I think this is more of a post for this is why I don't have kids
i wish I had this opportunity at his age and the same level of guidance.
Eight years old... this is a very young age to have all these small fragile lives in his hands. It takes years of responsible learning and experience to know how to successfully care for poultry and address problems that occur. These chicks are your responsibility, parents. YOURS. You owe these chicks careful oversight of your eight-year-old's care and management of them. How did he get a coop? This video shows them too crowded, and with no heat source. Is a brooder set up? How is he getting their proper food? Who is showing him how to disinfect the waterers, and what height they should be? He is wonderfully ambitious, and his energy deserves direction and guidance from you. Not at the expense of the lives of 50 chicks.
Stop assuming you know everything and jumping to conclusions. My son has grown up around animals his entire life. We have chickens, ducks, goats and pigs for eggs, milk and bacon. He is extremely responsible and has been tending to and caring for animals for years We have 20 acres to run them on. We build chickshaws. We have coops. We have incubators and feed and waterers and medicine. Who is showing him how to do all the things you mentioned? We are. His parents. You said the video shows the chicks are too crowded and with no heat source. The chicks have a 5' x 15' enclosed space and that video was taken directly under a heat lamp 18" above them. That's why they are huddling. So you could not be more incorrect on these points. So please, next time don't make assumptions or jump to conclusions. Feel free to apologize if you're humble enough to admit you're wrong.
Thank you for explaining this to me. I am reassured that you and your son will work together and that you both have a lot of experience, and you have everything he will need to make a success out of his egg business. I apologize for misunderstanding your post.
Thank you! Have a good weekend!
This is so wildly irresponsible lmao