Is there a market?

P

PheasantWhisperer

Member
I have been asking around and figured I would check the forum too. We used to raise pheasant, quail, and chukar. Stopped the last 3 years as licensing has gotten more strict and kids got older, etc... So I have all of the equipment and housing, and I will still raise some for my own, but I'm at a point wear I need to sell off equipment or get back into it. I know preserves are ever more popular but I dont want to get back into that deal I don't think. Too much time during hunting season to run it correctly and still be able to go on trips and hunt wild birds myself. So I guess my question is, "Is there a market for birds out there?" I know it can be somewhat lucrative shipping birds outta state but that's a whole nother license and ball of wax. Not counting that idea out but not even sure if there is really a need.
 
PheasantWhisperer said:
I have been asking around and figured I would check the forum too. We used to raise pheasant, quail, and chukar. Stopped the last 3 years as licensing has gotten more strict and kids got older, etc... So I have all of the equipment and housing, and I will still raise some for my own, but I'm at a point wear I need to sell off equipment or get back into it. I know preserves are ever more popular but I dont want to get back into that deal I don't think. Too much time during hunting season to run it correctly and still be able to go on trips and hunt wild birds myself. So I guess my question is, "Is there a market for birds out there?" I know it can be somewhat lucrative shipping birds outta state but that's a whole nother license and ball of wax. Not counting that idea out but not even sure if there is really a need.
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Hey Brandon - my best advice (take it for it's worth...ha) would be to find some larger game bird breeders/suppliers and either ask to stop by to visit/buy them coffee/lunch/drinks etc with the ownership for networking to ask them questions or see if they will visit with you over the phone if visiting with them in person is prohibitive.

You'll learn far more about what it takes to make money or grow your operation etc. I did the same thing when looking at the assisted living business. Asked a few successful people for advice/help then dove in - one person let me spend a week with them but I had to travel from Wichita to Albuquerque NM -- it was worth it.

Anyways just a thought - I'd think a lot of people would be willing to help - the face to face I think is always best but requires an investment of money/time but hey it's usually worth it, you'll likely find out quickly whether you think it's worth it to jump back in or at the worst you'll probably find a buyer for your equipment.
 
KsHusker said:
Hey Brandon - my best advice (take it for it's worth...ha) would be to find some larger game bird breeders/suppliers and either ask to stop by to visit/buy them coffee/lunch/drinks etc with the ownership for networking to ask them questions or see if they will visit with you over the phone if visiting with them in person is prohibitive.

You'll learn far more about what it takes to make money or grow your operation etc. I did the same thing when looking at the assisted living business. Asked a few successful people for advice/help then dove in - one person let me spend a week with them but I had to travel from Wichita to Albuquerque NM -- it was worth it.

Anyways just a thought - I'd think a lot of people would be willing to help - the face to face I think is always best but requires an investment of money/time but hey it's usually worth it, you'll likely find out quickly whether you think it's worth it to jump back in or at the worst you'll probably find a buyer for your equipment.
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Primary Market Research...good advice. Visit with those in the business, and yes, face-to-face is always best.

Secondary Market Research can yield good information, if there's a lot written about the market. I would guess there's not much written about the bird market, but it's worth a try.

Someone is supplying the game farms - might as well be you!

Good Luck.
 
I've done some research and have an acquaintence that's in it full time. I know the market is there if I wanna go big. When the eggs start to the time they run out of full sized birds this guy is shipping out tractor trailer loads of birds. I guess I was more talking about hobby farming. Maybe a few thousand birds per year to supplement the money being spent on habitat restoration at our farm. I have the facility to house about 12,000 birds but do not want to go to capacity. I know there is no room for the small time farmer now days no matter what you are farming so my question was more about is there enough people hunting and enough participation in trial clubs that there would be consistent buyers out there without having to go huge and buy trucks. I do have a couple of preserves that I still sell too but I more or less middle man it anymore. Hold the birds till they need them because I still have the space. And they dont mind if I wanna work my dogs on a bird or three. But outside those small local preserves its just a few local trainers that still need em.
 
PheasantWhisperer said:
I have been asking around and figured I would check the forum too. We used to raise pheasant, quail, and chukar. Stopped the last 3 years as licensing has gotten more strict and kids got older, etc... So I have all of the equipment and housing, and I will still raise some for my own, but I'm at a point wear I need to sell off equipment or get back into it. I know preserves are ever more popular but I dont want to get back into that deal I don't think. Too much time during hunting season to run it correctly and still be able to go on trips and hunt wild birds myself. So I guess my question is, "Is there a market for birds out there?" I know it can be somewhat lucrative shipping birds outta state but that's a whole nother license and ball of wax. Not counting that idea out but not even sure if there is really a need.
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Check around your area —do you have any active retriever clubs-especially if they put on trials/hunt tests ect.
Or better yet active pro-trainers —both are always a good market for birds—jmo
 
david0311 said:
Check around your area —do you have any active retriever clubs-especially if they put on trials/hunt tests ect.
Or better yet active pro-trainers —both are always a good market for birds—jmo
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I second this. For a while we had a guy that kept a handful of birds at our retriever club (we had a small flier pen). It was on the honor system, when you wanted a flier you grabbed what you needed and left cash in the honor box. Unfortunately he went big time and our 20 birds a week wasn't worth it to him any longer. And the pro trainer could be weekly gold year around. However you may need to diversify into mallards as they hold up a lot better for training birds. While you are at raise pigeons too for young dog work.
How far are you from Miami OK?
 
Ok. I'm gonna get after it. After careful thought and pondering I've decided to invest in the birds again. I already have the equipment and space and now I have the habitat. What I don't sell I will release into the preserve and hopefully have a few after season hunts on it. I don't plan on selling hunts just going to have the preserve license in case guys need a place to work there dog or want to put em out. Im going to go the chukar and pheasant route first. Add quail later and possibly other exotics. Depending on how many different permits it takes. Have gotten calls this year and have had a couple of preserves commit to purchase birds for the 2020 season. Once February hits I will be cleaning johnny houses and getting the laying pens ready. The crap I had in storage in the flight barn will indeed be a flight barn again! Thanks for the advice and don't be afraid to send people that need birds my way this fall.
 
PheasantWhisperer said:
Ok. I'm gonna get after it. After careful thought and pondering I've decided to invest in the birds again. I already have the equipment and space and now I have the habitat. What I don't sell I will release into the preserve and hopefully have a few after season hunts on it. I don't plan on selling hunts just going to have the preserve license in case guys need a place to work there dog or want to put em out. Im going to go the chukar and pheasant route first. Add quail later and possibly other exotics. Depending on how many different permits it takes. Have gotten calls this year and have had a couple of preserves commit to purchase birds for the 2020 season. Once February hits I will be cleaning johnny houses and getting the laying pens ready. The crap I had in storage in the flight barn will indeed be a flight barn again! Thanks for the advice and don't be afraid to send people that need birds my way this fall.
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Keep good financial records and logs of your time so you can manage your business. As cornballish as this may sound I learned a ton from watching "The Profit" -- Marcus Lemonis -- 3 P's - People, process and product. The most recent seasons are a bit more scripted - but his earlier ones were pretty good. Lots of little things to pick up.
 
Pheasant whisperer, I would love to chat with you about your business model. I have always wanted to raise birds but have never ran the numbers to see what rate of return I would get. Would you mind having a discussion with me on the phone someday?
 
goldenboy said:
Pheasant whisperer, I would love to chat with you about your business model. I have always wanted to raise birds but have never ran the numbers to see what rate of return I would get. Would you mind having a discussion with me on the phone someday?
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Not a problem. Im going to do a couple things a little different this time but overall budget is pretty simple. Building materials for johnny houses, brooders, flight pen will be the only thing I'd have to "make-up". We built everything out of old billboards and pipe spools so saved a lot of materials there.
 
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