Trying to figure a profitable animal for a small farm

[John Galt]

Hi, I have a few spare acres of pasture in N. Georgia along with a 10 stall barn about 90 minutes away from a large city. Since I already work on the property I'm trying top figure out what small animals such as chickens or rabbits can I raise and sell profitably.

Because of Georgia butchering laws it sounds like selling butchered meat off the farm isn't doable and I'm located far enough away from any cities I don't think people are going to drive out here for 10 lbs of meat.

Lots of people around here try selling eggs but few if any actually make a profit at it. There are several large quail hatcheries around here so I doubt I can compete.

Anybody have any suggestions. I'm leaning towards "free range"" rabbits but I'm not sure how to sell the meat.

 

[Latestarter]

I'm sure the coyotes, hawks, foxes, etc will just love free range dinners... Sorry I don't have anything to offer that might be of help... Perhaps you could offer horse boarding? You have the stalls, and that might generate a monthly profit. I have NO IDEA of the ins and outs of running a successful boarding facility, the contracts/agreements involved etc. But greetings and welcome to BYH from NE TX! So glad you joined us. There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

PLEASE put at least your general location in your profile. It could be very important if/when you ask for or offer help or advice. You know, climate issues and such. I recommend at least your state as most folks won't be able to figure out where if you put anything more specific (county, town, street, etc) by itself. Old folks like me will never remember from this post & look there first. To add it, mouse hover over Account top right and a drop down will appear. Click on Personal Details and scan down. You'll see the spot for Location. Then go to the bottom and save changes. Thanks! Hope you enjoy the site!

 

[greybeard]

I have a few spare acres of pasture in

How many is 'a few'?
I do not know the details but my niece is making $$ raising and selling show and meat rabbits--live meat rabbits, not processed.

 

[John Galt]

profile updated. I'm in NW Georgia.

I grew up on a horse and know a fair amount about boarding horses but it takes at least 30 stalls to make it a profitable business if you're going to offer "full board" which means daily stall mucking and feeding because someone need to be dedicated to the job 7 days a week. So for 2 years I tried only renting the stalls out to people who would maintain their own stalls. Very few were interested and they always seemed to need me to feed or muck for them. Something I sometimes could do and other times I was out of town for work. My wife can deal with small animals but is scared of horses so that wasn't an option. I also tried pasture boarding but there were always problems and with only 4 acres of pasture I was limited to 2 horses.

After reading some threads on this site I could raise the rabbits in the barn but for human consumption being "free range" would allow me to charge a higher price if I could find a reasonable method to legally butcher and sell them.

While I keep a few bee hives for personal use the guys I know who keep 50+ hives for profit seem to lose money some years and make money other years.

 

[John Galt]

I didn't think there would be much demand for live meat rabbits. Most city folk I know wouldn't be interested in killing and processing a rabbit.

 

[greybeard]

I didn't think there would be much demand for live meat rabbits. Most city folk I know wouldn't be interested in killing and processing a rabbit.

Like I said, I don't know the details, but they do travel a good bit to shows in Tx and La and advertise. They live about 40 miles from Houston.....and about 30 miles from Baytown, which is a pop of about 75,000 living inhabitants.

I'm pretty sure, that if you could find a way to honestly add "100% organic" "non-GMO" and 'gluten free' to your rental prospectus, the world will beat a path to your door with fistfulls of $$$$.

 

[John Galt]

I'll look into setting up a breeding pair in one of the horse stalls and see if I can sell the litter. Kind of get a feel for the business.

 

[OneFineAcre]

My wife manages a farmers market and she has a meat vendor that sells pasture raised pork. He takes them to a slaughter house and pays for processing and packaging. You wouldn't have to slaughter on the farm.
In NC you can however slaughter chickens yourself for resale. We know another farm that does organic, free range chickens. They sell for big money in Raleigh. Organic eggs sell for $6 per dozen. It takes some effort to get certified as organic though.

 

[Mike CHS]

You can check with your state to see what the laws are and that will help you figure out which way to go. We can't slaughter animals on our place but you can be certified USDA for meat sales. The requirements are pretty straightforward and about all you need is a dedicated storage area and freezer in Tennessee.

 

[John Galt]

In GA we also can't slaughter and sell. We may be able to sell from the place assuming we are certified to sell but there are no slaughterhouses within 100 miles that would accept a chicken or rabbit that I've been able to find unless the animals came from a huge industrial farm. Hogs, cattle, and deer yes but with only a few acres of pasture probably not worth the re-fencing it would require. And we are far out enough that few if any people would be willing to drive out to us.

A neighbor with about 20 acres or woods and fields tried hogs but couldn't make it pay. He also tried free range chicken eggs with no real profit; to much driving with a few birds or 2 dozen eggs.