Belinda Burgess tried having a regular job. She tried retiring. Neither stuck.
Despite 12 hour days, 7 days a week, she says running a commercial poultry farm is a good gig, a passion. Therapy, even.
She sells 30-40+ dozen eggs per week at the height of the season, and hatches hundreds of chicks per week. She sells year-round.
Ask her how many breeds she keeps and she’ll have to check.
In this conversation, Belinda is beautifully candid. She shares what it’s really like selling hatching eggs as a business — the ups and downs and some of her major learnings along the way.
Whether it’s leg banding baby chicks at midnight or packing eggs at dawn…this chat will give you a feel for what it takes to build a successful operation.
Topics discussed include:
- How much Belinda pays per week in feed
- The problem with hatching pullet eggs
- Her most popular breeds
- Why she’s phasing out her chicken tractors
- How she ended up with silken Araucanas
- How to breed stronger chickens
- How she accidentally killed 2 of her best hens with scratch mix
- ILT (infectious laryngotracheitis) and how her birds tested positive for it without having the disease
- Marek’s disease
- Quarantining birds
- Challenges in dealing with egg customers
- Her advice to someone considering starting an egg business
