Would you use a Poultry Hot Shot service?

Hey Everyone,

I have long been pondering about this, and with the dip into business school recently and my new found wisdom, with much more to learn
I am interested in branching out and meeting the needs of fellow poultry enthusiasts alike.

I have shipped eggs before and have gotten them shipped. I have also driven all over Alberta practically, delivering and picking up different birds, eggs etc, I have even done a poultry run into BC for myself and a few others.

Would you utilize a service that guaranteed Live delivery of your Birds, a service that will offer over night hot shot or 2 Day Express service for hatching eggs. Eggs handled with the most of care and consideration. Transported inter provincial in safe packaging with reports upon delivery? Don't want to ship live birds Via Air mail. I will keep your chickens grounded and happy on the road to their new place.

If this is a service that you would utilize then please submit your opinions.

thank you.

but for me not till next year

Seriously. I have thought of doing that myself. THe only reason I don't is I can't be away from home overnight. I have responsibilities that prevent me from doing so.

I think it's something that would be so helpful and handy.
Especially if it's someone who knows how to handle and care for poultry while in transit.
Most haulers don't understand. You give them an exhibition quality bird that you want treated with care, all they see is a dumb chicken in a crate.

I think you could do a good job of it Jonny and people would appreciate it!
Just tough to figure enough stops along the way to pay enough fuel and vehicle wear and tear to make it cost effective??
I say check it out for sure!!

But sadly Jonny I would be more interested in being able to get stock from out of province. I am always tempted by birds out in Eastern Canada, as they seem to have more selection and quality out there.

I would think you would almost have to start with a once a month or once every other month shipping date so that people can plan for getting stock and then you could be full both ways and plan your trip to be the most economical. And as the need and service grow you can add more dates.

I like KLRs suggestions.

k.r.l wrote:But sadly Jonny I would be more interested in being able to get stock from out of province. I am always tempted by birds out in Eastern Canada, as they seem to have more selection and quality out there.

I would think you would almost have to start with a once a month or once every other month shipping date so that people can plan for getting stock and then you could be full both ways and plan your trip to be the most economical. And as the need and service grow you can add more dates.

What Realy????? Or do you mean in ON??

I voted no, because it is easy enough to find rides and I travel a lot myself around this province. Anything out of province, just fly them it's much faster and with current regulations the chickens are well taken care of anyway. Food and water in a large enough crate that is safe for the birds is a must for most all airlines I believe. I flew in adult birds from Toronto a few months ago and the shipping cost was far less then a small car would cost in fuel and much much faster. Unless you like doing it for free, I hate to burst your bubble, but you won't get enough clients to pay your time and fuel and even hotel costs must be considered, sandwich for lunch etc.

Piet

For me it would be great. With 6 children I cannot pack up and take off to pick up birds or eggs so have to rely on the postal system or the odd time someone travels this direction. I thank Perry for the times he has picked things up for me and of pfarms also.

I would think if you could do a schedule of when you were travelling and where and routes it would make it easier to book rides. Definitely let me know if you decide to do this. There has been many times I have passed on purchasing birds for a lack of a ride

Hey Everyone,

Some great feed back and input which is nice to see....... Thanks!

To further Elaborate like Kyle suggested, scheduled trips would be arranged.

The idea is to offer a friendly service those whom seek other means of transport.

One idea of how to arrange this was to do two trips a month Trip #1 would head west to the Island, dropping off at designated meeting locations at certain times to people using the service.
Dropping off west ward bound and bringing anything back eastward bound.
Same goes for Trip # 2, I would head into Saskatchewan / Manitoba meeting people at certain stops along the way.

I would inform interested parties of my travel route and times, and offer the service to those whom can benefit.
The goal is to one day be able to offer Professional Livestock Transport.

Piet,
This is something that I have been working on and developing a business plan since fall of 2010. I have put much time, thought, consideration and calculations into this.
Not every company has to be profitable, you can still gain success and prosper even if you are breaking even. By attending The Bachelors of Business Program at NAIT I have and am Learning a great deal of many different key aspects of business. The goal here is to not make a profit, but rather to combine my love of Professional Driving, hobby farming and socializing into one Journey across Canada, while offering exceptional customer service.

I am at the point now where I am looking for the feed back from those whom this service is intended for.

As for the Gas, hotel accommodations and food... in small business such as this one I am gearing at starting up, many of these things become a tax write off, now I know its Not 100% but the breaks are there. I deal with a personal accountant for all my taxes and it would be her issue to see what I can get back and what becomes a write off.
I'm not one to stay in fancy accommodations, but the intention is to never be gone more than a night.

Most trips would be conducted on weekends, and if the demand is there then a mid week run would also be scheduled in.

I just wanted to say thanks again for the input, Piet you pointed out some important and interesting facts, I respect that you wouldn't use the service, as you have no need for it and I welcome your input.

I have considered much, Last year I did a trial run and it worked out well, now if I can get the costs down then I think the demand would rise.
I am still in early phase of this venture, how ever I have already started eyeing up a new set of wheels to accommodate my intentions.

I voted no, because I cannot believe that you would be profitably enough to stay afloat and therefor you would not do the business. However, if you ARE able to do it in a matter where the client is not paying too much more than on a regular freight, I probably would use it. Other things come to my mind with timing also, especially hatching eggs. The sellers need to time around your trips and so do the buyers, which can be a problem. Most people when they decide they want something they want it now and shipping regular mail, you can do that about everyday. A live animal transport business is a good one to get into, I suggest a stock trailer and dealing with larger animals, like horses. Then you can charge a good km fee and really do more than just cover costs. There is also a much larger target group and not just seasonal.
If you can do fine with just covering cost for a long time, then good on you.
I cannot afford to do that, if I don't make money at work, I simply won't survive even if I lived in a wood crate with a candle, because candles cost 25 cents.
Aaah, I watch shark tank too much! Who do I remind you off from that show??

Piet

I think this would be a great service, and I definitely voted yes.
If you advertised an upcoming run ahead of time - like way ahead - it would give customers time to make arrangements with breeders, breeders time to gather together some hatching eggs or chicks, builders time to make some nest boxes that others have been asking for etc....
I think this could be a nice little side business for you, Jonny. Maybe not a huge money-maker, but like you said if it is something you enjoy anyway then why not give it a try?
Plus it would help you distribute your own eggs/coops etc...

I for one would much rather pay someone I know to transport chickens for me than trusting them to the unknown. There is so much care and time that goes into producing that hen or rooster and getting him or her to a decent size...it would be heartbreaking to have something happen during transport that might have be avoidable with someone who knows all about chickens and their needs.

Johnny, I think it is a good idea..I guess there would be a few factors that would need lots of research. It would still ultimately depend on cost. It would be a much better way to have birds transported than flying but there is more stress involved with handlers that don't know birds. I think people would even pay a bit more to have you haul birds for them, but if it was quite a bit more you may not have any clients. I think if you can haul larger amounts at one time it may be worth doing. If you lost money doing it you would be shooting yourself in the foot... .. Although the write off factor is definately a plus. I know that location is definately a factor for me buying birds. There are many breeders who don't ship live birds and having someone pick them up for me would be nice... To go to the lower mainland would you be going through grande prairie? Two thumbs up on this idea.

Hee, hee, Jonny. I giggled at question three. That must be there for non-Alberta viewers.

Schipperkesue wrote:Hee, hee, Jonny. I giggled at question three. That must be there for non-Alberta viewers.

I'd be one of them. What's a 'hot shot'? I put them in my gloves and socks to keep my fingers and toes warm in the winter.

Hot shots drive parts out to oil and gas well sites that are being worked over or newly completed. Usually a hot shot is needed in a hurry, because of a failed part that is holding up a million dollar operation. Hot Shots make good coin.

Thanks Piet.

Excellent Idea. We've run Hotshot services in the past and I think for your Idea to work you will need a vehicle you can bunk in when you need to. You will also need some good support and planning from a home base while you drive. Ideas like this, if you can make it work, can help drive the backyard poultry industry forward.
Have you considered biosecurity issues yet. Is it possible to compartmentalize each separate order, guarantee my birds from where ever wont get a nasty from somewhere else?
Do you have some sort of handling system in mind already or..maybe youd like to keep some juicy details under wraps??

I wonder if one of the thingies that people with dog sled teams have for their vehicles would work for hauling older birds with. This way your birds could be kept apart from the others from different areas. Just an idea for bio security!

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I voted yes because if there was a planned schedule and I wanted to ship or buy a bird then I could plan around your schedule so I could see myself using your service as a valuable resource.

I would use this. The only reason why i don't buy eggs from out of province is the bad turn out because of poor handling.