A business for the birds

PESHTIGO, Wis. — Colton Schwittay got his first 18 chickens when he was 2 years old. Eight years later, he is operating Colton’s Chicks LLC, a burgeoning business selling eggs and an auxiliary business selling rare breeding stock.

“I just liked chickens when I was little,” Colton said. “I saw some at the store and wanted them, so we bought some. Then the next year I wanted more, and I still want more every year.”

Ten-year-old Colton has amassed a flock of 2,500 laying hens, producing more than 2,100 eggs a day, as well as a specialty flock of Vorwerks, a rare German breed of chickens. The chickens are kept in six different chicken houses on his family’s farms and on neighboring farms.

Colton lives with his parents, Jeremy and Monica, and sister, Adalyn, at Schwittay Farms LLC, near Peshtigo, where they milk 550 cows. Colton also relishes breeding his own growing herd of registered Ayrshires. He reinvests the profit from Colton’s Chicks back into the business, as well as purchasing animals to grow his herd of Ayrshires.

Having a budding entrepreneur residing in a busy household on a bustling dairy farm is a challenge, but one his parents embrace.

“We’re proud of what he’s learned and accomplished,” Monica said. “It’s rewarding to watch your children embrace the values you’ve taught them. He cares about his work, takes good care of his hens and takes pride in knowing that he’s providing a good product to his customers.”

As his original small flock’s production began to outpace his family’s needs, Colton started selling eggs at various farmers markets and his family’s market, Schwittway Harmony Market. Demand began to grow, so he decided to expand his flock to keep pace.

“We had more and more people wanting eggs,” Colton said. “People would buy them and then they’d tell other people how good they were. I needed more chickens to lay more eggs to sell to more people.”

Colton noted he was surprised to learn that his customers largely preferred brown eggs, so he added that to his criteria for selecting new chickens.

To continue marketing from his growing venture, Colton needed to apply for processing licensure through the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Colton said he was not nervous going through the initial licensing process, three years ago, mostly because he did not fully understand what it meant.

“Now I know how important it is,” Colton said. “If I don’t have a license, I couldn’t sell my eggs and then I’m not sure what I’d do because I have all these chickens and they lay all these eggs.”

Colton added retail stores, schools and restaurants to his growing list of vendors. He also began marketing through the online home delivery service Farm Fresh Xpress, based in nearby Wrightstown.

While selling his eggs at a farmers market in Green Bay, Colton made a connection that would make many of his Wisconsin brethren jealous. He was approached about supplying eggs to Lambeau Field, for the Green Bay Packers. While it was an exciting prospect for the young businessman, landing the contract required him to take his production model to the next level.

“It didn’t come easily for him,” Monica said. “They treated him like any other business owner, working to land an account. Their chef had very specific standards for the eggs, and Colton had to work to meet those.”

The Packers chef demanded harder shells and egg whites that would stick. Colton set about researching how to achieve those parameters in his eggs. He learned that he could affect both the quality of the egg white and shell hardness by making modifications to his chicken feed.

Colton now sends more than 200 dozen eggs to Lambeau Field each week.

With his business growing beyond the backyard, he remained committed to his belief that he did not want his chickens to be in a factory — a philosophy he thinks makes his eggs of the quality that draws consumers.

“Having good eggs is really important to me,” Colton said. “That’s why people buy them. And it’s my name on the box. I want people to think good things when they think about my eggs and my chickens.”

Giving his chickens good lives is a top priority for Colton, and his chickens are housed cage-free. He has worked with his family to ensure proper ventilation in their houses and that their nutritional needs are consistently met.

“I make sure they have fresh straw and bedding, and they have sand baths to keep them clean and comfortable,” Colton said. “I give them treats; they like vegetables and mealworms. I talk to them and I play music for them.”

Colton works with Sunnyside Hatchery in Beaver Dam, to source his chickens. He purchases pullets, eliminating the need for special facilities to hatch and raise large volume of chicks. He hatches 500 chicks each year in addition to the purchased pullets.

By nature, Colton is curious and always looking for new ideas. That is how he discovered the rare German Vorwerk breed.

“There aren’t that many of them left in the U.S.; I thought they were neat,” Colton said.

Colton searched for Vorwerk breeders and found two in Wisconsin and sourced his initial chicks 18 months ago. Now he has orders from around the U.S., to purchase hatching eggs and pullets from his small flock.

“I’ve already been able to make some money on them,” Colton said. “And I just enjoy them, they’re so pretty and they’re different. And I want to help grow the population here in the U.S.”

Colton takes pride in exhibiting his chickens at the Marinette County Fair but said that bird flu requirements make that a daunting process.

“We have to test every bird on this property before they can be exhibited this year,” Monica said. “That’s also the only way he can show his eggs, so we’ll test everything here on this property because that’s where the Vorwerks are housed.”

Colton’s eggs have been selected as best in show for several years, judged by the dozen, based on quality, size and consistency.

Colton has his eye on the future, setting goals for continued growth for Colton’s Chicks. He hopes to add 800-1,000 birds each year, until he reaches 5,000 birds. He is currently considering purchases of both a skid loader and walk-in cooler for the business.

Colton believes the sky is the limit for anyone, any age, if they want something bad enough.

“I’d tell other kids to do what their dream is,” Colton said. “You’ll never know what you are capable of doing, or how successful you can be until you try.”