When Ryan Flanagan started Hatching Time in late 2018, he had never raised a chicken. The recent college graduate had entrepreneurial instincts and tried several ventures, but nothing proved sustainable. Then he learned that an acquaintance in Turkey, Yağız Aksu, was looking to expand a poultry supply business in the U.S. After connecting and aligning on the opportunity, Hatching Time launched.
Seven years later, Hatching Time has doubled its revenue every year, expanded to a 30,000-square-foot facility in New Castle, Delaware, and now serves customers across North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the U.K. The business is preparing for expansion into Australia in 2026.
“We’ve done tens of millions in sales since we started,” Flanagan said. “It’s just mind blowing to say that out loud.”
In early 2019, after months of planning, the first container shipment arrived with 22 pallets of quail cages, chicken brooders, and other poultry supplies. The inventory filled nearly every room of Flanagan’s parents’ home. The garage, kitchen, basement, and even Flanagan’s bedroom became storage space.
“You couldn’t move in the house,” recalled Flanagan, who had quit his full-time job to focus on the business. “My parents were a big help in the early days, helping to ship products out of the house and manage customer support.”
That first shipment sold out within weeks. By the end of 2020, Hatching Time surpassed $1 million in revenue as more people embraced backyard poultry and sustainable food sourcing. Today, an estimated 11 to 17 million U.S. households own backyard chickens.
Flanagan started selling in the Amazon store in mid-2022 and exceeded $1 million in Amazon sales within the first year. Amazon now accounts for over 25 percent of Hatching Time’s total revenue and continues to grow.
“I saw Amazon as a massive opportunity to scale from day one,” Flanagan said.
Product education was essential when Hatching Time first launched in Amazon’s store, particularly for such specialized products. The business tapped into Amazon Ads to increase product visibility, reach more shoppers, and increase sales.
The Hatching Time team also built trust with prospective customers through Amazon Vine, which allows sellers to access a community of trusted Amazon shoppers who share their honest product experiences.
The A+ Content tool allowed Hatching Time to explain their products through longer descriptions, comparison charts, videos, and visual diagrams to clearly communicate product value.
“Our equipment requires education,” Flanagan explained. “It’s a premium product, and visuals make a huge difference in helping customers understand what they’re buying.”
Hatching Time also uses two of Amazon’s order fulfillment options to optimize logistics and margins. Large and bulkier products, especially freight orders, ship through Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM), which allows Hatching Time to manage their own storage and shipping directly from their New Castle facility.
Smaller and fast-moving products go through Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), which handles the storage, picking, packing, fulfillment, and customer service for sellers. The business plans to add dozens of additional products to the FBA program this year to improve Prime eligibility and conversion rates.
The business is also expanding into consumables, including natural poultry treats and supplements. Flanagan said these products are well suited for Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program, which provides discounted pricing and coupons when customers sign up for regularly scheduled deliveries.
To safeguard its intellectual property, Hatching Time taps into Amazon Brand Registry, which uses advanced machine learning and expert investigators to prevent the attempted listing of counterfeit or infringing products.
“Amazon provides a comprehensive toolkit,” Flanagan said. “The infrastructure is there. It’s about using it strategically.”
Hatching Time has nearly 1,000 SKUs, ranging from compact 24-egg incubators to industrial 10,000-egg incubation systems, along with chick brooders, quail breeding cages, poultry feeders, poultry waterers, chicken coops, poultry processing equipment, and natural treats and supplements.
The brand differentiates itself through patented incubation humidification systems, precision ventilation, and vibration-free egg turning technology introduced to the U.S. market. Other flagship products include COMFORTPLAST stackable brooding and breeding systems constructed from modern plastics that resist rust, rot, and moisture.
Hatching Time employs over two dozen people and operates a showroom in their New Castle facility. Visitors can see every stage of poultry development, from incubation to maturity. The facility also houses retail and office space – a model Flanagan plans to replicate across North America.
Community involvement is also central to Hatching Time’s mission. The company donates products to universities, classrooms, agricultural programs, and 4-H organizations. Flanagan also mentors young entrepreneurs and returns to his alma mater, the University of Delaware, to speak with students.
As Hatching Time surpasses $10 million in annual revenue and prepares for further international expansion, Flanagan remains focused on the impact.
“These incubators and easy-to-clean, easy-to-use supplies are changing people’s lives,” he said. “We’re helping families become more sustainable Our equipment helps people be more sustainable, helps the community, and lets them really know where their food comes from.”