Advice for selling chicks, meet in public or at my house?

[LadyCluck77]

Hi everyone!

I made some ads to sell the extra chicks from the Easter hatch a long, placed them at my local feed store, and people have started calling about them, but now I'm worried about exposing my home to potential crimes.
One guy called me tonight, and wanted to come see the chicks right then, even though it was like 8:30 at night. My small child was in bed, so I said no.
I wanted to ask, do you usually just meet in a public space, or do you give the people directions to come to your house? Any advice or anecdotes are welcome.
What would be a safe way to sell these extra birds?

 

[petalumapaul]

I don't sell chicks, however I did post on Craigslist to get rid of a young rooster for free.
I'm comfortable having people come to my house. Everyone is a little different on this.
Trust your own sense of what's comfortable.

 

[donrae]

This is a highly personal decision. You have to do a risk assessment and decide what you're comfortable with. Myself, I'm okay with folks coming here. I have visible security and always have my honey or teenage boy when someone's over. Plus, it's pretty apparent from looking around we don't have very much to steal

. When I've sold mature hens I've asked folks to come at dusk or later to get birds off the roost.
Guys tend to come alone, ladies always bring a friend, and good for them!
I've also dealt with folks (not necessarily for chickens, just other sellers) who are more comfortable meeting in a public place. It's also common to do that here as my area is a lot of smaller towns scattered around. It's a usual thing to meet someone coming "to town" at the feed store, or the grocery store parking lot, places like that. I mean, I always need to go to the feed store anyway, and usually so do they!

If I were a woman with small children, no fence/big dog/ other visible security, I'd probably meet elsewhere. Like I said, highly personal.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

^ x2.

I usually do it either way. People that come to my house see our 2 large dogs, my scary hubby or the targets sitting in our yard with bullet holes in them. I've never had anyone come back uninvited. And, much like donrae, we haven't got much worth stealing anyway. I've actually made quite a few chicken friends through Craigslist adds, one I've know for the last 5 years.

But, something to consider when you have people come to your house is biosecurity. All of my for sale birds are in a hutch well away from my coop so no one ever actually gets to see it or go inside (and, I'd imagine, it lessens the chance of them wanting to steal my breeding flock of they never see them).

Doing what makes you most comfortable is the best advice. If you're worried about people coming to your house, meet them somewhere else. Even if its just down the street.

Good luck!

 

[abserbean]

I have done it both ways. I've sold two cars on craiglist, and never had any problems, but I always had people come look when my husband was home and they didn't come inside. I've purchased hatching eggs and chicks, one person I met at a gas station (female seller), and one I went to their property (male seller, but I did take a friend). I say go with your gut, if you feel uncomfortable about it then have them meet you somewhere. I find most people are pretty honest people just looking to buy or sell something, but there is always an exception to that.

 

[dekel18042]

To Lady Cluck 77 from Maine. Was trying to figure out either how to answer you and was unable to on the breed forum or was unable to PM you. Can you PM me, and I'll tell you how we lost chanteclers in the heat and this wasn't a hot summer by any means. These were gotten privately. I had started with hatchery birds of other breeds just to see what I like. Turned out, for me this was an excellent idea., Then what I liked, I got more of.
We have both cold winters and can have hot humid summers. Easter eggers are my favorites (because of the colored eggs) and have done well in both extremes as have my Jersey Giants, marans, welsumers, and buckeyes.
Both my husband and I like the buckeyes which I have been told are the American version of chanteclers and they seem fine in both extremes.So I might get a few more of those.
Right now I'm going to stick with the Americaunas, Easter Eggers, Marans and welsumers so I can have a really colorful egg basket, but I like all of the above birds. They're hardy and have nice temperaments.

 

[lazy gardener]

Lady cluck: Interesting discussion. I understand your concerns, and urge you to follow your gut. Your gut impression will rarely steer you wrong. I would be uncomfortable with someone coming to my house without my husband around. Biosecurity is also a huge concern.