I cant find customers!

[Celie]

My ads are also on craigslist and in my area, people are willing to drive over an hour to buy my "free range" and "all natural food fed" roosters and Muscovy drakes. I don't butcher mine, so they leave in boxes or feed bags. Maybe you could try putting up ads at your local high end grocery stores?

Are you selling ducks or turkeys?

 

[rikithemonk]

Think of who would pay $5 a pound for a 20+ pound turkey, Or in other words, Spend $100.00 for their Thanksgiving turkey, before the trimmings! Those are the people who will be your customers and you have to convince to buy them. They will not be the people who shop price, they look at the "BIG PICTURE",so to speak. They are concerned with the environmental and social factors in their food purchases. These are the customers that will pay more for one of your turkeys because your farming practices are ecologically sound, the turkeys represent an important link to biodiversity, and all taste tests document that these birds have superior flavor and texture.Your marketing message must speak to these receptive consumers. Your commitment to farming and rare breeds will engage the attention and loyalty of these customers. They respect you as a hands on farmer, with your hands directly involved in raising turkeys. It will be eccentual to develop a direct relationship with these customers. Once you have convinced people to purchase your Turkeys, you must include as part of your marketing strategy the education of your consumers about the preparation of the birds, as they cook quicker and are handled differently, I am told than, grocery store BB turkeys and your customers will be looking to you to advise them on how to cook the birds for the best eating experience. Maybe explaining the brine process and furnishing a recipe or two. A professional chef can help you with this. In other words, if you really want to sell turkeys, You have to MAKE IT HAPPEN ! Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!

The problem that you have is simple. Most people are broke. Most people buy expensive items using credit cards because they don't have the money to purchase big ticket items with what they have left from their paychecks after bills. Your selling $75 turkeys. The unwashed masses simply cant afford it.

What you have to do is go where people with more money than brains shop. Do you expect the rich to shop on Craigslist? Go where the money is. Ads on legal forums. Heart surgeon forums. Ads on three of your local country clubs websites.

Riki

 

[casportpony]

Are you selling ducks or turkeys?

Just Muscovy Ducks ($30) and roosters ($20). My five turkey girls are my pets.

 

[kangababy]

You need to look at how much you actually have in them.

We raise turkeys and I have seen adds for $5 a lb which is totally crazy! if you are cleaning them yourself then there is no cost to you. I can sell a breeder for $50 and by time they are sold enough to process I have somewhere between $30-35 in them. Proably a little more because I have lost some.. So I am selling them live for $50 or $65 for a cleaned bird.. Now if someone offered me $50 for a cleaned bird.. Done! unless they are a pain to deal with.

Your price will depend in if you bought them or hatched them and then the price of your feed.

 

[casportpony]

You need to look at how much you actually have in them.

We raise turkeys and I have seen adds for $5 a lb which is totally crazy! if you are cleaning them yourself then there is no cost to you. I can sell a breeder for $50 and by time they are sold enough to process I have somewhere between $30-35 in them. Proably a little more because I have lost some.. So I am selling them live for $50 or $65 for a cleaned bird.. Now if someone offered me $50 for a cleaned bird.. Done! unless they are a pain to deal with.

Your price will depend in if you bought them or hatched them and then the price of your feed.

You are so right! One of these days I'll need to figure out how much it cost me to feed an animal.

 

[Scottingitup]

You are so right! One of these days I'll need to figure out how much it cost me to feed an animal.

Find a local feed mill and by local I mean within 1-2 hours drive. I save $4-5 / 50lb bag ($18-20ish a bag in stores local, $14-15ish a bag from the mill) and buy large enough quantities to make the trip worth it. With 30+ turkeys to feed this really adds up to some significant savings.

 

[casportpony]

Find a local feed mill and by local I mean within 1-2 hours drive. I save $4-5 / 50lb bag ($18-20ish a bag in stores local, $14-15ish a bag from the mill) and buy large enough quantities to make the trip worth it. With 30+ turkeys to feed this really adds up to some significant savings.

We have a local mill, but I don't have a good place to put feed. We still need to build a place for our hay!

 

[Scottingitup]

We have a local mill, but I don't have a good place to put feed. We still need to build a place for our hay!

Do you have a garage? I store mine in my garage on a pallet. Not the most optimal of places but it works until I can afford to build a barn.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Find a local feed mill and by local I mean within 1-2 hours drive.  I save $4-5 / 50lb bag ($18-20ish a bag in stores local, $14-15ish a bag from the mill) and buy large enough quantities to make the trip worth it. With 30+ turkeys to feed this really adds up to some significant savings.

We have a local mill, but I don't have a good place to put feed. We still need to build a place for our hay!

I invested in having a feed storage house built (just installed our shelves this weekend) and have begun to stock up with feed from a feed mill which is about an hour away. I added up the cost that I will save and it's about $2,000.00 annually.

 

[casportpony]

Do you have a garage? I store mine in my garage on a pallet. Not the most optimal of places but it works until I can afford to build a barn.

We do, but we also have a problem with rats and mice, so I'm not sure I want them coming inside for the grain.