Refocusing My Flock

[TimonHens]

I haven't even made it to egg laying and am rebalancing my flock!
I do NOT like my black Austrolorps at all. Very meh on my cherry eggers also.
I know I can't flock on bantams alone and have eggs, but the little hens have personality that does not reflect where they have landed on the pecking order.

My question is how much can I expect to be able to sell 4 mo old pullets for? (One guy offered me 5bucks each...)

 

[3KillerBs]

My question is how much can I expect to be able to sell 4 mo old pullets for? (One guy offered me 5bucks each...)

It will depend on your region, but as a general rule Point-of-Lay pullets are the most valuable of chickens (outside show ribbon winners, at least).

Here in central NC I can generally get $15 each for mixed breed or common breed POL pullets and $20 for less common/more desirable breeds.

 

[TimonHens]

It will depend on your region, but as a general rule Point-of-Lay pullets are the most valuable of chickens (outside show ribbon winners, at least).

Here in central NC I can generally get $15 each for mixed breed or common breed POL pullets and $20 for less common/more desirable breeds.

Thanks for confirming where my research was leading me! Part of the rebalance will be making room for a pair of eggers from a friend who thought she was going to get coop space but had it rescinded after the chicks got placed in the loaner field. I'd like to be able to properly buy them for her trouble. And maybe the shakeup will give my lil brown hens some friends.

 

[Sally PB]

And I just LOVE the blue color.

Oh, me too...

 

[WonkierZulu]

Australorps are a great breed in general. Great choice wouldn't mind some of those blues

 

[3KillerBs]

Australorps are a great breed in general. Great choice wouldn't mind some of those blues

I got mine from Welp.

 

[3KillerBs]

I've separated out my final sale hens/pullets.

I picked up Cordon, my very first Blue Australorp, who caused me to fall for the breed, and couldn't move her into the sale pen.

I tried to be objective, considering her back width, tail spread, and body depth and decided that she probably does compare reasonably well with my younger birds so I'll take one more generation out of her to help fix into my flock the traits that attracted me to this breed in the first place.

I also gave Mocha, the biting broody, a pass. The buyer for this last batch of hens wants egg-laying primarily so constantly having to break a broody probably isn't what she's after and, since Mocha has diligently tended her golf balls (and every egg she can collect daily), for the past month, I'm going to give her some or all of the chicks from this weekend's upcoming hatch.

I am going to miss Chipotle, my entertaining MACHINE for the production of 65g white eggs, but I've got 2 of her daughters to carry on until I have enough of my more recent birds laying and Repecka, the other California White, has grown so fast that I had to look carefully to make sure I picked up the right bird for the sale pen.

 

[3KillerBs]

The thing that really strikes me as weird is how I've been trying for 3 years to get a Delaware and now that I've got one who should be coming into lay in November I'm selling her.

But if I want purebred Blue Australorps I have to be able to tell the eggs apart.

 

[NanaK]

You could set up a breeding pen to use and separate your male with a couple hens for breeding season and keep them with a mixed flock the rest of the year.
It's all in what you want. Decisions are hard sometimes.

 

[3KillerBs]

The last of the for-sale hens are gone. I'm having breakfast before I cull the 3 older cockerels who didn't sell.

Next evening I'm home I'll move the next generation of cockerels to camp.