Annual breed fads

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iajewel

iajewel

Songster
11 Years
Oct 22, 2008
1,322
9
171
Corning IA
I have been watching the breed "fads" for a while and thought I would post about it to see what others think. I remember one year Maran eggs were going for 60-80 AN EGG, then people realized that they don't always lay that dark and they aren't always that great a layer. People don't learn about what they are buying, they just buy thinking that the next year they will sell their eggs and chicks for the same high price, not realizing that next year will be a new hot topic and its most likely not the one they bought into this year. I can go down the list of birds that held huge prices one year and were 1.00 an egg the next.
Why do chicken fads have such a short life span? and why after watching these trends year after year do people still buy into them?
 
Why do chicken fads have such a short life span?

Because chickens themselves have a short reproductive cycle. You can produce hundreds of chicks from one trio in one year. It facilitates the quick and wide distribution of chicks, which means people can quickly satiate their "need" for any given breed and they themselves can be hatching their own chicks in just a few months -- and so, the cycle repeats.

and why after watching these trends year after year do people still buy into them?

Because they don't watch. They don't pay attention. And Americans in particular are creatures with a great drive for instant gratification regardless of costs.​
 
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No comment except to agree with the first 2 posts.
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Like any trends they are set with the promise of you making the same cash you paid, however in chickens that doesn't happen. A few examples would be annual trends like the Marans a few years back, by the time those eggs hatches and the chicks were old enough to lay eggs, the trend was long gone. Another trend Im seeing is not only to buy high.. thus the annual fads, but to buy from hatcheries where the buyer things that a name ( as in Nike) will also sell their birds. It won't. My best example here is Greenfire. People pay uncanny prices for their stuff thinking they will sell the same birds for the same money.. its not going to happen. First they are priced out of the water with no known reason for it, and second if someone is going to pay for a name, its going to be theirs not yours. So all these people who bought birds from them are learning they can only sell to other people who bought birds from them. If there is any trend at all its to buy high and sell low if at all.
Color seems to be the only continuating factor. Its not breed, production etc, its color. even if the bird is crap, if the color is the fad of the year, it seems to sell. This has included egg color in the past, but seems to stay pretty much in bird color. This years winner is lavender. Any breed as long as its lavender. My guess is next years winner will be chocolate.
 
I'm gonna breed a pink-laced-blue-5-point-comb-yellow-legged-with-greenish-bands-long-tailed-dark-brown-green-speckled-egg-layer-feathers-that-pluck-themselves-all-purpose-chicken-that-tastes-like-chicken-and-kills-coyotes. I think I'll name it a Whassup. Orders anyone?

(We'll see it on Yahoo-trending now)
 
I'm a capitalist, and I kinda feel Good on Greenfire for having a commodity people are willing to pay those prices for! They have worked hard to find and import breeds that are deserving of attention and what I call "chicken lust". They've obviously put a lot of money into their operation, and run it as business, not a hobby, so why SHOULDN'T they charge a price that allows them to make some money off of all their hard efforts instead of flooding the market right off the bat by making them affordable enough for everyone?

It's good business, and I get tired of people knocking them for it.

That said, I still can't afford their birds.
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Well, I just commented on another post that Lavender Ameraucanas are the "new BLRW" this year. Last year, BLRW's were the "new BCM's" from the year before (or maybe it was Coronation Sussex? Who knows...). Next year, Paint Silkies or something equally as rare and unique will probably be the Chicken of the Year.

I think people just like anything new and different - there might be a little "one-up-manship" going on, and/or some "keeping up with the Jones's", but hey - its THEIR money, and they can spend it how they wish. I just hope buyers are working on these breeds and varieties and taking them in the right direction, instead of breeding willy nilly and ruining them.
 
Your going to tell me with a straight face that common breeds such as light braman and black orphs that have never been shown are worth 400 a pair? I have a few birds I can sell you.
 
Quote:
Don't are one way or the other for the rest, but if you successfully breed a chicken that will hunt dfown coyotes and off them, I'll purchase a few
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Oh, it needs to be people gentle, and relatively unaggressive towards non-threatening cats & dogs.
 

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