2015 Breeding Season Plan & Results

[zazouse]

When I first started looking for peafowl someone was trying to sell a trio of IB that were 4 years old for $600 and they did sell but I was nowhere even close to buying them. People in Idaho aren't willing to pay that much for a bird. For my prices I try to predict how much I will spend on them and how much they will produce and then find my price their and round it to the nearest dollar.

People income will predict the outcome when buying things,
where i live , we have refineries meaning the average wage here is well over 25 dollars an hour for non union and close to 40 dollars an hour for skilled union workers so folks will pay more for things here cause their income allows it.

 

[Garden Peas]

When I first started looking for peafowl someone was trying to sell a trio of IB that were 4 years old for $600 and they did sell but I was nowhere even close to buying them. People in Idaho aren't willing to pay that much for a bird. For my prices I try to predict how much I will spend on them and how much they will produce and then find my price their and round it to the nearest dollar.

It's good that you are running those numbers, but sounds like you are leaving out your investment of time and not getting compensation for it.

Just remember that what you perceive as too much or too expensive may not look as pricey from the perspective of the buyer. And the psychology bit where if buyers don't see the pea as valuable (and therefore don't think it's important to provide quality feed or medical care, or proper housing) is something to ponder... Sometimes getting a higher initial price for the birds helps provide incentive for the buyer to properly care for them.

Think about dogs... the lifetime cost of owning a dog is pretty much the same, depending on the size of the dog, of course, but is related to cost of feed, vet bills, etc. The lifetime care and maintenance costs eclipse the original expense of purchasing the dog, regardless of whether it is a pricey purebred or a Walmart parking lot special from a cardboard box.

Which dog is more likely to get regular vet care? Good quality feed? Which owner is more likely to install good safe fencing or spend the time making sure that the pup doesn't wander away and get hit by a car? Yes, lots of pound puppies get cared for okay, but on the whole, the puppies out of the box on the street corner are less likely to be perceived by the owners as valuable, and less likely to get the kind of attentive care that helps provide a long, healthy life.

If you choose to sell peas or eggs at very low prices or to give them away for free, just think through all the ramifications when making those decisions and make sure that's what you want to do.

 

[Birdrain92]

I haven't put the cost of time I've put into it. I keep eggs low because they are not guaranteed to hatch. Peachicks though the older they get the more they cost.

 

[zazouse]

I haven't put the cost of time I've put into it. I keep eggs low because they are not guaranteed to hatch. Peachicks though the older they get the more they cost.

Silly you either crack open your first egg from your hen or put it in the incubator to see if they are fertile, you got to have faith in your birds so check them eggs

it is not like ya got 30 hens to check. why sell something for close to nothing when you are not sure? one egg will let you know if they are fertile

then you can feel confident in your product

and charge what they are worth
,An infertility egg is worth nothing don't care what you charge, don't waist your time or your future costumers make your time and theirs worth the trip

check that first egg.

 

[Birdrain92]

Silly you either crack open your first egg from your hen or put it in the incubator to see if they are fertile, you got to have faith in your birds so check them eggs

it is not like ya got 30 hens to check. why sell something for close to nothing when you are not sure? one egg will let you know if they are fertile

then you can feel confident in your product

and charge what they are worth
,An infertility egg is worth nothing don't care what you charge, don't waist your time or your future costumers make your time and theirs worth the trip

check that first egg.

I even incubate fertile chicken eggs and not all hatch. Not to mention some people don't have very good hatch rates. I will check if they are fertile but from my house to their house anything can happen. It's just like eggs that are shipped not all hatch. They can be fertile but sometimes they don't hatch. I have faith in my eggs just not in some people.

 

[zazouse]

I even incubate fertile chicken eggs and not all hatch. Not to mention some people don't have very good hatch rates. I will check if they are fertile but from my house to their house anything can happen. It's just like eggs that are shipped not all hatch. They can be fertile but sometimes they don't hatch. I have faith in my eggs just not in some people.

So you are going to sell eggs real cheap cause others might have trouble hatching them even if they are fertile? that is like saying i am going to sell my hatchlings cheap cause they might die or get killed after i sell them

You want good hatch rates in fertile eggs use broody hens, however i have great hatch rates in my GOF cabinet bator,

Do you know infertile turkey eggs go for 5 dollars each here , folks like to eat them.Peafowl eggs are also very good to eat

 

[AugeredIn]

Well I doubt I will have a pen for each peacock this summer so it will probably be more of my 7 peafowl breeding group setup which is what I did in 2014: http://bamboopeacock.com/Breeding_Plan.html
I am lazy, so here is a link to photos of each bird as well as info about each bird: http://bamboopeacock.com/Peafowl.html
With this breeding there is a possibility of getting pied, white, India Blue split to white & blackshoulder, dark pied, India blue split to white.

I am still trying to decide if I will do any hatching. AugeredIn got 2 pretty pied peacocks from the eggs I sold him and I have really been wanting to hatch out a pied, but I don't know if I really NEED another pied. I only want to hatch if I can keep at least one chick of what I hatch haha.

AugeredIn also told me I should sell my peafowl eggs for more money especially since I am not really selling birds. I was selling them for $5.00 but should I go up to $20.00? Or is that too much? I feel bad making people pay more for eggs that can be hard to hatch, but then again I do need the money for my peafowl since I am not big on hatching out a lot of peachicks each year.

I *might* be getting green peafowl this year but they would probably be too young to mate. But all breeding of them would be green to green. I don't want to get into breeding for spaldings it just isn't for me. I pestered my dad the other day about how I need help building a shelter for the new pen for the green peafowl and he said he has to help his friend do something and then his friend will make the shelter for me. Luckily I get to help so I will be paying attention so that I will know what to do in the future so I won't have to wait forever to get just one pen done. This pen was talked about for a long time, started a long time ago, and now it is far past time that it should be finished.

You should really hatch and sell the chicks. Practice makes perfect. If you never start, you are just that much further behind. Just think if you get that pair of greens and have no experience hatching. ....And you could easily sell the eggs for more on Ebay and help finance your purchases.

 

[AugeredIn]

Next season i am hatching all i can and raising them up till Christmas, then post them for sale, i almost sold out of pairs and trios and guineas also in the month of December so i am ready to start over. I love raising up these babies and making them all so tame, Folks are just so happy with them, makes me smile

If you can do this you can make a little extra money but the pst of feed and pen space can be extraordinary. We have found it bester to sell common colors in all patterns as chicks as quickly as possible. Other birds are raised to be able to sex them or to get them close to adult colors.

To raise a group of juveniles to winter you need about twice the space as the breeders occupy. In other words we keep a male and there or four hens in a 12X30 pen. You really need twice that to raise the juveniles to christmas. If you keep them into spring you need even more space.

 

[AugeredIn]

He has very nice looking birds thanks to you i know this, i see he ha a male for 400 i am waiting to see what he may have in the spring in the way of babies, i do not want adults, if i can not get babies i will not get any so might be making a trip your way if things work out, perhaps we can meet up for a visit, i figured we would bring the camper and stay for a week just hanging out at different places then go pick up some if it works out.
I NEED A VACATION for real last time i went to Florida was in 2000 i believe , enjoyed it so much

I still have a water bottle of Florida's white sand .

Thanks so much for the future help

your website has so much info thanks for making it

If you wait until spring you will probably be out of luck. The green birds are pre-sold well in advance.

 

[Birdrain92]

So you are going to sell eggs real cheap cause others might have trouble hatching them even if they are fertile? that is like saying i am going to sell my hatchlings cheap cause they might die or get killed after i sell them

You want good hatch rates in fertile eggs use broody hens, however i have great hatch rates in my GOF cabinet bator,

Do you know infertile turkey eggs go for 5 dollars each here , folks like to eat them.Peafowl eggs are also very good to eat

I have good hatch rate but every now and then one or two eggs don't hatch. That's a live bird though compared to one that hasn't hatched out. Most people would rather buy a dozen to eat for the price of a hatching egg instead of buying an egg for the price of each egg so they can eat it. I wouldn't buy those turkey eggs. $5 a dozen that's a deal $60 a dozen that won't hatch too expensive. Some people try to sell a straight run of peafowl and it's the hatcheries choice not the buyers choice. I don't know why people would buy that especially for the price they ask.