2015 Breeding Season Plan & Results

[AugeredIn]

What "should" a peachick or a pea egg cost?

There's lots of ways to measure that. If a buyer feels like they got a fair deal (not ripped off), and the seller feels like he or she got a reasonable amount of money for what they put into the product, then they are both happy.

Some people think a fair price is one that people are willing to pay.

A basic business principle is that if your selling price is less than what it costs you to produce the product, you will soon go broke. Hobbyists sometimes are just trying to defray costs a bit and not go quite so broke, quite so fast.

I suggest, at least as far as eggs go, that you have a look at ebay records of sales and see what eggs are going for there... and those are sold with NO guarantees as to hatching. Some eggs or lots of eggs are going for quite a bit. Others not so much. But generally significantly more than what you guys are asking, sounds like.

MinxFox & BirdRain, have you added up the cost of your feed over a year? How many eggs do you get? How many chicks to sell? What about costs for wormers and amprolium, and pen building supplies?

When I have hay to sell, I check the market report and find out what the going rate is. I ask my friends what they are paying and/or getting for it. Sometimes I am astonished, when I haven't been following the prices... I think it's important to talk to other people with peas in your geographic region, to see what "market" prices may be.

You both have college bills either coming up or coming due... let those birds do some of the work for you

Good post. Bottom line is that the birds are worth what people will pay. That concept is governed by who is buying, how many buyers there are, how many people are selling, the ability of sellers to hold onto birds, profit motives and many other factors.

If anyone here is running their operations as a business they know there are maybe only a few people making money.

 

[Birdrain92]

Businesses are almost all the same. Supply and Demand is the biggest factor for it. Lots of supply little demand prices go down, lots of demand little supply high the prices. Prices adjust but the lowest they go is an amount that makes them break even. Or at least that's what they should do otherwise they will go broke if they go lower.

 

[zazouse]

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

I am not waiting till spring, i am conversing about options right now

 

[KsKingBee]

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.

I have pretty much held onto most of my hatchlings from this year in anticipation of getting better prices in the spring. Even yearling IB hens in this area bring $125 easily in the spring. I am curious how many feet per bird you like to house your six to eight-month-old birds? So far my experience is like koi in my water garden, the recommendation is one inch of fish per cubic foot of water. It does not take long for the fish to outgrow the area they have.

 

[zazouse]

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.

Remember my birds are not in a pen, they forage for most of their food and i have no coup expenses like most folks do, i spend my time working with my birds rather than building coups

 

[Garden Peas]

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.

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

Birdrain, you are exactly right, some people aren't going to have success at hatching, or not have very good success, even though the eggs are fertile.

But the cost of failure should come from THEIR pockets, NOT yours.

Once you have verified fertility, make sure the buyers know that hatching is not guaranteed... tell them if they want a guarantee of a live chick, they should buy live chicks.

Some people enjoy hatching and the gamble on the eggs. Some people don't, and they want the guaranteed outcome of the live chick. The buyer determines how much risk he or she is comfortable with.

A person who just dropped $20 in the drive-thru at McDonald's for fast food shouldn't be blinking at paying $20 for a fertile pea egg. A person who just forked over $80 to you for four pea eggs is much more likely to spend a couple hundred for an incubator that has a better chance of hatching them then the $40 special at Tractor Supply. The person with the higher hatch rate is more likely to become a repeat customer and say nice things about you to others.

I would not give a discounted price on a puppy to someone because they might forget to have the dog vaccinated for parvo and it might die... The puppy buyer who pays more for the puppy is more worried about protecting the investment. And the casinos in Vegas aren't giving refunds for the money people put into the slot machines. Some folks like that roll of the dice or pull of the slot, and that's a benefit to them, just like other folks enjoy watching a movie or going for a walk.

Think about what you could get for the chicks, and what your own hatch rate would be, before giving away fertile pea eggs at Walmart chicken egg prices.... Don't subsidize hatching risks once you have verified fertility... Zaz is telling you smart stuff here.

 

[AnimalsRmyLife]

Oh yeah, and think about what other things people spend money for... How much are they dropping for a latte at Starbucks? A high end burger, even at McD's? What are they accustomed to shelling out for a dinner? Priced movie tickets lately? A gallon of milk?

Also remember that people don't value things they get for free or cheaply as much as they value things that cost them more money. When they have to shell out more bucks, they perceive it as a more valuable thing, and they tend to take better care of it, because they see it as expensive. If things are cheap, they see the items as disposable or okay to throw away. Betcha none of us here want pea buyers thinking of our precious peas as "disposable"

And that is exactly why my family hardly goes out to eat anywhere anymore. Too expensive & it's not really worth the price anymore. We can't afford it nowadays.

Quote:
I second that!

It's not your fault the eggs didn't hatch; it's whoever bought the eggs. They also shouldn't put the blame of unhatched eggs on you as well. Your job is to provide the customer with fertile eggs. Their job is to hatch the eggs. If you provide them with fertile eggs, you've done your part. Now it's their turn.

 

[AugeredIn]

I am not waiting till spring, i am conversing about options right now

Good to hear. They don't have any problems making those birds go bye bye. The pen they were in was pretty the other day though.

 

[Trefoil]

Remember my birds are not in a pen, they forage for most of their food and i have no coup expenses like most folks do, i spend my time working with my birds rather than building coups

That's the ideal for most of us. Enjoying your birds.

 

[AugeredIn]

I have pretty much held onto most of my hatchlings from this year in anticipation of getting better prices in the spring. Even yearling IB hens in this area bring $125 easily in the spring. I am curious how many feet per bird you like to house your six to eight-month-old birds? So far my experience is like koi in my water garden, the recommendation is one inch of fish per cubic foot of water. It does not take long for the fish to outgrow the area they have.

I guess I don't have a hard and fast rule on the juveniles. I just have a feel for what will work. I like to grow out in 20 to 24 foot by 30 to 36 foot areas. I will put up to 25 in that area. By early spring you need to cut that number down though.