A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[memphis]

Alicia...are you selling some? Will you become a poult pusher like Aurora?

Back to rain here. But its warm. However, there is a cold front moving in and we may have a "weather event" this weekend. Meaning we could get a city shut down whole half an inch of snow. Turkeys could care less about snow. They will trudge through anything. The chickens think the world is ending.

 

[aliciaplus3]

I will try to sell some, but folks here think poultry should be free, oh and I should be grateful they are taking it off my hands

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Alicia...are you selling some? Will you become a poult pusher like Aurora?

Back to rain here. But its warm. However, there is a cold front moving in and we may have a "weather event" this weekend. Meaning we could get a city shut down whole half an inch of snow. Turkeys could care less about snow. They will trudge through anything. The chickens think the world is ending.

We had wonderful freezing rain overnight last night and the kids all had a 2 hour delay. They even sent out a text saying that on a certain road, there would be no bus pickups and that any kids living there don't have to go today. My kids aren't happy that they DO have to go.

I will try to sell some, but folks here think poultry should be free, oh and I should be grateful they are taking it off my hands

Your area too? We have Rural King invading our area, bringing in and selling hundreds of hatchery chicks and poults for dirt cheap. You can't get more than $10 for a poult, $5 for a rarer breed chick or pullet chick and POL hens won't still if you ask for than $10-15

 

[aliciaplus3]

We had wonderful freezing rain overnight last night and the kids all had a 2 hour delay. They even sent out a text saying that on a certain road, there would be no bus pickups and that any kids living there don't have to go today. My kids aren't happy that they DO have to go.



Your area too? We have Rural King invading our area, bringing in and selling hundreds of hatchery chicks and poults for dirt cheap. You can't get more than $10 for a poult, $5 for a rarer breed chick or pullet chick and POL hens won't still if you ask for than $10-15

Our local murdochs gets $15 for heritage poults and $6-9 for chicks and moves em like crazy, but if you try to get $10-$15 for pol pullets they act like you are robbing them. Idk
This will be my first time offering poults so we will see. I did an add about s month ago offering turkey pairs for $50 and the response was, I will give you $30 for a pair......yeah no. Good thing I love my poultry and I am not afraid to butcher as needed

 

[sfgwife]

I found a tom! A guy son the young works with has two toms and wants hens. He is a br. The deal with him in spring if i get poults we will raise them til i can tell hen or tom. If i dont get any poults or hens he will take my dollars. Works for me cause i dont want anymore keeper hens and mutts are fine with us for eatin.

 

[CindyinSD]

This will be my first time offering poults so we will see. I did an add about s month ago offering turkey pairs for $50 and the response was, I will give you $30 for a pair......yeah no. Good thing I love my poultry and I am not afraid to butcher as needed

You’ve probably done this, but I wonder whether people just don’t fail to take into account the cost of producing the birds. They think (If they think at all), “bird...hatches from egg...eats bugs...lives in barn that just happens to have grown on your property and wasn’t being used anyway for anything else... why are you not grateful I’m willing to take this surplus birdie off your hands?”

I, otoh, with my admittedly little experience, would be grateful to hand over $50 for a healthy breeding pair because I have learned better, not only from having raised a flock of little eaters, built their housing, paid for their food, purchased them from a Hatchery, but have also read about your all’s experiences, etc. Maybe a mini-lesson on poultry economics (upbeat and illustrated fetchingly) within the Craig’s list ad would help in some cases?

 

[duluthralphie]

You’ve probably done this, but I wonder whether people just don’t fail to take into account the cost of producing the birds. They think (If they think at all), “bird...hatches from egg...eats bugs...lives in barn that just happens to have grown on your property and wasn’t being used anyway for anything else... why are you not grateful I’m willing to take this surplus birdie off your hands?”

I, otoh, with my admittedly little experience, would be grateful to hand over $50 for a healthy breeding pair because I have learned better, not only from having raised a flock of little eaters, built their housing, paid for their food, purchased them from a Hatchery, but have also read about your all’s experiences, etc. Maybe a mini-lesson on poultry economics (upbeat and illustrated fetchingly) within the Craig’s list ad would help in some cases?

This would be assuming they actually read or care...most CL people around here don't. All they seem to care about is they can get 50 cent chicks with the purchase of a sack of feed.....

 

[aliciaplus3]

You’ve probably done this, but I wonder whether people just don’t fail to take into account the cost of producing the birds. They think (If they think at all), “bird...hatches from egg...eats bugs...lives in barn that just happens to have grown on your property and wasn’t being used anyway for anything else... why are you not grateful I’m willing to take this surplus birdie off your hands?”

I, otoh, with my admittedly little experience, would be grateful to hand over $50 for a healthy breeding pair because I have learned better, not only from having raised a flock of little eaters, built their housing, paid for their food, purchased them from a Hatchery, but have also read about your all’s experiences, etc. Maybe a mini-lesson on poultry economics (upbeat and illustrated fetchingly) within the Craig’s list ad would help in some cases?

The last one that lowballed me I politely told they could purchase poults for $15 a piece straight run at Murdoch's in the spring but that they are difficult to get going.... I also let them know that a day old poult is very different than a mature pair..... oh and the hen is laying.
Oops they quit talking to me

 

[Molpet]

I never understand people who think a small producer can sell poults, chicks, eggs or whatever for less than the big stores "loss leader"... that they sell for less than they paid for it.

 

[CindyinSD]

We did a B&B for a while and I think one of the big problems there (aside from the fact that you’re never, ever going to get your construction or remodel money back in any case), was that the field was so full of hobbyists willing to give their services away for the pleasure of having company. They offered way more (hot tubs, wine and finger foods every evening, etc.), and charged less than we could afford to charge for a room that I merely set aside from my pottery studio, where I offered only a bed, kitchenette and a nice breakfast. It just wasn’t worth it.
I was doing it to help pay for my studio, but I didn’t do it long.

As for my birds, cows, and whatever other new pursuits I may pursue , I have no intention of money-making. Too much regulation, too many lawyers. It’s a (late) mid-life crisis thing for me. The animals are really wonderful therapy. If I’m feeling cranky or depressed, all I have to do is bring out a chair and let the chickens climb all over me, untie my laces, etc., or brush my pretty heifers’ fluffy, shaggy coats. (Does that make me a snowflake? Hmmm...)

We’ll either breed them, eat them, employ them in improving the land by scratching things that need scratching and eating things that need eating (and of course, turning grass into fertilizer), or make gifts of food to family members.

Still, looking at Joel Salatin’s operation, I do think there’s a place for educating the public if you have that much energy and that kind of personality (I have neither, alas). He and some others seem to do well. Granted they live a lot closer to big urban settings (another thing I have no desire to do!), and that’s got to make a big difference.