Advice/tips on chick selling

[LizzzyJo]

Hi All! I have two lavender orpintgons and one blue. I am planning on getting a few more fun colored heritage girls and a jersey giant roo in March.
I would like to be able to have a hobby in selling a few chicks or pullets (not for much money, just for fun). Do people ever buy cross breeds for $5-$10 or so or will I just end up with unsellable chickens?

Any advice or tips is appreciated!

I don’t want an all lavender flock even though I know it’s more $. I want variety and it is more about a fun hobby than $.

 

[aurajean515]

I certainly would be up to buying mix breed chicks so I’m not sure why others wouldn’t be, unless they are looking for specific/pure breeds. Many crosses perform better than their parents, also. Which is a big reason why a lot of people go for them. Production Reds are a great example (New hampshire/Rhode island red cross).

 

[Mosey2003]

There are so many factors, you really can't say. How well do people in your area buy chicks in general? Certain times of year, or year round? How much are they typically willing to pay? What breeds do people in your area favor?

I've basically given up on the idea of selling chicks in my area. Nobody really wants Barred Rocks here, and if they do they only want pullets, and not for more than $4/each. Of course, it's a rather moot point as I'm moving into 100% of my hatches being only standard-bred birds, and I don't want to plain sell those as chicks publicly anyhow.

Lavender sells well pretty much everywhere. Anything else "rare" to your area typically will sell. Blue egg layers sell better here, also Silkies. What you need to do, if you haven't already, is join your local FB farm/livestock/chicken groups and just scroll through and see what's moving and what isn't. Search for groups with your county name, like "blue county farm" "blue county chicken" "blue county livestock" and you'll typically find a few.

 

[mandelyn]

If you can't sex them, people won't go a whole lot more than $3 each for straight run. If you hold on to them until gender is known, then you may be able to reach the $5-$10 mark for pullets. Then you would need a plan for the unsold males. We switched around to dual purpose breeds and have been aiming for size/growth in our breeding selections, so that the males that hatch have a purpose other than being given away.

It's definitely a good idea to watch your local selling sites to see what prices are doing through out the year for the different types/ages.

Selling can be tedious... people saying they'll come and then they don't show, emails/texts/calls with questions that have the answer in the ad already, or asking for things you didn't list.

For me, the number one question is "They're all girls, right?"

 

[Mrs. K]

I bought point of lay birds for $5.00 a piece. Yes the owner was over crowded and wanting to reduce his flock. But I would not expect to get that price for straight run chicks.

Mrs k