Araucana thread anyone?

[smoothmule]

I will be selling hatching eggs this spring, once I've hatched a batch for my next breeders. They are $40/dozen this year. They were $35/dozen last year but the quality of my flock has come up each year as does the cost to raise and house them. I have about 25 hens/pullets and 4 males (2 roosters and 2 cockerels that are all rumpless, all black with no leakage and all double tufted) The hens are all rumpless and all black, about a third of them are tufted. Most lay blue eggs, one of my older hens lay an aqua blue/green egg and one lays almost a yellow egg. Most have good, yellow skin, a couple of the hens have nearly white soles on the feet.

This year, I will only sell hatching eggs with a trio or quad of started chicks. These guys are too valuable to ship eggs that won't hatch and I've found that packing hatching eggs in with the live chicks, they arrive sooner and are handled more carefully than just a box which is often flipped, tossed, dropped and stacked upside down through the postal service. It costs more but then I spent over $400 in hatching eggs when I started nearly 7 yrs ago and all those eggs hatched only 2 cull chicks from all of those shipped eggs. I still have pretty good hatch rates with regular shipped eggs but because of the substantial increase in hatch rates with shipping eggs with chicks I have chosen to only ship eggs this way. The buyer gets 3 to 4 nice, started chicks plus a better hatch rate so it's a great way to get started with less risk.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

I will be selling hatching eggs this spring, once I've hatched a batch for my next breeders. They are $40/dozen this year. They were $35/dozen last year but the quality of my flock has come up each year as does the cost to raise and house them. I have about 25 hens/pullets and 4 males (2 roosters and 2 cockerels that are all rumpless, all black with no leakage and all double tufted) The hens are all rumpless and all black, about a third of them are tufted. Most lay blue eggs, one of my older hens lay an aqua blue/green egg and one lays almost a yellow egg. Most have good, yellow skin, a couple of the hens have nearly white soles on the feet.

This year, I will only sell hatching eggs with a trio or quad of started chicks. These guys are too valuable to ship eggs that won't hatch and I've found that packing hatching eggs in with the live chicks, they arrive sooner and are handled more carefully than just a box which is often flipped, tossed, dropped and stacked upside down through the postal service. It costs more but then I spent over $400 in hatching eggs when I started nearly 7 yrs ago and all those eggs hatched only 2 cull chicks from all of those shipped eggs. I still have pretty good hatch rates with regular shipped eggs but because of the substantial increase in hatch rates with shipping eggs with chicks I have chosen to only ship eggs this way. The buyer gets 3 to 4 nice, started chicks plus a better hatch rate so it's a great way to get started with less risk.

What a great idea to ship them together. Never would of crossed my mind to ship them together. Just out of curiosity, if you were to order a dozen hatching eggs and a trio of started chicks what would the total be? I understand it may be a little less or more depending on location.

 

[smoothmule]

What a great idea to ship them together. Never would of crossed my mind to ship them together. Just out of curiosity, if you were to order a dozen hatching eggs and a trio of started chicks what would the total be? I understand it may be a little less or more depending on location.

Generally, the started chicks are just $10 for clean faced and $20 for tufted when I have them to sell, plus the cost of the eggs, the shipping box and actual cost to ship them. The shipping box only allows to 10 pounds and it varies on the weights but it's well under 10 pounds

 

[Brada Puhi]

Aloha, I know a guy in Hawaiʻi who really wants some.

Aloha Kalikimaka,

Puhi

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Generally, the started chicks are just $10 for clean faced and $20 for tufted when I have them to sell, plus the cost of the eggs, the shipping box and actual cost to ship them. The shipping box only allows to 10 pounds and it varies on the weights but it's well under 10 pounds

10 for all 3 and 20 all for all 3? Sorry for all the questions, it is just in the spring/summer, after I buy some chickens and eggs to better current projects, I should be able to buy some eggs just for fun. I wouldn't mind having a few more araucanas.

 

[smoothmule]

10 for all 3 and 20 all for all 3? Sorry for all the questions, it is just in the spring/summer, after I buy some chickens and eggs to better current projects, I should be able to buy some eggs just for fun. I wouldn't mind having a few more araucanas.

No, $10 each for the clean faced chicks and $20 each for tufted chicks. There are generally never enough tufted to go around so I've never sold more than one tufted per 4 chicks sold and that's only when I have enough to sell so I can't guarantee I'll even have tufted to sell. They are a little more fragile than the clean faced so I won't ship them till they're pretty well feathered out and the weather is mild.

I breed/hatch for myself early in the spring to raise breeders that I'll keep for the next year. After that, I often hatch more than I can keep so that's when I start advertising. I don't keep a buyers list. I tried that once and it was too hard to keep track, plus buyers would not be ready for hatching eggs when I had them available and so on so the list thing stopped and I just post when I have some on the auctions or just to buy when I have them. Eggs are time sensitive so I can't really just hold them till someone is ready and sometimes the hens don't lay as well, or better than usual so the volume fluctuates. So, in a nutshell, I still advertise what I have, when I have it and it always sells quickly.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

No, $10 each for the clean faced chicks and $20 each for tufted chicks. There are generally never enough tufted to go around so I've never sold more than one tufted per 4 chicks sold and that's only when I have enough to sell so I can't guarantee I'll even have tufted to sell. They are a little more fragile than the clean faced so I won't ship them till they're pretty well feathered out and the weather is mild.

I breed/hatch for myself early in the spring to raise breeders that I'll keep for the next year. After that, I often hatch more than I can keep so that's when I start advertising. I don't keep a buyers list. I tried that once and it was too hard to keep track, plus buyers would not be ready for hatching eggs when I had them available and so on so the list thing stopped and I just post when I have some on the auctions or just to buy when I have them. Eggs are time sensitive so I can't really just hold them till someone is ready and sometimes the hens don't lay as well, or better than usual so the volume fluctuates. So, in a nutshell, I still advertise what I have, when I have it and it always sells quickly.

I figured it was each, but worth asking lol! I will keep an eye out during the spring and summer

 

[smoothmule]

I do have an extra black cockerel for sale right now, all black, clean faced, rumpless. There are three of them running loose, free ranging since fall. They are about 8 or 9 months old now and no red leakage but I can't guarantee they won't have a bit before they're a year old. They are from black to black breeding this year. $25 plus shipping. I might consider selling him with one of my older black hens that is clean faced/rumpless, won't be past 3 yrs old. They are the hens that have given me such nice chicks this year but the were not all from black to black breeding so they may produce leakage on some chicks or even some chicks that are wild type pattern at hatching.

I have the cockerel listed elsewhere as well and will post here if he sells.

 

[Paully37]

smoothmule are you only working with black araucanas this year or do you have other colors? I hatched some of your eggs last year and got a variety and loved it. The egg colors were great too!!!

 

[Brada Puhi]

I heard Smoothmule's got the blue blue eggs! Mostly coming out of black Araucanas!

kden, Puhi