Arizona Chickens

[gckiddhouse]

Thought you all might be interested in this little tid-bit that we accidentally came upon (speaking of figuring costs). We recently had a coyote attack. The darn critters dug a hole under the chicken yard and got all but 4 of our flock. With a trip out of town the next day, there was no time to fix the hole, so we locked the chickens in the hen house for the week.

That left their feeder which we had just filled (it holds 40 lbs of feed) out in the chicken yard with no chickens eating from it. We were gone for 6 days. When we returned, the feed was all gone!!! We knew the tweety birds were sharing, but had no idea they were eating that much of our feed!! Granted, the chickens weren't there to chase them off at all, but that is 40 pounds of feed!!! in less than a week!!

Anyway, if you don't have your feed tweety bird proofed, that will give you some food for thought. Ours is behind chain link and not bird fencing. So they can come right in. We will be fixing that soon!

FYI!

 

[budkingston]

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Well, keep me posted on how you make out. I am interested to know what it costs and how much you can make. I think the pros sell eggshells and fertilizer and that offsets the cost. They probably have a few other gimics that create money. If you are doing it to have fun, then it is worth it. I would like to break even, BASED UPON THE PREMISE my time is worth nothing.

I am always reminded of that 3,000 year old saying, "don't count your chickens before they hatch". I would add, don't even count them till after they ahve hatched and layed a few hundred eggs....

I watched a show on egg farming on the history channel. This guy had a waiting list of people that wanted to buy eggs. He charged $8.00 per dozen, (Yes, $8.00, not making that up!) and people had a shcedule when they could come pick them up. If they failed to show, they went to the next person on the list... The waiting list had at least a 4 month wait... Now that is a racket!

 

[gckiddhouse]

I have some chickens I need to get rid of. Before I post them on Craigslist, I thought I would see if anyone here wants them. They are amber stars (I think). Mother and daughter. Mother is about 18 months old, daughter is 11 months old.
We don't like them. I will be blunt here. They are great egg layers. An egg every day! But they are not friendly birds, despite being hand raised. They have been know to snap at approaching hands. My daughter, who takes care of the chickens, just doesn't want them, so they are for sale.

I would take $10 each for them.

If you just want egg layers and aren't interested in having "lap birds", these are your girls.

Pm me if interested. I am north of Phx, fyi.

 

[budkingston]

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Obviously, your chickens were unfairly benefiting during the Reagan years. Its only "fair".

Anyway, there are thousands of hidden costs and that is just one. If you are going to do this, you need to charge enough to cover those contingencies. Like replacing flocks, freeloading chickens that don't lay, new feeders/waterers, holes in fences, vandals... It adds up.

 

[LarryPQ]

Quote:
Obviously, your chickens were unfairly benefiting during the Reagan years. Its only "fair".

Anyway, there are thousands of hidden costs and that is just one. If you are going to do this, you need to charge enough to cover those contingencies. Like replacing flocks, freeloading chickens that don't lay, new feeders/waterers, holes in fences, vandals... It adds up.

My chicken decor, the chicken door mat, the "coop shoes", the BYC bumperstickers.....

 

[a2ms4chickens]

I recently had about 6 dozen eggs extra so I put an add on Craigslist for $2.00 a dozen. In a matter of a week, I sold over 11 dozen eggs. Some bought 3 dozen eggs at a time. Even after I sold out, I still had different people call me for fresh eggs.

I guess I didn't realize how much in demand fresh eggs were. And I had several people asking if I wanted to sell any hens. I gotta keep my hens now that I have so many people wanting my eggs.

As for profit? Not happening. So, the money I made is going towards more chicks in the spring.

Angie

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

There's some profit to be made if you have a booth at the farmer's market. I had a couple buyers buying my eggs at $3 per dozen to resell at the farmer's market for $5 per dozen - they had more demand for eggs than they could get from their own flock.

 

[budkingston]

Anyone interested in some 11 week old hens? They were hatched November 18th and were shipped from Privettes. They were vacinated against mareks.

There are Black Australorps, Delawares, and Cukoo Marans. These are all hens. They are WELL fed and are nearly full sized! I have never had chicks get this big that fast.

Basically, bought extras because they ship in groups of 25, and chicks have a bad habit of dying. One died in transport and another die a few hours later. The rest are thriving and overgrowing my space, they are huge for 10 weeks.

I live in Yuma AZ.

I "might" deliver them to Phoenix. I have some licensing issues (hopefully, if I pass my boards Wed!) and may make a drive there. Otherwise, I can show them at my house.

PM or email if you are interested.

 

[Mahonri]

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Someone on here from Mesa has silkies.

Interested in any Wheaten Ameraucana roos?

 

[Brenda Schonig]

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I know that Aden's Hay Oasis is getting Silkies and Polish in February 12. I was waiting for them but not anymore...WAHHHHHH

Some of our neighbors last night said they were all in favor of us having our hens. They could not believe the Board over turned their deciion. They were going to get some too! I guess we had more support then we realized but getting beat up like that in the meeting really hurt my hubby and I

. I am so lucky to have a good home for them to go to! I will just be happy to go and see them ocassionally and buy their eggs!!! !!!!!