Colorado

[Mtn Margie]

1 hatched & one zipping this morning. hopefully when I get home I'll have 2 hatched.

Yeah! I was thinking that your next set should be due soon.

 

[suncatcher]

We have run off here, maybe spring will be early this year!

I would think for the common chicks that are not breeder quality you will be in competition with the feed stores, so under $5 would be a fair price. The rare breed/breeder quality should bring a price of at least $7 ro $9, of course the older they are the more you could charge for them. Just my two cents worth.

Pozee has sold a lot of day old chicks, she may have a better idea, also your area might make a difference on what you can charge for them too.

 

[suncatcher]

I have been meaning to share this here on the Colorado thread..... I read on the Heritage Large Fowl thread several months ago that Cackle bought all of a breeders Chantecler stock, so anyone wanting breeder quality chantelcer chicks would be wise to order them from Cackle this year. I had it marked at one time who the breeder was/is, but can't find it now. Cackle is known to have some very nice stock in some of the breeds of chickens they raise.

 

[Pozees]

Most day-olds I ask $5 for, unless they are especially expensive to obtain/hatch. Silkies I ask $10 for. I always decrease the price for someone who wants a number of chicks, and I have given away some juvenile males that were very nice to ensure they went to good homes. I have zero problem with someone who wants a male to put on the dinner table when it is mature, 90% of male chicks hatched are dinner for someone/something, but I want to know the fellow has a good life up to the last 10 seconds.

The Silkies I have, I paid pretty decent money for, and at $10 per chick I probably won't cover the cost of acquisition and keeping in 2 years, but I adore them, and they are outstanding broodies, easy to manage, docile, and great eye candy.

What I figure with chicks from shipped eggs, is that if they are from a flock I don't want to be "stuck" with the chicks from, I don't hatch them. Hatch rate will vary wildly from one group to the next, and I am happy when I get more than 25%, so I figure the price based on a 25% hatch divided into the cost of the number of eggs set plus the cost of the electricity, a portion of the $900+ for a new cabinet incubator that should hatch eggs at a higher rate than tabletops (so far it has) and the time and effort I put into working to achieve a good hatch rate on eggs from flocks comprised of birds not commonly found here, or at least not good quality.

I have worked very hard to unlock the secret to hatching at this elevation, particularly shipped eggs, and if you are getting a 50% hatch rate on shipped eggs routinely, I would love to know what you are doing to get that rate. I don't know what elevation Loveland is, mine is a little over 5400 feet above sea level. It is very dry here and I have improved hatch rate by running a humidifier in the room, but I have yet to consistently get 50% hatch rates on shipped eggs. My own eggs that are fertile I'm going okay, in-state eggs that are fertile ditto, but shipped? I am thrilled with 33%.

 

[Pozees]

I have been meaning to share this here on the Colorado thread..... I read on the Heritage Large Fowl thread several months ago that Cackle bought all of a breeders Chantecler stock, so anyone wanting breeder quality chantelcer chicks would be wise to order them from Cackle this year. I had it marked at one time who the breeder was/is, but can't find it now.

Cackle is known to have some very nice stock in some of the breeds of chickens they raise.

I ordered from Cackle a few times last year and had healthy chicks from them. I didn't know that about the Chanteclers, good info, thanks!

 

[ShysCreations]

The Colo Poultry Assoc hosted Longmont veterinarian, Dr Steven Benscheidtnat a recent meeting. Interesting talk about vaccinations and what's best for small flocks. Also he said most poultry issues he sees at his practice are nutrition deficencies. He said particularly the organic feeds are too low in calcium

 

[Pozees]

The Colo Poultry Assoc hosted Longmont veterinarian, Dr Steven Benscheidtnat a recent meeting. Interesting talk about vaccinations and what's best for small flocks. Also he said most poultry issues he sees at his practice are nutrition deficencies. He said particularly the organic feeds are too low in calcium

Did he take a position on vaccinations? How interesting, I bet it was a good talk and good conversation afterwards!

 

[CoMtnGal]

...

Thanks Pozees,
well, we will see if I get 50% hatch! But of the shipped eggs I set, half appear to be healthy, moving chicks and just went into the hatcher.

 

[maggiemo]

Did he take a position on vaccinations? How interesting, I bet it was a good talk and good conversation afterwards!

Interesting about the organic feed being low calcium. Dr Benscheidt's is my veterinarian. I'll have to ask him his thoughts on organic feed when I take the dogs in next. I feed organic and have had some thin shells lately. I have oyster shells available too. I wonder if that is sufficient?
When I first got chickens a couple of years ago I introduced some hens to the flock without quarantining them first. Of course I had respiratory issues. I took sick birds to Dr Bensheidt and he was so great. Super supportive and thorough.

 

[wsmith]

I decided yesterday afternoon that I need to build another shed, for feed only, and the other building i am using for feed (the one with the front porch) will eventually be used for brooding tiny chicks. When I planned all this stuff out I hadn't planned on hatching chicks in February....... LOL