Colorado

The "four ladies" who were there taking samples do that at every swap and show and are with the Colorado State University Avian Surveliance program, or rather, our version of NPIP. They come out to our farm every year and all of them are very nice poeople and are NOT trying to shut things down. They are here doing these tests to prove that our state has no serious issues. This is especially important with the Salmonella outbreak with the eggs. FWIW, Kristi, the state vet from CSU, spent much of the last few years helping out in Indonesia when they had the serious Bird Flu outbreak.
 
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I know thats who they were, I was just poking fun. I have serious issues with a government who is there to "protect the people" and instead protects the three or four main food suppliers while hurting the rest of us, and allowing the general populace to be hurt by them. It's a royal crock that they even have the USDA or the FDA when they can't even issue a food recall. Recall bad tires? You bet! Recall food? No way! Food recalls are totally voluntary on the part of the manufacturer, and is in no way enforced by any branch of the government. In fact, food production is the one area that is the most unenforced out there. OSHA can't even control them. The fact that the federal government is afraid of people like ConAgra and Tyson and the rest of them is ridiculous.

This is important with the Salmonella outbreak? Yeah, maybe. If they did anything about it! But they don't until it is too late. The harass the small people and let the big ones go free, mainly because they are too big to effectively control. So, while they may be nice ladies and all, until they have the backing and the authority to treat the big people they way they treat us little people, I'm gonna continue to poke fun, because that is precisely how much respect the organization deserves.
 
I could not make it due to the 'crude' already being brought home from my school kids. Would you say there were more serious people interested in developeing their flock and family or more serious purchasers wanting to fire up the stove? From the comments I may want to avoid this type of a 'swap meet'.
 
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I would say it was a bit of both. honestly, I think if you are truly concerned about where your birds are going, you might be better off offering them on here to more likeminded people. Ultimately, you can't really know what the place your letting your birds go to is like. There are people who buy their birds from someone, decide they aren't going to work in their flock for whatever reason, and pass them on to the next person, which at that point you have no control over whether they go to the stewpot or not. However, if you are focused on the ornamental breeds you have less of a worry with this than other breeds
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We bought several rabbits, but have no plans to eat them (this time
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Matthew Ryan
 
There is a bias towards protecting the big guys and punishing the little guys. I wish that wasn't the case, but it is a reality. Now Colorado doesn't seem to be as bad as some regions, but I do think a measure of skepticism is healthy when stuff like this is going on...

"A backyard farmer in Clarkston, Georgia is being sued for growing too many vegetables, on the grounds that he is in violation of local zoning ordinances, even though those ordinances have since been changed. "
http://www.treehugger.com/files/201...ckyard-farmer-growing-too-many-vegetables.php
 
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The swap is mostly a "meat market" for the hispanic and the asian folk, but, if you really do not want them to go that way, just price them out of their range (anything over $10 will usually suffice) The ones after birds for meat will generally do a "3 dolla, I take all) kinda deal, when you rstarting price is at $10 or higher. I have gone there with Silkie roosters set at $30 each and have gotten it, so there are people who are looking for breeder birds. My husband sold 4 silkie pullets that were pet quality to a man who wanted different colors to breed for his flock. He was not into showing or anything, but wanted good broodies.

My husband sold about 30 birds in a half hour, if he would have had more he could have spent all day. Many people want layers, so if you get extras from hatcheries when you place your orders, you can always order extra on purpose planning to resell them. The going rate is about $12 for a pullet if it looks good. Much of what we notice is that people look for our vehicle, because our birds are always clean and healthy looking. I see far too many birds there that are bald backed pecked half to death and look terrible.
One year we bought 25 red meat birds from Ideal and we kept about half for ourselves, and brought the rest to the swap. If anyone ever plans on doing this, a little tip....do not purchase white meat birds, most of the people looking for butcher birds will not buy white, any other color but pure white....to some cultures a all white bird is bad luck. This is why we bought the red meat birds that year and we had been surrounded with people selling the whites, and they still had them long after all ours were sold.
 
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The swap is mostly a "meat market" for the hispanic and the asian folk, but, if you really do not want them to go that way, just price them out of their range (anything over $10 will usually suffice) The ones after birds for meat will generally do a "3 dolla, I take all) kinda deal, when you rstarting price is at $10 or higher. I have gone there with Silkie roosters set at $30 each and have gotten it, so there are people who are looking for breeder birds. My husband sold 4 silkie pullets that were pet quality to a man who wanted different colors to breed for his flock. He was not into showing or anything, but wanted good broodies.

My husband sold about 30 birds in a half hour, if he would have had more he could have spent all day. Many people want layers, so if you get extras from hatcheries when you place your orders, you can always order extra on purpose planning to resell them. The going rate is about $12 for a pullet if it looks good. Much of what we notice is that people look for our vehicle, because our birds are always clean and healthy looking. I see far too many birds there that are bald backed pecked half to death and look terrible.
One year we bought 25 red meat birds from Ideal and we kept about half for ourselves, and brought the rest to the swap. If anyone ever plans on doing this, a little tip....do not purchase white meat birds, most of the people looking for butcher birds will not buy white, any other color but pure white....to some cultures a all white bird is bad luck. This is why we bought the red meat birds that year and we had been surrounded with people selling the whites, and they still had them long after all ours were sold.

I definitly agree. I saw far to many birds that looked like this for my comfort. I understand that this happens on occasion with a rooster or roosters that are overly enthusiastic with that particular bird, but to have every bird in the cage be that way? Thats just a bit much. I almost bought some of them just to help them with that problem!

Good to know on the red birds! I was planning on doing something like this next year and just hadn't thought about what we were getting yet. Thanks for that helpful tip!
 
thanks for the info about the swap meet. I do enjoy raising hens and plan to breed my own for the spring and this could be a great resource for the surplus. You are right about laying hen, they are a hot commodity and I have been selling them too cheap. $12 a head, I will reprice. Unfortuneately, not going has left me with 8 too many ducks. Still available if anyone is interested.
 

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