Colored Chickens

[ccstar800]

I am going to hatch out colored chickens and I do not know how much I should sell them for. Any Help?

 

[Pork Pie]

I'm honestly not too sure. I would assume that most people either want heritage breeds or commercial breeds. Anything in-between is a mutt bird and will sell for peanuts.

CT

 

[rebrascora]

It might help to know......

1. What you mean by coloured chickens? ie what breed and purpose...eggs, meat or dual purpose

2. How old they will be when you intend to sell them?

3. If you intend to sell them as straight run or sexed pullets and cockerels (good luck getting a sale at all for them!)

4. Are you intending to vaccinate them?

 

[ccstar800]

I am going to hatch out like blue, red, green, and other colored chickens.

 

[rebrascora]

It's an interesting concept but I'm not sure how practical it is to achieve.... I imagine you are going to need a wide variety of breeding stock to get that sort of variety of colours......

..... or am I misunderstanding and you are intending to inject them in vitro with food dye like you see promotional pictures of some "easter" chicks, in alarmingly unnatural colours.

 

[ccstar800]

I am going to put dye in the eggs and incubate them.

 

[rebrascora]

Personally I'm not keen on this idea as it's gimmicky and I believe it encourages people to buy them as a novelty "toy" item rather than a living creature that requires looking after. I'm not sure how long the dye lasts or if it has any ill effects on the chicks but to me there are plenty of attractive breeds out there and chicks are quite cute enough without resorting to this sort of consumerism. Just because it's possible to do something, doesn't mean we should do it.... or that it is ethically right.

Sorry I can't be more encouraging for such a project, but that's my personal feelings on the subject.

 

[Marilynszoo]

I remember these being sold in stores when I was a kid, about 50 years ago. I thought it was made illegal. I know they stopped selling them.

 

[junebuggena]

In order for the colors to be really visible, most hatcheries use solid white birds, usually Leghorns or Cornish Cross. The dye does not permanently change the color of the bird. The chicks will hatch out the dyed color, but when they feather in, their feathers will be white.
My local feed stores has these 'rainbow' chicks for sale at Easter time for about $1.50 per chick.

 

[kuchchicks]

We did this in 7th grade as a science project. I think that was my first exposure to chickens as I was a city girl from Los Angeles. It was really interesting. We used food coloring. It did not hurt the chicks per se, but since you have to drill a small hole in the top of the egg to gain access to the yolk, you do have the potential for introducing bacteria. If you decide to do this make sure you know how to sterilize your tools.

I do agree with the above statement that I would be concerned that the people buying these chicks would not be going into it for the long term. I heard a statistic last year that somewhere near 80% of all animals received for Easter die before their first year. Most are either let go into "the wild",or abandoned at animal shelters. I don't know how true this statistic is... and I am not saying that is what will happen to these chicks. But my concern would be that the people looking for Easter chicks do not really know what they are getting into and just think that they are cute on Easter morning.

I know this is a touchy subject, and I don't want to get into a debate. I just want what is best for the little chickies! Good luck with whatever you decide.