Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

Quote:
I'm not getting an editable quote again. My comment is in answer to your statement about overhead costs. Amen to that. Kids need to know that there are built in costs to anything. My DH jokes about our first $1000 egg, but there is lots of truth in that. By the time you buy or build a coop and run (if there wasn't a usable building where you wanted to have chickens), you can have quite a bit of money tied up in chickens, and people want the eggs practically free. I was talking to a friend whose little boys sell eggs to their friends for $2 a dozen. I suggested she check the prices at the store for their eggs and raise her prices. Certainly feed hasn't gotten cheaper, and this is a great opportunity for learning about supply and demand.

 

[Trish44]

I don't think I'll ever get to the point of covering all costs with selling eggs or chicks for that matter. You have to go by what the local market in your area is willing to bear & people here just don't want to pay much for eggs. Maybe they will see what a bargain it is with store prices skyrocketing like that. I haven't looked at eggs here lately to see what they're even going for since I have my own but I'll have to look when I go again. People tend to want things for nothing & don't consider how much it costs you to feed & care for those chickens. I'm lucky that the customers I have do seem to understand that & are willing to pay a bit more but it still isn't enough. I have some hens that lay better in the summer than others & some that lay better through the winter. The summer layers outnumber the winter ones though so I usually have a waiting list in the winter. It's the same with chicks, people don't understand that it costs a backyard breeder more to raise chicks than the hatcheries who don't care about quality, it's all about quantity & how many they can crank out the door. Those of us like Danz & I who try to buy quality breeding stock have an investment in our birds & we just need to sell the chicks for more to even make any money at all. By the time you buy the birds & raise them to laying age feeding & housing them all of that time & then use your electricity to run incubators & hatchers, feed the chicks till sold, & that's not even counting your time involved I really doubt we honestly cover our costs. Then we hear complaints because our chicks cost more than the ones at the farm stores & hatcheries. Your comment sharol about the $1000 egg really runs truer than people even think about. I know for Danz & for me as well we have both spent a lot of time & money building pens & housing for our birds. My breeder coop itself cost $1700 to build & I have multiple pens here I have had to buy & build. Then even after the initial investment there is upkeep on it all.

 

[rvroman]

Not sure I'm posting in the correct place, lol, but here I am.
Was over on a thread in a different spot for "Kansans" where I noticed the combined effort for us Oz-peeps directed here. :-D

I'm just outside Maize (Wichita suburb). As a New Egg, I was thinking it'd be great to connect with local BYC'ers. 

So, howdy y'all! ;-) 

Welcome! I am in south central Wichita right next to McConnell air force base and spirit. We have a leghorn, an EE, a wyandotte, a cochin, a frizzled naked neck cochin mix,and a BCM in our laying flock. I hatched barnvelders, salmon favorelles, olive eggers, and some fun barnyard mixes a little over a month. And of course when they hatched someone was selling lavender orpington babies so I got some of those too.

Out of all of those I am only keeping between 6 and 8 babies for layers.y husband doesn't know it yet but I am bringing back the favorelle I gave to my mom as she is really a he, so I will breed the female I have and him together and see how that goes. All other chickens I think I have decided to learn to process them for meat once they reach the right size with all this AI stuff going on. I have them, might as well use them and learn something that I have wanted to learn for a while now. Well enough rambling about me, glad to see ya on here!

@Grain Gypsy
 I have some disappointed 4Hers myself. We picked up some Barnevelders and two Lavender Orpingtons from @rvroman
 that they were very excited to show.    
My oldest has decided to create an educational display, to enter in the fair, that explains why there are no birds at the fair this year and what chicken keepers can do to keep their flock safe. I think I will try to talk my youngest into a display of his own, maybe about the benefits of small scale chicken keeping or the egg cycle.

One of the Barred Rocks has been spending the day in the nesting bucket, I kind of hope she has decided to go broody. The chicks would be Black Sex link, which are not something I would go out of my way to hatch, but it would sure be nice to know right away how may are boys and how many are girls. 

Awww as soon as I saw the post about no bird shows I thought of everything you and your kiddos have gone through to get ready. I'm so sorry that this year has been so blegh for you! How are the babies doing? I hope I sent you up some good ones!


Well I'm still in Texas. Not sure when I'm coming home. Dad was released from the hospital Friday, so thats good news but he has to wear an automatic defibrillator at all times (unless he is in the shower) just in case he has another episode. I have been shoo busy down here, taking care of their chickens, pooper scooping at least twice a day after 4 large dogs, cooking low sodium well balanced fresh meals 3 times a day and making sure daddy gets in 2 decent snacks, and entertaining my 5 and 7 year olds (I call them tiny terrorists for a reason). I do have to say I'vee done more since Ive been here than I have done at my house since the boys have been out of school. Oh well.

I had an awful lot of posts to catch up on. This AI situation definitely makes me happy I've got my girls. It is also the deciding factor in my learning how to butcher my leftovers from my hatch.

I'm glad to hear you are able to get some stuff done Danz, and that you are getting done off your birds sold!

Deerfield I am so sorry to hear you are down with the flu. And so close to your reunion, gah if I were home I would offer to come give a hand!

 

[coleco]

I think im in kansas but it seems more like a rain forest at times.

 

[chicken danz]

I'm with you 100% Trish. I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on my birds and have very little to show for all my work. Seems it all goes back into the birds plus several hundred more each month. I need them as much as they need me. It would be so easy to sit around and get bored and in worse shape physically than I am if I didn't have these birds to care for. I just wish I could sell a few hundred more. I have sold as many as 10 chicks for what I paid for one pullet to get started in some colors/ breeds. It's pretty sad.
Originally Posted by coleco
I know what you mean. We got drenched last night and another storm while ago. The humidity is killing me but I have to get some birds moved. I just ran in to get my water jug cause I am out of fluid to operate on out there.

 

[KsKingBee]

I think im in kansas but it seems more like a rain forest at times.

And the honey bees are loving it!

 

[coleco]

I saw some bats last night for the first time this year, hope they find the bat house.

 

[chicken danz]

Quote: I've noticed tons of honey bees lately. Also with all the rain the clover is coming back. It was gone during the drought. So the bees will be very happy around here. Plenty to pollen and lots to drink.
Originally Posted by coleco
I normally see them swarming above the yard light catching bugs. I haven't noticed any yet this year. But it's been rainy half to the time so I haven't really looked.

 

[coleco]

The bats need 90 degree temps, they are always last to return, glad i remembered because the bat house was in the bushes after moving the lightpole that i had it on. Here in the kaw riverbed mosquitoes ruin my entire summer

 

[chicken danz]

We normally don't have a mosquito problem here with all the birds, but this year every puddle is just covered in them. You can't get rid of the standing water when it is every where. I'm in hopes that the ducks and guineas are filling their tummies. I would trench some more to make it drain better but I can't move any equipment without getting it stuck. So I'm at a stalemate with it for sure.