Diary & Notes ~ Air Cell Detatched SHIPPED Chicken Eggs for incubation and hatching

[Sally Sunshine]

danka!

 

[mstricer]

Sally where did you get that cute dancing chickie

 

[Sally Sunshine]

google lol

 

[loveourbirds]

Thanks! now what! ha ha ha

Lighting is timed in the coops for hopes that the brats give us eggs in time for spring!

Brian what do you do over the winter months, when you cant ship eggs and chicks? Hatch for locals? Not sure I want to get stuck with chicks during winter. But I feel I should be doing something now! LOL

hatch chicks and sell eggs to locals. i do discount my eggs over the winter as the hatchability is a little lower.

any leftovers i boil, crush and feed back to the flock.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: I wish I had left overs lol!

Trouble is selling chicks local. They expect the serama for nothing. I found when I ask for money up front to hatch they all back away. I dont want stuck with chicks. I do have plenty of room in the serama shed now though since three sections are open. I just dont want to heat it! I want to try Chads incubator again with the turner and see if there is a big difference with a turner vs hand turning. So maybe I will set the serama.

IDK so confused and not into much right now. Starting to feel better myself but now the kids I watch are sick and I am wearing thin on nerves. That and I hate holidays and I have good reason.

I am thinking maybe I should start a website for my flock? thoughts?

 

[ozexpat]

i sent you a pm of the page I am working on in a zp file

I need to reduce the breeds but tell me what you think

 

[Sally Sunshine]

i sent you a pm of the page I am working on in a zp file

I need to reduce the breeds but tell me what you think

awesomeness! I will have a good look tomorrow, the boy keeps getting up with one issue or another this night! sheeeeezzzz time to hit the sack so he stays put!

 

[loveourbirds]

I wish I had left overs lol!

Trouble is selling chicks local. They expect the serama for nothing. I found when I ask for money up front to hatch they all back away. I dont want stuck with chicks. I do have plenty of room in the serama shed now though since three sections are open. I just dont want to heat it! I want to try Chads incubator again with the turner and see if there is a big difference with a turner vs hand turning. So maybe I will set the serama.

IDK so confused and not into much right now. Starting to feel better myself but now the kids I watch are sick and I am wearing thin on nerves. That and I hate holidays and I have good reason.

I am thinking maybe I should start a website for my flock? thoughts?

ive thought and thought about it, i had it all designed once - but i had a glitch in my order form. now with all the cutting back, im having to start all over with the catalog and website.

i find that its hard to sell the rarer breeds during this season, mostly what i do get orders for are my dual purpose chickens. there is a guy who sets up at a local market who will take any extra (dual purpose chicks) i can hatch. i really dont make any money selling to him, but it helps cover the feed bill - and the fact that he just takes extras, i know i can run a full incubator and that they will all be sold regardless.

i have alot better luck with auto turners, i can give you a few secrets if you ever decide to build one to make them better. i actually have 2 sportsman cabinets im parting with, they have both served me well but i need something bigger. im keeping my customized one for hatching under different conditions. for someone who is just hatching a few eggs a week or month, hand turning may be better. i did hand turn some of my first hatches, they hatched just as well as the ones on auto turners.

i have learned that im better off selling hatching eggs than chicks. the chicks are a huge draw to our farm, but hatching eggs make more money. i'll use white plymouth rocks for an example. i can sell a dozen eggs for $20.00 plus shipping, i profit about $15.00 on that. if i put the same dozen eggs in the incubator, an estimated 10 will hatch; i sell them for $1.50 each on straight runs. again its $15.00 income from the chicks; but i have the electric for incubator and brooders, the feed and watering costs, and bedding costs. chick shippers (boxes) themselves aren't cheap either, im thinking i have about $8.00 a box in a 100 chick shipper not counting the cost of getting them shipped here. (ordering 100 at a time).

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: so game planning for egg marketing should be tops on my list right now. Most of what I have are rare breeds I am wondering how the RBAuction does with selling eggs, I think I seen them on there. Then there is ebay, and about three FB sites I can use to my advantage. I would be happy if I could at least cover these feed costs over winter. I am going through feed like mad already. Another really cold spell its 15 this morning and now some of the coops have heat lamps on. I am sure the thermostat outlets will help with cutting costs, I already noticed that the heat lamp in the serama has been off quite a bit, so that is a plus and I can highly suggest them for anyone that has large combs and needs that heat for that like I do in the WFS and CCL coops. Brahma has a heat lamp in it, but ONLY because I have several smaller birds in with the mix now and their heat lamp is only a plug in as needed if it gets below 15. I noticed that the littler birds are heading under the bigger ones, and I am happy the older ones are not minding at all! works well I wish all breeds would be like that!

Brian how did you pick up so many local customers? do you go to auctions or just know alot of other farmers and such? I am wondering if at some point I can advertise somewhere else to find local buyers. I know that some get a Lancaster Farming Newspaper thing, I dont get it but I may have to research it. Again more costs at a time I just dont have the cash. What also stinks is that I dont have the opportunity to just go look for clients either. BYC and selling eggs is a bust lol. swapping sure is fun but all that gets you is in dept and disease in your flock. And I have no desire for many other breeds, I have one or two in mind to add for breeding projects to keep it fun, but other than that I am cool with my final decisions here!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

i sent you a pm of the page I am working on in a zp file

I need to reduce the breeds but tell me what you think

I am on this now Oz, so far your looking A M A Z I N G. you have alot of talent and a very good eye at design as well. Heading back to your pages, thank you Oz