Dumbest Things People Have Said About Your Chickens/Eggs/Meat

[Gryphon]

Bald Eagles are pretty opportunistic when it comes to their food. They're built to go after fish, but I've seen a pile of them sitting on a deer carcass gorging. So I wouldn't ignore them, they would try nabbing a chicken if they thought they could get away with it. As for me, my girls were on red alert the other day when a Barred Owl flew into the neighbors yard to check them out. There's a big family of them living in the nearby park, but this is the first time I ever saw one. They're big enough to take on grouse so I think a chicken wouldn't be too far off the menu, but they also keep hawks and eagles away, which definitely would go after the girls.

As for the dumbest thing I've heard, lady that lives down the way had heard I was getting chickens last year and had talked to me about how much tastier they were than store bought, how much healthier, better for the chickens, etc. and so on. She seemed really eager to buy some, especially since I have "rainbow" eggs (blue, pink, cream, you get the idea). Now that I'm getting more than one or two eggs a day, I'm letting people know I'm selling them. I see her and flag her down.
"How much?"
"$3 a dozen."
"Oh that's too much, no thanks!"

Really, lady? You spend more than that on your dog's treats each week.

 

[PrairieChickens]

I had a neighbor ask do you have ant extra eggs I said of course with 40 hens go figure. So she asks what do you do with them. I sell them. Oh how much ? 2.00 a dozen. She says omg that is so expensive. WHAT!!!!! organic free range eggs in the store are 5.00 a dozen. Regular eggs are 2.00 a dozen. She tells me that I can't sell them as free range because I put them in the coop at night. Mind you during the day they range over 3 acres of land. Drives me nuts. Ok end rant

You might point out to her that all a chicken needs to legally be considered "Free range" is access to the outdoors, even if it's just a tiny pen. All chickens--with the exception of the wiliest of game fowl--go into coops at night. If they didn't, they wouldn't be around for very long. If she continues to argue the point, you can just call them "Pastured" eggs since they have access to grass.

Sometimes people balk at the price of my eggs, at which point I comment that the equivalent eggs sold in Wal-Mart are $4.50 a dozen right now. I then go on to say that I understand if they don't want to spend that much on them, and that's fine--I have trouble keeping up with demand anyway.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I've sold eggs for $3 for years but having switched to organic, I'm raising the price to $4. People that are used to seeing ads for $2 eggs at walmart don't realize the egg farms can't grow them for that. Walmart uses them as a loss leader to bring people in to buy all the crap they make money on.

 

[PrairieChickens]

People at Farmers' Market are selling their eggs for as little as $2.50 a dozen or less. I had a couple park next to me and start selling their eggs for $1.50. I've also seen several ads up around town for eggs for as little as $1.50.

I get it, some people just have extra eggs that they're trying to get rid of, and they're not worried about the price, but their habit of underselling their eggs is making it harder for me to sell mine at a sustainable rate.

I'm working on expanding my operation so that I have enough eggs to justify traveling to a city to sell them. I can get nearly twice as much for my eggs up around KC or Topeka as I can here.

 

[sepaditty1]

I'm still in the early stages and am only selling about 2 dozen a week. I sell for $3 a dozen and no one has batted an eye.

 

[Blooie]

I'm still in the early stages and am only selling about 2 dozen a week. I sell for $3 a dozen and no one has batted an eye.

I'll have a much harder time marketing my surplus eggs so I need to really think the price thing. I live in a tiny little town of around 600 people and it seems like almost every other block someone had chickens! But I'll betcha nobody has Easter Eggers!

 

[PrairieChickens]

That's part of my selling point, Blooie. I'm working on getting Black Copper Marans as well, and possibly breeding some olive eggers so that I can REALLY wow the audience

There's always someone who wants eggs. I sell out every week just by bringing the eggs with me to the school where I work.

 

[Blooie]

That's part of my selling point, Blooie. I'm working on getting Black Copper Marans as well, and possibly breeding some olive eggers so that I can REALLY wow the audience

There's always someone who wants eggs. I sell out every week just by bringing the eggs with me to the school where I work.

I added Black Copper Marans last week as well.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It's about finding the right target audience with the right product. A colorful mix helps. It would be tough in a small town. I'm on the edge of a big metropolitan area and I've even had people offer more than the 3 I was asking.

I found a totally new market. I eat at a sushi smorgasbord about once a week or so. Every waitress and most of the cooks are Chinese and not Japanese, go figure. Most are close to being right off the boat or plane. Maybe a Japanese person can't imagine the words sushi and smorgasbord going together. Anyway, I've made friends with one of the waitresses and told her that I raise chickens. Every once in a while she'd ask about them. I explained how dark the Penedesenca eggs are. She said they had chickens in her region of China that laid eggs just as dark. I was really curious what they were. Then she went into a rant about how horrible grocery store eggs are here. I told her I'd bring her some eggs. The next time I ate there, I brought a dozen. They were in a clear carton and there were a couple normal brown ones and the rest were a really nice color. Her eyes got big and she said, "THEY SO DOK!!!". (no offense). I said, I thought you said you had dark eggs in China. She said, not that dark, just normal brown. They hate white eggs. The next time I went, all the waitresses came up and said they wanted 5 dozen. I can sell 5 dozen there every time I go.
The area convenience markets have a lot of middle easterners and they hate white eggs too. I sell some there.
Good thing I'm down to my last white egg layer. My last Jaerhon.
I have an Ameraucana that just started laying. Wait till I bring some of those to Hokkaido.

 

[Scott H]

Have y'all had more hawks and eagles around this year. I have been fighting hawks and bald eagles this year for the first time. And have had chickens for 4 years. Just curious

Bald Eagles should not eat birds, they eat fish

I had an eagle making a living on wild Mallards one winter in front of the house until he discovered the neighbors ducks could not fly....then he ate them. He was very good at catching the Mallards out of the air. Maybe you're thinking of Ospreys.