Eggs vs. Chicks?

[ARBirdCurious]

Maybe I'm reading things wrong, but it seems like some breeds sell cheaper as hatched out chicks vs hatching eggs. I've been looking at barred rocks for example.

I'm curious as to the economics of this? Why would a hatching egg be as expensive or more expensive than an egg that is incubated and hatched out?

 

[neo71665]

Supply and demand

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Maybe I'm reading things wrong, but it seems like some breeds sell cheaper as hatched out chicks vs hatching eggs. I've been looking at barred rocks for example.

I'm curious as to the economics of this? Why would a hatching egg be as expensive or more expensive than an egg that is incubated and hatched out?

Probably depends on the breed and the breeder. Most breeders I know sell hatching eggs for about 1/3 to 1/2 the price of a day old chick.

 

[nchls school]

Where they're from and quality of birds.

 

[cherrynberry]

Maybe I'm reading things wrong, but it seems like some breeds sell cheaper as hatched out chicks vs hatching eggs. I've been looking at barred rocks for example.

I'm curious as to the economics of this? Why would a hatching egg be as expensive or more expensive than an egg that is incubated and hatched out?

Could be because of diseases. I, for one, prefer eggs over chicks. I love watching them hatch too. I like raising them from beginning to end.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm curious as to the economics of this? Why would a hatching egg be as expensive or more expensive than an egg that is incubated and hatched out?

What are your sources for the comparison? That might explain what you are seeing. But I'll speculate.

The hatcheries we typically buy from are not into producing show quality birds. They are mass marketing chickens that pretty much follow the breed standards but are not likely to win a chicken show. Their breeding methods are all about mass producing chicks at a competitive price. They typically use the pen breeding method where several roosters share a pen with many hens, maybe 20 roosters with 200 hens just to put possible numbers to it. Which rooster mates with which hen is random. I'll guess this is what you are looking at as far as chicks.

Breeders breeding for show do it totally differently. Precise methods can vary but they often have three different breeding flocks. They carefully select one rooster from one of those flocks to mate with one or two hens from another of those flocks, trying to match the rooster with the hen that gives them the best chance of winning a championship. Nothing random about that breeding at all. Even then they have to hatch a lot of chicks and raise them to adulthood before they can decide which might be a keeper. The feeding and housing of all these chickens gets pretty expensive on a per chicken basis. Their management is more intense.

Comparing hatchery chickens to breeder chickens is apples to oranges. You may be looking at something totally different but it's very possible you are looking at a difference in mass production versus hand crafting a very specialized product.