Has anyone ordered that amazing special from My Pet Chicken?

[kristenm1975]

It's killing me! They're offering 25 female chicks of various breeds for under $45, and get this, FREE SHIPPING!! Aah! I just moved into the city and don't even have a coop set up yet so I can't do it, but my chicken-obsessed mind is already plotting a way to set up a temporary brooder in the basement where no one would know. Mwah ha ha (rubbing hands gleefully).

Is it reasonable to buy those 25, raise them or 2 or so weeks to get them to a safer age and then sell them to local folks for $5 each? I don't want to be "scalping" chickens, but I would love to have the joy of chicks around again, and also make a few bucks. What's the consensus?

 

[BeccaOH]

Quote:
LOL

I'd do it. But you may have trouble finding buyers for chickens with winter setting on. I know people are unloading chickens by the dozens around here in preparation for winter. But there is always someone looking for certain breeds, and if you happen to have it for sell then. . .

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=249707

I did, along with a few others that have posted some pics at the above link.

Mine were hatched and shipped out last Mon, Sept 21 and received at my local PO with the first truck on Wed.

A wk old already and still unsure exactly what I got and that's part of the fun.

I plan on only keeping 10-15 of them and offering the rest for FREE to good homes on this site and Craigslist in a few weeks.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
I don't think "scalping" chickens is morally wrong. If you raise the babies up and then sell them, you are just getting paid for your hard work.

We just ordered the special and can't keep all 25. My teen daughters are planning to raise them and sell the extras once they get to be 6-8 weeks of age (sexed, fully feathered and ready to live outside). Some people don't like to buy tiny chicks because the extra work involved (and the expense if you don't already have the heat lamp, etc), so buying older chicks is a good option for them. I guess it depends on your area.

 

[Mahonri]

If I had room, I'd love to get this special... but alas... I've just got to pray the ones I do have eventually start laying!

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

I'd be ALL OVER this if we could have more than 5

Gosh that would be just too much fun!

 

[Cherlyn]

This makes me wish I could move back to the states sooner. I do not think the UK has any hatcheries that will ship.

~Cherlyn

 

[Lensters]

There are three of us in the Willamette Valley doing exactly this, though two of us are quite upfront and let the customer know. The other claims to be a complete hatchery that won't sell chicks until they are started. They also claim to be selling SQ birds and charge a very premium price. They have some other unscrupulous practices that I turned them into the Dept of Ag and the Attorney General for. I received info that they were already investigating these people.

The two of us that are honest about it are currently working at vertically integrating, meaning we are now running some of our own breeding pens and hatching what we can.

I'm working with a couple of people on starting up a co-op type of operation and collecting eggs from a variety of reputable breeders to startup a real hatchery operation. It would be centered around a currently idle meat bird hatchery that has the capacity to set a little more than half a million eggs. To be financially viable we need to set about 17,000 eggs a week for at least an eight week period (run at 10% capacity). I'm expecting to get about 300 good eggs per week from my breeding pens so that means we need about 50 operations the size of mine.

BTW which hatchery has the big sale going on? I really don't need anymore chicks right now but it's hard to pass up a good deal.

 

[OutInTheStiks]

We bought the assorted special with the idea that we will be keeping some of the breeds that we want and will be selling others.

 

[Bantimna]

Well first how big is your yard?
second I beleive get them a coop first so they have a home and that aren't huried to finish it,but that you can take time and do it how you want it.