how much to charge for point of lay pullets?

[sommrluv]

$5-$10 is going range here for point of lay or laying birds. No one would EVER pay $25 a bird....

Private breeders sell trios for $30-$40. I'm in a nice area not far from the city. I agree with the others...(not saying this of op) but some people are just pricing themselves out of a generic market.

(I paid $7 to a hatchery for POL because two of my "girls" were "boys" so I decided to not waste time and buy four more at that price. Of course, it's cheap, because they're in my neighborhood and I could drive to the farm and load them right in my car.)

 

[Mahonri]

almost all point of lay pullets here in AZ are $20.

There are deals but usually, you get what you pay for.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I paid 12$ for my girls and would have paid more. I didn't want to bother with the feeding, waiting for eggs, loss, heating, 'babying' that the younger ones have to have... I got mine at 18weeks old and still had to wait for another 6 weeks before I got my first egg!!!!

 

[GardeNerd]

I live in SoCal in an urban area. I raised my hatchery chicks organically. I listed 2 Point of Lay pullets ( a Black Australorp and a Jersey Giant) for $20 each on craigslist and got a bunch of inquiries the first day. The fact my birds were organic probably helped. They sold fast at that price.

I think how much they sell for depends A LOT on where you LIVE. Most folks are looking for egg layers around here, not Show Quality birds. Hatchery stock is fine with most people. There just aren't a lot of hens available around here for sale. And when they are, I see more leghorns, RIR, Barred Rocks, and sex-linked listed. The slightly less common Easter Eggers, Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps, etc. go for more here in L.A. and Orange County. I have seen them sell for as high as $30, but $15 is pretty typical for most of the local listings and they usually are not listed for very long.

The Inland Empire (about an hour drive East for me to Riverside) the hens go for far less since they are much more common out there. I see the prices generally listed from $8 to $15 out there, depending on the breed.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

If I could have bought started pullets for 10 dollars each, rather than day olds for 3.00 each I would have financially come out ahead. I can't take a 3 dollar bird and turn it into a 22 week old bird without spending another 5 dollars on it, between feed, light bulbs, electricity and other supplies. Even if I could.....only just and that doesn't touch my trouble. If someone wants to sell a bird for 10, they are nice. They aren't being fair to themselves. The only one getting a deal is the buyer. Don't believe me???? Go out and buy some day olds and keep all your receipts.....chicks, waterers, light bulbs, feed, feeders, medications, wire, thermometers and anything else you won't necessarily use for your birds when they are full grown. Anyone that pays 5 to 10 dollars for a pullet either is very well liked or someone allowed themselves to be taken advantage of. Well I didn't get chickens to be taken advantage of. I have to agree with one of our friends......I'd kill mine and put them in the freezer before selling them for an insulting price.

 

[spud1035]

digitS' :

Quote:
Let's say that someone has an "honest" farm and raises chickens to make a living. Or they, at least, hope to recoup feed costs on their livestock.

Ten miles away, someone has twenty pullets in their backyard and gives them away because the $$'s that they could bring doesn't mean anything to him.

You can find this sort of thing at a farmers' market all the time. Grandpa with more money than a Rockefeller picks a truckload of apples off a couple of backyard trees. Wanting them out of the yard, he takes them to the farmers' market and dumps them for half the price as the guy who depends on his orchard to support his family.

Selling yourself short because they are JUST hatchery, JUST a mix of birds, JUST chickens doesn't make much sense in an "honest" market. I'd put them in the freezer a long time before I'd do that. Honestly . . .

Steve

Steve,

You're right on the money with this one. Just because someone is selling whatever underpriced doesn't make it right. This is the problem with the free market system, too many people think profit is a dirty word but someone has to pay the bills. I sold some red sex links for 12 bucks last year that were about 12 weeks old. I had no problem selling them and who ever bought em got some really clean and non infected birds. Just because someone is selling them cheaper doesn't mean you have too. If your birds are kept in a clean environment, they are liking to have less chance of disease or some other problem.​

 

[that_crazy_lady]

around here they go for $6-$10

 

[sommrluv]

I don't think a professional hatchery that has been around for 100 years, with two locations, doesn't know the going retail price they can get for a pullet. That's all I'm saying.

I'd RATHER buy there or hatch my own from someone well known, than buy something touted as anything on craigslist...especially poultry.

 

[cluckcluck42]

I just bought five POL hens (2 EE 2 RIR and 1 Buff Brahma) and five two year old Columbian Rocks and an EE rooster for 100 bucks. I feel I got a great deal. I did not want to wait til spring for chicks and wait til late next year for them to start laying, and the hatchery in my area is extremely unreliable anyways.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Our flock of certified organic, red sex links was $6.80 per bird delivered to our barn from the grower barn. Someone in the area must not have taken their flock this year because the local farm supply had a Craigslist ad trying to sell 3000, organic, 20 week old pullets for $7.50 a piece, minimum of 100 if I recall correctly.

What should you charge? As much as somebody is willing to pay you...