Mad and Mad What Would YOU Ask For Any Laying Age Bird?

[drdoolittle]

I bought 3 buff orpington hens for $5 a piece. They are 2 years old, though. I got the rooster for free-----stupid me! I asked a co-worker if he wanted the rooster----it's a REALLY nice one, and the only reason I took it was in case this co-worker wanted it. Co- worker says, "I'll consider it if you throw in one of those hens." Right. I'll be keeping the rooster.

 

[gamebirdsonly]

Laying hens $5.00 to $7.00 roos free and bantam hens $3.00 roos free. That is how much I charge unless it's a rare breed.

 

[dieselgrl48]

Well the layers went this morn.I cried but last night in coop with them and hated putting them in those crate's this morn.The guy didnt get the ducks yet and I talked to a lady today that called about the Pekins she didn't mind the first price at all.DH said to call her tomm. and tell her to come get them.She seem's like a really nice lady and talk's about her animal's the way I do and DH say's e demeanor of some people and the real interest they show in the birds to begin with.I think they would be better off at her place.I drove over 200 miles RT to get peacocks and have had buyers do same for my stuff before.I got a few more going tomm. my millie fleur's and a pair of my Giant frizzle cochin's.

. I am just hoping I can get through this. Feel like an arm or leg is chopped off every time one of my bird's go out that driveway.And I did the same thing a year ago too OMG.I will proabaly be the first case of Chicken Hoarding on the show Hoarder's living in stupid apartment or something with 20 chicken's lol.

 

[math ace]

Quote:

That was too funny and YES I know the sad feeling of getting rid of your birds - - - - -

You will feel better as soon as you hatch out the next set of birds

 

[xxSonja]

Im pretty fussy about who my birds go to, i ask all sorts of questions of the potential buyer (coop size, experience, other pets, intentions) and Ive mainly only got cross breeds! lol
but my birds are in top condition, lovely colours, wonderful attitudes. I figure i bred them so im responsible for finding them quality homes.
I sell my girls for $10 each, doesnt matter if they are bantam or not.
I sell my boys for between $5 and $10 depending on size (usually for meat so bigger are more expensive)
If i have someone who is willing to pay full price, is going to give them a good home and i get a good vibe from them i usually drop the price.
Hell Ive got one lady who came to have a look at some ducks, never had any before, was super keen, asked alot of info and told me all about her other animals.
She came back a week later to tell me she had built a fully enclosed run, with filtered pond, and a lockable night coop, and brought pictures to show me! Lol So i gave her a pair of ducks for free lol
there is another lady in the my area who runs 300 + Isa Browns who asks for $16.50 per hen and $7 for straight run chicks from day olds to juvies. And they are all a lil on the skinny and scruffy side...

 

[Sunny Side Up]

This is one aspect of chicken-keeping that I do not understand. I do not know how anyone can break even, let alone realize a profit, by selling chickens for such low prices. Maybe if you are trying to clear your coop of older spent layers, or surplus cockerels you don't want to process. Or if your hens are incubating the eggs and brooding the chicks, and they free-range for most of their feed. Or if you're raising them in large batches and getting free produce & bakery discards to feed them. Otherwise, it just does not seem worth the effort.

I don't understand why people will pay hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars on tiny lap dogs, pay $50-$100 or more on meals in restaurants, shoes, makeup, purses, ballgame tickets, etc, but think that $20 is TOO MUCH to pay for a POL pullet. Do they think these birds just fall out of the trees ready to lay? Half a year or more has been invested incubating the eggs/ordering the chicks, keeping them safe, warm, healthy, protected, fed, watered & cleaned, dealing with the losses from illness or predators, and finding alternatives for the ones that turn out to be roosters. Expenses have been incurred buying them feed & other extras.

If you had a new-hatched chick and handed it to someone to tend for the next 5-6 months until it was ready to lay, what would be a fair price to pay them per week of care?

Of course a lot depends on where you live, how many other folks in the area are raising chickens to sell, the types of buyers you see. You have to adjust your price to match the going rate in your area, and if it doesn't seem high enough for you, then perhaps selling chickens isn't a good idea for you. Or find a place where people are willing to pay more, often in/near towns where people are able to keep a few backyard chickens and don't want to take the time to raise them from chicks.

I have found the best place to sell POL pullets is at my county Fair. I can get $20-$30 each, there are many people who come each year looking for chickens to buy. I order purebred chicks 6 months before the Fair and raise them to show & sell there. Otherwise, I don't bother selling chickens. When my hens go broody I will let them set, their chicks are mixed standard breeds. I keep the cockerels for the table and sell the pullet chicks by 10 weeks of age for $5.

It really should be a seller's market, but unfortunately there are too many folks offering chickens for awfully low prices. If buyers couldn't find the grown chickens they want for cheap, they'd either have to pay a higher, more reasonable price or raise their own from chicks.

 

[phasianidae]

Would $12.00 a piece be a reasonable price to charge for ready to lay EE pullets?

 

[njduck]

I pay $6 for POL pullets, I pick them up at 18 weeks of age and within 2 weeks most are laying. I am also buy 50 to 100 at 1 time. I get them from an amish man. But our market here has a supply much greater then the demand. Roosters bring more money at auction then pullets or hens. 2 year old hens generally bring $2

 

[debilorrah]

We sell our mixed breeds for $5 per hen, roosters are free. We do not sell the pure breeds.

 

[karlamaria]

wow I hope your all around next year and close to me when I want to buy more chickens. I want pullets or laying hens ( first year) Im all loving my girls but there a lot of work when you raise them from beginning lol. ( no that I would change that as there so special. but I would so buy laying hens for 20.00 each! ( first year hens of course) saves me time, money and waiting for the first eggs LOL. see you next spring!!