I just realized I never took photos of my May hatchlings! :'( I called them my "Dumpling" tribe. They hatched on May 5th, lost one after a few days, and had 29 healthy, happy chicks survive. Realized I had far too many chicks this season (I hatched in Feb, March and April, too - Alfredo, Barbeque and Chili tribes) and no more available space for them to grow out .....
So ... I took all 29 of them to a livestock auction last Saturday. They sold for a disappointing average of $1.00 each, not even enough to pay for my gas to and from the auction barn. (This IS west central Missouri, so prices may be different in other parts of the country or world...) But I did learn some lessons to get the best price from my chicks or chickens in the future:
* If selling straight run chicks, box them separately by color group. They'll bring more $$. Otherwise, wait until they can be sexed. Then.....
* Box the cockerels separately, in ones, twos or threes. They'll sell for 75-cents each.
* Box the pullets in color groups. They'll bring $3-4 each. If they're mixed colors, maybe $1.50-2.00 each.
* Box them in small numbers, like 6-8 per cage, and all the cages identical. The workers will put all of them up together, so bidders can buy one box, or all of them.
* Get there an hour early, so your containers are placed at the perimeter of the auction ring and in full view of bidders who also arrive early to look over the day's sale stock. If you arrive close to auction time, they'll hold your containers in back, out of view, until those in the ring are sold through.
* Make containers that are easily seen through on all four sides and the top - wire cages for example. Interestingly, the best containers (and cheapest!) were those with a scrap of wood for the bottom and chicken wire simply bent over it in a hoop and attached to the sides and ends of the wood scrap. This also forced the auction workers to place those cages on TOP of other flat-topped cages, so they were most visible to bidders. (Use hardware cloth if your chicks are small enough to poke their heads through a single layer!)
Some folks put their birds in laundry baskets, totes or buckets with wire tops, that was OK, but not as visible and didn't sell as well (geez! you'd get a free basket!). The worst containers, and those verbally criticized by the auctioneer over the loudspeaker, were cardboard boxes. (Not mine; I used cardboard boxes, but with the sides cut out and covered by chicken wire - and yes, they poked their heads through. Lesson learned.)
I wanted to wait through the rest of the auction to see the baby donkeys they had, and now much they sold for --- but hubby called me home with a lame excuse. I think he was afraid I'd buy one. (And I might have!!!) I want a donkey in the field with our cows to keep the coyotes away. Maybe next time....
. Thanks!
It's just as big as it's siblings so has been able to eat, but I moved it in with the ducklings so it can get watered down food that is easier to scoop up.
