Ok everytime i post an ad on CL for birds for sale (most of the time i only have cockerels or roosters for sale) They show up here and beg to take hens home with them and being the pushover I am I let them. Saturday a man showed up to purchase 3 week old chicks and ended up leaving with only 6 chicks out of 13 and gave me a sob story about a lone roo with no hens to keep him company. Me feeling sorry for the roo I gave in and sold him 2 hens. Now I really miss the hens I sold him and never wanted to part with them in the first place. Despite my ad saying I HAVE NO HENS! people just don't give a flying hoot about it. It is really starting to make me mad. I worked hard raising these guys, spoiling them, taming them ect ect ect then i go into stupid mode and sell them for dirt cheap. . I think the best fix for this is to no longer allow people to come here to pick up birds for sale or i'm gonna end up with nothing but roosters!!! I am to blame for all of this and letting people literally talk me out of my girls. Personally I wouldn't do this to anyone, its like begging for change when you have a $100 in your pocket! Then they only want to pay a few bucks for them when i think they are worth at least $10 each considering they are producing eggs every day! I guess i'm just toooo nice and i gotta put my foot down! From now on there won't be any more visitors, you want some of my birds for sale then i will meet somewhere!!! Thanks for letting me vent
Ouch.... I am always told I'm too nice, but not when it comes to my girls.. Can you house the boys that you're putting on CL in a different spot in the yard and maybe cover the girls area when you're selling off the extra boys? It may be a case of these people seeing the girls and thinking that you have plenty...... You know hoe some people can get.
I am tired of being nice to people on CL. SOme guy wanted me to give him a discount on the wii. I was selling it for $200.00 with 1 game, 2 controller, 2 nunchucks, and 2 guns. retail is over $300. I kept saying no every 5 minutes. So I went to him and said "Look! if you'are not going to buy I have over 15 people who want it for the price I am selling it at. He shut up and took it.
Every chicken I own can be bought for a price. But, let me assure you, it is a price that most people would not want to cough up. For example, I paid $10 for one of the chickens here, I would not sell that chicken now for less than $100 since I have seen what that chicken produces. On the other hand, one I paid $12 for I am going to unload on the first person that says they want her for $5 when she stops laying. The best thing you can do is meet these people somewhere and only take the chicks you have for sale. If they want to see the parent stock, take some good pictures. The other thing you can do is raise a bunch of pullets to sell with your roosters. That is what I am doing this summer.
Say... sure I have hens and then name a high price. Also, I like the idea of not showing them the hens. Just show the roos.
I would increase the price on the hens to reflect the total value- Physically healthy,laying, content birds that you are attached to must be worth at least 50 to 75 dollars each.( your value should allow them to have to really think about what they value- why do they deserve the easy way).
I price my hens at 15 dollars a piece, NO LESS. Everey one knows that a GOOD laying hen is worth her wieght in silver. You have to get her to the point of laying, feed, pamper and protect her. You have to medicate her when she is sick, you have to provide housing and water. You have to provide your presence every day to keep them healthy and freindly. A constant vigilance is taken with your laying hens, they are a responsibility. Heck, I think I will ask 20 bucks a piece. I gotta tell ya. I had an older couple that wanted a few laying hens. The "wife" was pretty nice, but the old man was a ...... well you know. We arrive at a price, 15 bucks. They come out to the farm and i have a few picked out for them. BUT NOOOO, the old man wanted my young plymouth rock hens and he wanted them for 7 dollars. I spun on my heel and said: If you think you can buy a young white rock for 7 bucks here is the address and time of the next poultry auction. He drug his wife off the property, her in apology and 6 months latter I got a call fromt the same women. Can we come over and get a few laying hens she asked. My reply. NO.
Hey ChickenAddict, I went through the same thing only with a some turkeys. I didn't want to sell my year old tom for the same price I did the 6 month old ones. But, like you a soft heart and a sad story..I let Big Tom go. My sis n law sells her hens for $15.00. She said they are worth that..like you said the egg production pays for itself. People don't have a clue how much feed and money it takes to get these chickens, turkeys to a year old. Or they just don't give it a thought. $5.00 a hen is a giveaway!!! My year old hens will not be sold for less than $15.00 if they want to pay less they can buy a chick!! I am sorry your missing your hens...I still miss Big Tom. We need to learn to be more assertive with buyers. DJ
You need to either set your price so high that if they do pay it you feel okay about selling or say no and mean it. I have the same thing happen. People come in and beg for my hens and of course they want my nicest Orpingtons or Barnevelders for $10.00. I just laugh and say you have got to be kidding. I have even had some put their kids up to begging and crying. It hard to stand tough sometimes but we all put a lot of work into our birds so the work has to be worth something also. I even had one guy go to my husband and tell him I was being mean by not selling him the birds he wanted. When my husband folded and said just sell him a couple of birds, I then was determined that he wasn't getting any birds no matter what he would pay. I just said no I'm not selling you any birds and walked off. To say to least I feel your pain on this issue. Thanks for letting me rant.
You guys are a lot more trusting than I am. I would not even tell a Craigslist buyer where I lived. They would meet me in a parking lot in town, at my convenience, with cash.
