Newbies buying up all the chickens

[DonnaScott]

On FB they are accusing new chick owners of buying up all the chicks.

That is literally the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

New chick owners don't buy 300 chicks. We get maybe half a dozen to a dozen.

Either way...

It's either commercial places buying them up or people that know chickens so they can make a dollar in this garbage chicken flu/egg shortage.

It's not rocket science.

Just my 2 cents as everyone on FB chicken sites rip on new chick owners.

 

[cavemanrich]

Let me answer this from my view.
There are many new chicken owners. Nothing wrong with that. And they are not likely to purchase very large amounts starting out.
With the chick shortage currently being such,,, there are those looking to make some extra CA$H. That is how Capitalisms operates.

BTW I don't have, want,, or view Facebook

 

[Ridgerunner]

I also do not do Facebook but I'll add my opinion.

The hatcheries we use have limits on how many chicks they can offer. I'm pretty sure their facilities and personnel are pretty close to maximum right now. That's kind of how capitalism works, if you see an opportunity take advantage. To expand capacity takes a capital investment and it takes time to build. With Covid and now bird flu the popularity of backyard chickens has greatly increased. It is a boom market. Hatcheries are selling out long in advance.

If someone elects to invest in more facilities there is a reasonable chance this boom will be over before it is completed. That is money invested that they may not get back.

This is not just about hatching more chicks, which in itself could be a challenge. Many of our hatcheries ship out 80,00 to 100,000 chicks twice a week. In a 24-hour period they have to sort them, medicate the ones that need it, package them, label them, and get them out of the door. It takes a highly choreographed operation to do that smoothly every time. The vast amount of the time they get it right but one conveyor belt breaking down can throw it into chaos. To try to increase that maxed-out capacity is not an effort taken lightly.

Are a lot of these chicks being bought by new owners? In my opinion, yes, a lot of them are. So what, isn't this America? Aren't people allowed to try to improve themselves? I'm sure some are being bought by people wanting to make a profit but I suspect the majority of chicks go to people just starting out. I thought that was what America is all about.

Donna, just my opinion like the rest. If someone wants to complain instead of doing something about it like hatching their own chicks I can ignore them pretty easily. That may not be as easy as complaining is to them but I try.

 

[ChaosMom]

On FB they are accusing new chick owners of buying up all the chicks.

That is literally the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

New chick owners don't buy 300 chicks. We get maybe half a dozen to a dozen.

Either way...

It's either commercial places buying them up or people that know chickens so they can make a dollar in this garbage chicken flu/egg shortage.

It's not rocket science.

Just my 2 cents as everyone on FB chicken sites rip on new chick owners.

It's amazing the number of people who regard FB as a news source. (Not you, I realize.)