Oh Craigslist, You Amuse Me So!

This is my first story:

I put an ad on Craigslist to get rid of some roosters, I asked 10 bucks apiece. Unless I know the person and just give them the rooster, I will eat them instead of selling them for 9 bucks. See I am cantankerous.

A person called and wanted the roosters and was very happy to get them on the phone. They were some of my "toads" which is what I call a CX/ Dixie rainbow crosses. They are huge birds. Really big legs.

They end up either white with a tad of orange or barred with orange bleed through,


Above is a Toad. It is Bert Jr.

He is my future Chick Daddy. He is not for sale.


This picture show you just how big they are.

I had 3 toads, an EE CLB cross and a CLB. The CLB being the smallest.

They were told 10 dollars each.

They came out and got them, They were very pleased with the toads. They were not so pleased with the other two.

Once I gave them the birds, the woman walks into my coop. I do not like people walking into my coop. I told her nicely there are no more, that's it.


She says I want a red one. Why they need a red one to eat is beyond me. She says There is a red one!


She was pointing at my very high quality Partridge Chanticler. I told her that one was not for sale. She argued with me about whether she could buy it. Finally she understood I was not selling him.



Then the man asks if I have any other chickens, any all white ones. I have some 7-8 month old CX hens, my Toad Mommies. I said yes I have white ones but they are not for sale. He wanted to see them. I said fine and lead them to the breeding pen I keep them in.I opened the nest box on the side of the coop and showed them the birds. I picked an egg out of the nest. They were impressed and wanted to buy one. The rooster or a hen. I had to go through the whole works again. They are not for sale, they are breeding stock.

Then they asked if I had any birds they had not seen. I pointed to another coop/breeding pen with my trio of Speckled Sussex. They liked them but did not try to buy them.

I then pointed to my coop with Cream legbars in it. It is a huge covered run and 2 coops. These are my show breeding stock. They were impressed with them. Then they saw I had 2 roosters in there, they wanted to buy one.

Again I had to explain he was not for sale. It was getting a little old at this point.

I still had the toad egg in my hand. The woman then said, "do you sell eggs?"

I said "yes, 3 dollars a dozen I have about 5-6 dozen now for sale".

They could see all y chickens running around free, so they should know I free range, When I advertised the rooster I put in the ad I use no drugs or medicated feed. You would have thought I poked them with a hot stick. They went completely bat poop crazy over 3 bucks for a dozen eggs!

We were not going to make any more deals. The guy hands me 3-20s ($60) for the 5 roosters ($50). He asked me if I had change, I said no.

He said you go house and get change. I told him I doubt I have any change in the house. I never keep cash around and if I do it ends in my DW's purse. She was not home.

I told him I do not think I have any, you will have to run to town and get change. He said NO you check in the house...

So I went in and dug up 5 bucks, I had no idea where my wife had the money at. ( I use bank card for everything). So I grabbed 2 dozen eggs and brought them out for the extra 5 dollars I owed him..

He did not want the eggs $2.50 a dozen was too much. I then said well, lets unload the roosters you go to town and get change and come back if you want the roosters.

He finally decided the eggs would work for change..

I promptly marked his phone number as a DO NOT ANSWER. That way I know not to answer if he calls again...

There are all kinds of people. I had a similar situation, I finally got so fed up I kept my birds and told the guy that came to my house to leave. I did eventually sell them. I took them to a swap meet.
 
Those are some of the reasons why I don't allow pickups at our home...
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When I meet "poultry people" I meet them at a local Walmart. I have never done that with egg and meat customers. I am thinking after this I meet everyone at Walmart.
 
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In our area, we started a couple of swap meets. Most of the people who sell are regulars. We have been doing them for several years and have a great turnout of both sellers and buyers. We do advertise our swaps on Craigslist.
 
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If they came to case it they were disappointed.  There is nothing here but a bunch of chickens in cheap homemade coops. Also they drove 60 miles one way to get here.

I am just going to had bring correct cash. If they do not have it we round UP to whatever they have.

You can never fully know their motives. Glad it worked out for you. Very creepy couple.
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You were far more patient than I would have been. I wouldn't have let them look all around, just take what they'd come for and leave....


I agree with you guys, these people were beyond rude.

We are Minnesotans and are just friendly, overly friendly sometimes. I should have just said "take your (censored words) and get go, NOW!"
 
I agree with you guys, these people were beyond rude.

We are Minnesotans and are just friendly, overly friendly sometimes. I should have just said "take your (censored words) and get go, NOW!"

I guess that falls under the heading "live and learn". People!
 
Just found this thread, & yes, Craigslist can be scary. Most of the time, I simply sell extra chicks that were hatched via school projects. Once in a while I'll have "fancy" or rare breeds. (Those are tough to sell because most people want to pay $2-3 for a Coro Sussex or Jubilee Orpington.)

Story 1:
Long ago I had an ad for a free rooster. He was a pet & used in school assemblies. (He would allow my daughter to play dress up with him, was trained to do several magic tricks, & didn't have a mean bone in his body. Problem: he crowed all the time & mated the hens bald. He was much better with people then our hens. Finally at 18 months, we decided to try to find him a new home.) I got a call from a man with a heavy accent looking for roosters & he wanted to know how many free roosters I had. I told him about our one & only rooster but also added that someone else was coming to look at him first. The lady with the travelling petting zoo never showed (Ugh!), but another farm agreed to take him. About a month later, the guy with the thick accent called again asking for free roosters. I told him that our roo was sold but we had 2 week old chicks (fathered by our former roo) available. He said he wasn't interested. The very scary part is that he kept our ph# & called the following spring asking for free roosters. What kind of person only wants roosters?

Story 2:
Right before Easter 2015 I was asked if I had any chicks for sale. DD happened to hatch 11 out of 12 eggs for her 1st trial (sci project). We were hoping to keep 1 of the lavender orpington pullets, but the buyer offered to take all of them for $6 ea. (Purebred orps, Easter Eggers, & mixes) He said he purchased & built a coop and wanted to start a backyard flock. (Bonus = Easter surprise his girls.) Any roosters would go to his cousin's farm. I knew we could get more $ if I placed a CL ad, but DD's 2nd trial was due to hatch the following week, & I wanted the brooder emptied. Besides, the idea of a good home outweighed any financial gain. The buyers brought their children when they picked up the chicks & even emailed a few pics of the chicks in their new home. Exactly 2 days later, I saw a CL ad for "Easter Chicks"....... Orpingtons & Easter Eggers. He did not even remove our colored leg bands! (I gave him a copy of DD's data table which included the parents, candling observations, embryo development, & date /time hatched. All color coded.) He was asking $25 for each lav orp, $15 for blk orps & EEs, & $10 for the mixes.
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Boy, was I angry!


I suppose I should be grateful I don't have worse stories. From time to time I get a call from a clueless person who bought a few feed store chicks & then want to give me what's left after half have died. Thankfully, there's a shelter in our county I can direct them to. Otherwise, I have made several friends via selling chickens. We're not a farm, but my daughter is in 4H & loves science. She's always coming up with interesting experiments each year, so I must sell most of her hatch results in order to keep our numbers down. The perfect sale is one in which the new owner emails pics from time to time. I love seeing how "our babies" turn out. Especially when they send a pic of that 1st egg!
 

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