Question about breeders in general

[phoenix2011]

I am fairly new to this forum, and joined because I am having such a difficult time finding the breed that I want - hoping to fix that! Myself and a friend both want Blue Orpingtons - and along the search I discovered Lavender Orps and fell in love with those too! I used to have Buffs, and I loved them so I am looking to start another flock.

My basic point of the thread is I have found it veery hard to hook up with a breeder to get chicks. Now you would think it's kind of a no-brainer: Breeder has chicks to sell, buyer has money to buy! (and let me assure you I am normal, polite and friendly) But I have a hard time getting responses, even from breeders posting that they have chicks for sale!

I did buy 18 chicks locally - paid $8 a chick - I was willing to buy up to 30 and asked if they would give me a bit of a deal if I bought the entire hatch but that was ignored. I bought all of them, and they had more hatching the following week which I wanted to buy, but I was thereafter ignored by the breeder (who now is offering chicks for sale for LESS than what I paid) NICE. And mind you I originally wanted blues - I ended up with ONE blue out of eighteen, the rest are black splask or Lav. I don't really get it, as we had a nice visit when we picked up the chicks initially. It is puzzling - but what can one do other than move on?

Anyhow, I used to be in the dog breeding world and the horse showing world and I know there are some stereotypes and quirky people in THOSE groups - I am wondering if there is some advice anyone can give me on what I can expect as normal when dealing with people in the chicken world. I was really hoping to stay with local breeders (CT-New England states) but at this point I am more willing to ship. I was bumming yesterday because someone outbid me on a blue orp auction here - I would prefer just to BUY them rather than deal with the stress of an auction. Any input on breeders here would be appreciated!

 

[Stacykins]

A lot of breeders it seems focus on hatching eggs. It is easier to ship out a dozen or two fertile eggs than it is a group of chicks. That sucks that the only seller you can find what you want locally is being such a bad egg. Why wouldn't they want your repeat business? That is what keeps people in business!

Normal breeders are definitely not like that guy! They are often willing to work with your needs and care about making sure a deal goes well. A satisfied customer is a repeat customer!

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

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[punky rooster]

Quote:
There's something people over look from time to time: cost (no offence intended....).

 

[cashdl]

I don't like people asking me for a better price, but I remember my momma saying " It never hurts to ask", so I try to be polite and grit my teeth. The OP did state that, even though they asked for a better price because they were buying all the chicks they had, and their request was ignored, the person later advertised the chicks at lower than she bought them for.

If I had been the seller and I knew someone was willing to buy more of my chicks, I am pretty sure I would have called that person. But I do not know what all went down between buyer and seller.

Lanae

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

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[Oregon Blues]

It is very difficult to find breeders of quality poultry. They simply do not advertise, so research is necessary.

At least with blacks and splashes, you can have blues in your next generation. Not exactly what you wanted, but you can get there from here.

Nearly all the poultry people I know are lovely people, but none of them is running a business, so they just aren't businesslike. The best you can do is limp along and then run your own poultry in a more organized manner.

If you've had show dogs, then you know that the best breeders do not advertise and you have to know someone to get an introduction. Apparently, it is similar in poultry, although for different reasons.

 

[phoenix2011]

I am not one of those people always looking to wheel & deal on purchases - but it does not hurt to ask, and I did so because I was willing to commit to the entire hatch - which to me would be a benefit for the seller as we had no idea how may of what they would hatch. I also wanted to commit to buying the 2nd hatch. It only really started irking me when I saw ads for the same birds for less (that & the fact that my question was not acknowledged either) $8 a chick to me was alot of money, but I was willing to pay because I want them! I have never paid more than $4 a chick in my life until then.

I'm a pretty simple person - I was excited & eager about the hatch & expressed that to the seller. That is why I was confused! But moving on - I want to take my business elsewhere. And I totally get the point about the best breeders not advertising! It is true in any show world I suppose! I don't really want to show, but I do want to breed nice big bodied birds so I can sell fresh eggs and do an occsional hatching of my own!

My SO also brought up a good point - better to call people than do most of it through email. So impersonal and people are more likely to develop a rappor if you can speak to eachother. I will take all the comments to heart as I move forward - thank you!

 

[Dharmachick]

I don't think it was anything you did. I sell chicks and pullets (on the other coast) and I often get overwhelmed with emails so might miss one. I always offer a discount with multiple chicks, I don't know why they wouldn't want to do that.

 

[Tankueray]

My SO also brought up a good point - better to call people than do most of it through email. So impersonal and people are more likely to develop a rappor if you can speak to eachother. I will take all the comments to heart as I move forward - thank you!

This. And I don't exactly know how to say this, but the seller may have thought you were too needy because you were excited and asking many questions? I sell some fairly complicated equipment that every kid wants but no kid or adult wants to learn how to use. I don't have time to hold hands, so I tend to try not to get too friendly with someone I think is going to want free tech support forever.

And you know that Blues are a hard thing to promise, if there were only 30 eggs in that batch and they all hatched, best case there would be 7 blues (Assuming they were all from the same parents, which they weren't as there were Lavenders in there). I also feel like I've run into quite a few egg sellers that are not interested at all in selling you a quantity or giving a price break, because they know they can get the higher price from someone else.