Russian Orloffs

[RiddleMe]

I sold all my pullet culls this fall for $10 each via CL, they had been laying for about a month. The buyers wanted them because they had never heard of the breed and thought they were pretty birds. I made a point of explaining duck foot to them; these were all culled for that reason, which was a bummer because a couple had nice type and spangling. I also mentioned they lay a medium egg, showed them eggs from all the birds. They didn't care as they just wanted an already integrated, mixed layer flock and were also getting an equal number of larger egg laying birds. But I do think the medium egg would have been an issue if that was all I had to sell. Made me wonder if anyone is putting any pressure on them wrt egg size. Too many other things to work on for now, but its in the back of my mind.

 

[NYREDS]

I took 3 Orloff pullets to the Tucson show and put them in the sales area Saturday. They were in lay or about to start. I listed them for $40 each or 3 for $100. Not one buyer! Admittedly, they did not have the best spangling, but still, what does it cost to raise a bird to laying age (especially on organic feed) nowadays? I did not want to take them all home, so I donated one to the $1 raffle. I was too busy packing up my birds to see who won her. My pair that I entered in the show were 1st and 2nd place. Competing only with one other pair from someone else. And someone else had a pair on the sales table for $25 for the pair....guess that's why people thought mine were overpriced....

I always know when a BYCer is selling birds at a show. They have something odd for sale at a wildly exagerated price. People pay $10-$20 for point of lay pullets no matter what it cost you to feed them. $25 is about right for a pair of Orloffs.

 

[desertmarcy]

I always know when a BYCer is selling birds at a show. They have something odd for sale at a wildly exagerated price. People pay $10-$20 for point of lay pullets no matter what it cost you to feed them. $25 is about right for a pair of Orloffs.

Perhaps where you are that is the case, but I regularly sell laying pullets or those near lay for $30 to $40. There are people who want organically raised birds and understand what it takes to get them to that age. I don't raise birds to give them away. I'd sooner they be meat on my table, or meat for someone else since I also sell them processed. If the show people feel that is too much to pay, then I won't bother taking any birds to sell to our shows. People sell their chicks for $6 to $8 each, selling nice older pullets for $10-$20 is ludicrous IMO.

 

[homeworkin]

I have no problem getting $25 for a POL bird here. Yes, they are worth that. I recently sold a POL Welsummer trio for $55 and they were hatchery birds. Guy was thrilled to get them for that price.

I have 4 or maybe 5 Orloff eggs in lockdown. So excited. They are due Friday. Do the Orloffs usually hatch on time?

 

[desertmarcy]

I have no problem getting $25 for a POL bird here. Yes, they are worth that. I recently sold a POL Welsummer trio for $55 and they were hatchery birds. Guy was thrilled to get them for that price.

I have 4 or maybe 5 Orloff eggs in lockdown. So excited. They are due Friday. Do the Orloffs usually hatch on time?

Mine always did, or even a day early. They were robust chicks. Good luck!

 

[homeworkin]

Thanks! I have had other breeds hatch anywhere from 2 days early to 2 days late. Hatch time always makes me nervous!

 

[ashandvine]

I always know when a BYCer is selling birds at a show. They have something odd for sale at a wildly exagerated price. People pay $10-$20 for point of lay pullets no matter what it cost you to feed them. $25 is about right for a pair of Orloffs.

NYReds is right. Even long time, big breeders sell their pairs for this. These are birds you culled out of your pen and you have to figure you are saving yourself room and paying for them longer by passing them on. 25$ for the pair makes good sense, although I would try for a little more on Orloffs only because they are so rare. I think you could ask the 30--35 for them and probably get it. Its about quantity not each quality bird. You can get that if you are known for your great birds for a while and then sell something that is a 'good' cull to someone really interested or naive but after that it just isn't the way things go. Glad your birds did well though.

 

[Angelray]

When I was gathering my flock. I bought chicks but told myself that I wouldn't pay more than $25 for a grown bird...just can't be sure of their upbringing. If I was 'sure' they were healthy & organically raised I would pay $35 at the most.

 

[desertmarcy]

NYReds is right. Even long time, big breeders sell their pairs for this. These are birds you culled out of your pen and you have to figure you are saving yourself room and paying for them longer by passing them on. 25$ for the pair makes good sense, although I would try for a little more on Orloffs only because they are so rare. I think you could ask the 30--35 for them and probably get it. Its about quantity not each quality bird. You can get that if you are known for your great birds for a while and then sell something that is a 'good' cull to someone really interested or naive but after that it just isn't the way things go. Glad your birds did well though.

Others have commented in other threads about how expensive show birds are...so perhaps it just depends on the area of the country, the breed, the demand? People around here are happy to pay $30 for pullets that are laying. It just doesn't make sense to me to sell large dual purpose fowl for cheap since they are entirely edible. I can process them and sell the whole chickens for $5/pound and get more that way and that is what I do with a lot of the birds. Or we eat them ourselves. I am not in this for the money (that would be a joke), but I am retired and make little money, so I do try to pay for the feed, or at least most of it, which is expensive. Almost $30/50 lbs with shipping.

Just like my heritage turkeys, which are also raised on certified organic feed. Someone was selling 2 young Slate hens at the show for $35 each. They do not feed organic, but I do, and I would not sell a turkey hen that cheap, it costs far more to raise them, and depending on the weight, I sold them for minimum $50 processed for Thanksgiving for a hen----some of the toms were nicely filled out and fetched over $100 processed. I turned away people wanting Thanksgiving birds because I did not have any more or enough time to butcher them. Sorry, got a little OT from Orloffs here.

 

[RiddleMe]

I think asking price is also highly dependent on where you are at. In central OR there aren't a lot of SOP breeders (that I have been able to find), and the only local poultry show we have is the county fair. They house all the poultry and rabbits in one building and this year the rabbits easily outnumbered the poultry, probably 2 to 1. So with most of the backyard flocks made up of hatchery birds... I was happy to get $10 each and sell my 20 birds in 3 days. I do see the occassional CL listing asking for more, but those listings usually sit for a while. On the flip side, my sister lives in SoCal and regularly sees people listing day old, straight run chicks for $10+. During chick season her feed store sells chicks for a local breeder, and they usually sell out within a day of arrival, at those prices.

Edited to add we do have two PNPA shows each year, about three hours away, so not a bad drive for anyone seriously interested in poultry.