Selling birds...

[bufforp89]

Just sold 4 muscovy drakes to an older gentlemen and got a really good price!

I made enough to feed my chickens for a week, not bad huh? I cant help but feel sad for the little guys though...going off to an unknown fate one day after living normal lives for the past 3 months.....anyone else ever think continuously about the birds they sold? Im gonna think about these guys all day now....

 

[WestKnollAmy]

The more I sell the less I think about it. I know I gave them a good life and that is the best you can really do for animals. Especially if they are meant for our tables. DH won't sell to anyone he thinks is going to be cruel to them but you really never know. We like to believe that if they are going to be raised for eating then they will be kept in good conditions so they will have good flavor and have the best meat on them.
But yeah, it can be hard. I sell to feed my others and sometimes get good sells and sometimes not.

Congrats on being able to feed the others and know you did your best!

 

[savingdogs]

We have had to get used to this as well. I think it will get easier with practice.

Awesome that you now have the money for feeding the others.....that is the main thing.....

 

[duckyfromoz]

I had people come choose from some 4 week old ducklings on Tuesday. They took three little girls. On Wednesday I got my first photo update email about them in their new home. It brought a tear to my eyes. They referred to them as their little princesses and told me how much their grandchildren adored them already.

Its always sad to see them go- but I hatch enough so that they can pay for themselves. Apart from food and bedding- selling sucks this year has also paid for a new incubator. It nicer when I know the ducks are going to be treasured pets rather than a farm animal- but I know each time I set eggs that I cant keep them all. I have a dozen girls outside I am growing out at the moment. Its nice to hang in to them a while longer - but in time I will have to sell 9 or ten of them too.

 

[Bleenie]

I sold ONE person over 40 ducklings this year. they came down one day and picked them all up... I knew where they were going and would have preferred pet homes but they were piggies and were gobbling up around 25gals of feed a week!! talk about eatin ya out of house & home!! I try to think about the ones that he was going to keep for breeding instead of all the others that were table bound

 

[MysticalMom]

I recently sold the 1st muscovy babies I've ever let the Momma hatch. They were destined for freezer camp ( so sayeth the hubby) but I saved them from the axe and sold them.

( 10 bucks a bird was not bad either)

The family that got them added me to their facebook accounts and now I see pics of them regularly. It's pretty cool. I'm sure there'll be plenty more both for keeping and for freezer camp. But these were my 1st naturally hatched babies and they were... special.

 

[bufforp89]

I think it was harder with these guys then others because their mom raised them rather then them being in the incubator and brooder/growout pens with the other babys...I always think of the ones in the brooders/pens as dinners....I like them to go to pet homes when its possible but they are way more popular as roast duck in my area....I know I have to sell them to keep the ones I want fed, other wise I would be way more poor then I am now lol

 

[Where The Wild Things Are]

So do most people sell hatchlings, or more mature birds? I would love to add to my flock, but I don't want to "raise" any more kids. I would prefer a mature bird. One that's comfortable around people and other birds. I would imagine that people are less willing to part with older birds that they have had a chance to bond with.

 

[Bleenie]

I sold quite a few "well started" muscovy ducklings to people around here this year. to begin with, the feed store was buying my ducklings straight from me but as the season went on they stopped selling ducklings so i was keeping more. turned out that they were "more popular" as started ducklings(already living outside) rather than new hatchlings.

I have been thinking about shipping ducklings this next year but honestly, it just makes me worry too much! I think it would be safer to ship started babies, that way you can train them to eat fruits and stuff to keep them fed & hydrated on their trip.