Texas

[Scoutmedic]

Those little guys are crazy predators! With all my dogs, and the ones we get in to board/train, it is the terriers that are the toughest because of their prey drive. So many people refuse to understand that even that cute little Yorkie is a predator.
Sorry you are having to build your coops/runs like Fort Knox. It is so much harder to deal with the other people in your life when their priorities are so far from yours. Hope things get better.

I had a Boston rescue once BC (before chickens) and he was my best dog. It only took once firm no and he never went after another small animal. 10 years later, we got another one and it just didn't get it. Now we have an English Bulldog who thinks the baby chicks are hers and a Great Dane who wants to play "tag" with the girls.

 

[Zootopia]

Wow there is a Humidaire incubator on the Houston (Iola) CL for $900. That is an interesting piece of furniture.

 

[bnjrob]

So folk tell me what the situation is in your areas fir Guineas. My Feed store got some in for $4.99 ea. i saw about 20 3-4 wk olds at the Flea market. Wish I'd asked how much but I had looked at a buff hen he had and she was very Buggy!! So I just walked on.
I am hatching some out, hopefully I'll hatch more than I need. I have sold a couple doz guinea eggs to hatch and i have had calls for keets. I have only set some here and there to fill space in the bator. I started setting some under broodies. My first batch she only hatched 3, i figured the fertility wouldn't be full on with the first eggs of the season. Now I have 3 broodies sitting and hope we'll get enough to sell some. That fact that they take so long to incubate is kind of a question for my "business sense". I can sell all I have hatched., Mine are a mix of colors that I have hatched from several of the BYC people. I get lots of calls for them, but many people bulk when they hear the price. Thats ok with me, I don't have them stacking up in the warehouse.
Had a guy call this morning "said" he wanted to buy 20 when I have my next hatch. But he only wanted to pay a "couplebucks" a piece. Lol I did laugh. He thinks he's buying mutt chicks. "Well I can go down to Austin and that guy has hundreds" then I guess you should make a trip down to Austin. Then he says "well he wants 3.50 for them I gotta talk him down". . I figure he has to buy 100 to get that price. Hey I could go to Austin and pay $3.50 for a hundred (if they really are that cheap) and could make a few bucks after the gas. I wonder if he's talking about that guy who sells alot of poultry out in Burnett?
Like C-Dood said they are not easy to sex even as adults. I have a few that I know are males and I have banded them. (one powder blue that I may shoot and eat for dinner before the year is out because he fights with everything when he free ranges and with other males when he's penned )
I have alot of people call who want to buy Adults Lol, you Know these people dont know the first thing about guineas. I figure anything over 4-5 mo is just going to get turned loose. I have heard they are hard to raise/brood. I have lost very few, about like my chicks. Last year I didn't sell any under 2 wks unless people had experience. I hate dooming babies just for a $$.

So Texas people what do you know about the guinea market?

I don't think this is a "guinea market" issue so much as ignorance among the general public about hatchery vs well bred stock, the actual cost of doing business, the actual cost of raising poultry, and the fact that people are so accustomed to cheap imported retail products made by slave labor of children, that they can't imagine paying a fair price for something that is well made, well bred, made in the US, and doesn't come so cheap because of mass quantity discounts by large corporations that buy products from Asia.

We live in such a throw away society that people don't want to spend money on something that is easily replaceable - and unfortunately to many people, poultry and other animals are easily replaceable.

My guess would be that you aren't making much of a profit if any by selling decent quality stock, and couldn't unless you charged a lot more for them. There just isn't a lot of money to be made in breeding and selling animals, particularly smaller animals like poultry, unless you do it in quantity or sell to very wealthy or very well informed people who are willing to pay for quality.

If you care what happens to them after you sell them and aren't looking to make a buck, then be picky about who you sell to and keep your price high enough to try to at least break even on them. I'd look at what your goals are for your guineas and any other poultry you're breeding and selling. Are you doing it as a hobby? Are you wanting to preserve a breed? Are you wanting to share great birds with other people? Are you wanting to make money or just break even? Ask yourself these types of questions and write down your goals for your birds. That should help you decide where to set your prices, who to sell to, if you should sell, etc.

 

[Zootopia]

If you care what happens to them after you sell them and aren't looking to make a buck, then be picky about who you sell to and keep your price high enough to try to at least break even on them.  I'd look at what your gooals are for your guineas and any other poultry you're breeding and selling.  Are you doing it as a hobby?  Are you wanting to preserve a breed?  Are you wanting to share great birds with other people?  Are you wanting to make money or just break even?  Ask yourself these types of questions and write down your goals for your birds.  That should help you decide where to set your prices, who to sell to, if you should sell, etc.

Gee rob you mean I can't have it all??? Lol. I know what you mean tho, my first goal is of course to have healthy stock. Id like to be able to support my habit by selling some of the stock to good homes. I try to stay in touch with the rookies. It has been a very slow process trying to obtain then hatch the stock I'm looking for. I'm still in the "testing" process of breeds. Getting some to see what I like then what really works for us here. The heat is a consideration in breeds but the Med. breeds are too inclined to battle for my laid back mostly free range flock. (I like the Sumatras but cant see them fitting in). So it may be awhile before I have firm goals in that part of the plan.
So for now, its a healthy, good quality flock that would help pay its way in egg (mostly) and some stock sales. A flock that we can enjoy, not that I have them sitting in my lap, but friendly and family safe.

 

[TexasLisa]

Just saying hello. I'm in the NE, between Sherman and McKinney. New to chickens, two years new to Texas.

Howdy and

from Rosenberg, TX

Here is the pup we picked out yesterday.. this pic was taken when she was just barely 3 weeks old
She's our future livestock guardian



Yinepu, I think you have too many chicks to take care of this little guy. You should seriously think about letting me have it.

Lisa

 

[RachaelS]

Let the girls outside for the first time, they are about 3 weeks old now. Would have let them out sooner but needed a sturdier pen to put them in so the older girls didn't hurt them. They seems to like it. Everyone is back inside and CRASHED out, LOL!!!!

 

[Little Wing]

Just finished up the trial run for the incubator and hatcher I built. I posted pics of the bator a while back so here is the new hatcher. I got it finished the day of lockdown. They both seem to work good. I hatched 22 chicks out of 30 eggs set. Some of them were 2 weeks old by the time I got the bator finished and got them set. Hoping for a better hatch rate next time.

Mostly Black and Lavender Ameraucana with a few Olive Eggers in there somewhere.


I made the box out of old cabinet doors.


I used parts from an old LG incubator I had.

 

[GFamily]

Ok, so we put watermelon rinds and other fruits and veggies in the run, but we're having problems with ants eating getting in there due to putting the food out there for the chickens. Do any of you guys use wire feeder or something that they can peck at that we can put fruits/veggies in that will connect to the hardware cloth so it's not on the ground? If you use something that's been beneficial to you can you show me a picture or tell me the brand/name. Thanks!!!

 

[hotrodflash]

Ok, so we put watermelon rinds and other fruits and veggies in the run, but we're having problems with ants eating getting in there due to putting the food out there for the chickens. Do any of you guys use wire feeder or something that they can peck at that we can put fruits/veggies in that will connect to the hardware cloth so it's not on the ground? If you use something that's been beneficial to you can you show me a picture or tell me the brand/name. Thanks!!!

I have seen where people use the wire hanging baskets, could also wire it to the side of the fence.

 

[RachaelS]

Today, I went and picked up two Silkie chicks, to be buds with my lone Serama baby. This lady had a set up to die for!!!! It was almost like a maze but with good air flow, everything was in purple and I think light green. She had Emus also, my DD asked if we could get some, LOL! Her and her DH did an excellent job of making the most out of their space! The Buff Rock (4 weeks) is the buddy I had with the Serama before I got the Silkies