The price of a hen........?

[k2chickens]

Well i have decided that 7 layer hens is TOO many eggs for just me and my girlfriend. So, as of now, i have come to terms with letting 2 go. Yes i know, it is as hard for me as it is hard for you reading this...lol. They are not all that special tho, the 2 i want to get rid of came from a st. run rural king bin in the spring and the other was traded to me as a pullet in a BYC meet up party. They are all about a year old as of now. Here are my layer hen's so you can tell me if you think im picking the right two, "even tho you don't personally KNOW my chickens" lol

Barred rock
Buff O
White Rock
SLW
Australorp..s/p? lol
Golden Sex Link
Speckled Sussex

The two that i have chose to go are the Barred rock and the SLW. No real reason, i have just had bad luck with Wayondotte's and their attitudes, and Barred rock's "to me" are just REALLY easy to come by. Now, onto the point of this thread. What do you think i should charge for them??? Now back when they were still pullet's yet to lay, i sold some extra girls i know i was not going to need. Then i was selling them at about 10 to 12 bucks a piece. Everyone told me that that seemed like a fair price to them, especially since they were close laying age. So now it's winter with snow and ice everywhere and the girls are still cranking out the eggs. Especially that Barred Rock, shes is a Double Yolk'er MACHINE! I'm just more of a darker brown egg eatin kinda guy, so my Australorp takes good care of me there. Now i had listened to a few of the chicken whisper's radio shows and few times now he has mentioned selling hen's and for what price. He said a few things along these lines, " Im not going to let a laying hen go for just a few bucks now, people need to get with it and realize what it took to get your animal where it is at right now. You hatched it in your incubator you bought, you hand raised it..every day of it's life. You bought the feeder's, you bought the waterers, you bought the pine shaveings for bedding, you bought the good quality feed, you put a roof over it's head, and im sure you even feed it our expensive "human" scraps that you also payed for right from your kitchen. When i go to sell my hen's i raised from day one, you bet your bottom dollar im going to get 20 to 30 bucks a hen.

Now to me, that makes ALOT of sense. So im starting to believe that selling them for the prices i have thought of below are good/fair ones.

Barred rock Hen $25
SLW Hen $25

or

Both together for $40


Then we have the slightly more option

Barred rock Hen $30
SLW Hen $30

or

Both for $50

Or you guy's could think im being WAY to pricey and i should sell for less, i don't know. But that's why i decided to make this thread, so that from now on, i will know how to price my hen's in the future. Can't wait to see all of your opinion's...and for your viewing pleasure, i remembered that i took a funny picture of my barred rock back last early spring.

Thanks again.

 

[briteday]

In my area, top dollar for a POL pullet or hen is $15.

 

[sonew123]

I understand where your coming from-Id love to sell my hens for that but around here if I can get 20$ for a regular laying hen Im doing good-which I have gotten. Now If I had some hens that cost me alot to hatch-raise and they are a type of rarer chicken and such I will advertise and sell for more, otherwise I keep them all...

 

[k2chickens]

Quote:
Ah i see. I myself was sorta leaning towards the 25 a piece or 40 for both...because im sure there are people who only want one hen and do not want to buy a pair that a laying. The money i make is going right back into feed for the rest of my flock.

 

[NYREDS]

I wish I lived where birds brought those kinds of prices. If I did I'd raise some to sell. Around here a common laying hen rarely brings more than $5.

 

[PunkinPeep]

This isn't what you asked, but i think i would be more inclined to either give to someone i knew or keep them and sell the eggs you don't need, especially since you aren't likely to make your money back by selling them outright.

 

[Lensters]

Check Craigslist and see what POL hens sell for in your area and sell them for a comparable price. You can price them however you want, but if you want to sell them you need to price them to be competitive in the market.

 

[Ariel301]

Wow, I wish I could get that kind of price. Hens around here either are free, or $5 at most...I will be lucky to get $50 for show quality baby goats in my area, no one will pay what animals are worth. My current chickens were $3 apiece at 3-6 months old (not sure exactly on their ages), which would be a loss if the owners bought them from the feed store. Chicks at our feed store are $8 for 'assorted chicks'.

We get a lot of our meat by picking up free or cheap livestock off craigslist, everyone is getting rid of them because of the economy and high feed prices.

 

[BellLisamo]

omg just found the price of " $35 each FIRM" on CL down where i live.....

 

[k2chickens]

Quote:
see...i knew i was not crazy lol