topsfield, ma auction sunday oct18

[chickn]

well, i have to say, that is on my dont miss it schedule for next yr, and i plan to be a seller as well as buyer, i was surprised really, i felt as though i hit the twilight zone!! crazy money for laying hens of any age, crazy. $40 hen, wow
and the selection wasnt old birds there were some shown this yr hatch birds , it was awesome.

 

[vnsseed]

Cool, wish I could have gone, but I needed to shorten the "honey do" list.

I will definitely go next year.

 

[keesmom]

It was a lot of fun. Would have been nice if had been a little warmer. I still am in sticker shock over what people paid.

-Cindy

 

[chickn]

Quote:
after a while, i turned to cindy and said we give our birds away compared to these prices. wow, need to find out how to get some mass buyers to nh swaps

 

[GardenerGal]

Didn't I tell you that about people dropping a bundle for chickens? Remember my story about the silkies and the "McMansion Farmerettes"?

I'm not kidding -- most of us are just regular folks with tight budgets, but there is always a group of people who are "gentleman farmers" with a lot of cash to spend.

Chickn, it's not Mass. buyers you want, it's the well-to-do gentleman farmer Mass. buyers. People like me in Mass. don't have any money!

I bid up to $13 on a partridge cochin hen and then signaled that I wasn't bidding anymore, but Tony (the auctioneer) thought I was still bidding and kept going back and forth between me and another bidder even though I had said "no more!" after $13. I "won" the hen for $16 that I never knew I'd bid.

But she is a really nice hen.

One note about being a seller: I'd been selling for years, but after last year's auction I received an IRS form from Essex Aggie (the FFA kids' school) to fill out and return! It turns out that $$ you receive from auctioning your birds is considered income and you have to report it!!! They never, ever did that before that I know of.
Just so you know.

Like we get rich from our birds??

I was dressed in so many layers I looked like I'd gained 30 pounds! But I was still feeling the cold after sitting there for a couple hours. But I love this auction.

 

[chickn]

Quote:
it was crazy, hadnt thought of the irs thing, thats just crazy. what about the state of ma do they want a piece also?

 

[keesmom]

We were trying to figure out which lady was you.

There sure were a lot of rosecombs, and several of this year's award winners too. Only one turkey.

Mr W said someone paid $40 for a barred rock. Was that true?

 

[GardenerGal]

Chickn,
I'm looking at the form now (I never got around to sending it to them). It's a federal W-9 form -- "Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification." What the heck? That is the form that COMMMERCIAL/business people fill out -- as though we are professional chicken breeders selling our birds.

Too weird.

No, it doesn't look like Mass. is looking for a cut. I'm gonna call the Aggie next week and find out why they need this. It makes no sense.

 

[keesmom]

When you find out let us know.

 

[chickn]

the question is how do we get these people to come to our swap in westford ma or even into nh!! LOL

i wouldnt worry about the form, i did hear an older gentleman say he got one also but didnt worry about it, he was talking to one of the woman running it she didnt seem to know what he was talking about