Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[hallerlake]

Quote: It's a very old Swiss breed. They were bred to forage in the Alps.

 

[AletaG]

Besides Craigslist and the county 'trading post' internet stuff, where do you all sell excess cockerels and hens? A cursory search shows a livestock auction place in Enumclaw, which is hay and gone from where I am on the Peninsula. I know you can post ads on BYC, but that seems to work best for eggs/day olds, not older birds... Thoughts? Trying to think ahead to next year, when I will probably be overwhelmed with animals...
-Aleta G.

 

[BGMatt]

Besides Craigslist and the county 'trading post' internet stuff, where do you all sell excess cockerels and hens? A cursory search shows a livestock auction place in Enumclaw, which is hay and gone from where I am on the Peninsula. I know you can post ads on BYC, but that seems to work best for eggs/day olds, not older birds... Thoughts? Trying to think ahead to next year, when I will probably be overwhelmed with animals...
-Aleta G.

The worst culls that don't go in freezer go to the livestock auction because I don't want my name attached, a lot of extra males go that way too since lower demand.

Average quality birds I sell on Craigslist, or the poultry swaps. The best of the extras I will sell at shows.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Hey, all y'all who live close to Lacey: please follow the signs to Thurston County Fair this week. It's not hideously expensive, there's good food booths, and most importantly, even more important than the Silver Quail Barbu d'Anvers I raised being exhibited in the Poultry Barn, is the fact that the gate this year may be an important factor in keeping the fair going.

Us rural types, or backyard farm types, have lost an important source of community when the County Fairs go. They are not for the carnies or the people with the political and commercial exhibits, they're for those of us who raise gardens, keep animals, spin and work fibers and make quilts and hay and baked goods. Go see, get inspired, make connections, maybe next year you or your kids can be exhibitors. But if you don't go, maybe nobody will be able to.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Besides Craigslist and the county 'trading post' internet stuff, where do you all sell excess cockerels and hens? A cursory search shows a livestock auction place in Enumclaw, which is hay and gone from where I am on the Peninsula. I know you can post ads on BYC, but that seems to work best for eggs/day olds, not older birds... Thoughts? Trying to think ahead to next year, when I will probably be overwhelmed with animals...
-Aleta G.

The worst culls that don't go in freezer go to the livestock auction because I don't want my name attached, a lot of extra males go that way too since lower demand.

Average quality birds I sell on Craigslist, or the poultry swaps. The best of the extras I will sell at shows.

I'd rather send everything to the auction rather than put them on Craigslist: I don't like having people I don't know come here, and that's the biggest drawback of CL for me.

 

[BGMatt]

I'd rather send everything to the auction rather than put them on Craigslist: I don't like having people I don't know come here, and that's the biggest drawback of CL for me.

A lot of folks I know meet at a store or gas station close by. I would if I didn't live behind a coded gate at end of a private road which is well protected by myself and some other excellent marksmen. LOL

The biggest downside to the auction is very low prices and their huge cut (about 30%) so you only get about $4-$10 max a bird

 

[AletaG]

"the auction"... which auction? Is there one out this way? Or is it the one in Enumclaw?

LOL You guys crack me up!
BGMatt, your criteria make perfect sense. Why have someone with a no good bird telling people "that's from Matt's line, you don't want those"... Good plan. SO, unless I can find "the auction", guess the ones I'm not willing to put my name on, as you say, will have to be freezer bound.
Stumpfarmer, I usually get around that (non-bird - have none to sell at the mo') by meeting people at our farmers market or fruit stand or maybe the Grange parking lots. Can be annoying if they don't show... and if you're worried about biosecurity/NPIP then if you have to bring 'em back home, they have to go into quarantine... hmm...

The worst culls that don't go in freezer go to the livestock auction because I don't want my name attached, a lot of extra males go that way too since lower demand.
Average quality birds I sell on Craigslist, or the poultry swaps. The best of the extras I will sell at shows.

I'd rather send everything to the auction rather than put them on Craigslist: I don't like having people I don't know come here, and that's the biggest drawback of CL for me.

 

[BGMatt]

Just search for local livestock auctions. I dump mine at the woodland one because its closest, sometimes dump at centraila if I'm going up there for some reason, or if I can't get Thursday morning off to take birds to woodland. I don't know all of them.

Edit: you do mention a pet peeve of mine. I never want anyone anywhere saying "that's Matt's line" unless it is a bird directly purchased from me as an adult. Too many variables. If you hatch it and raise it its yours, I don't want my name attached to it. Especially once someone else is making the culling and breeding decisions.

 

[AletaG]

Guess I'll have to go farmer stalking. The internet and local adverts have yielded nada.

That's so interesting... Makes some sense though, since you don't have any control over how well they will cull/select offspring... Yet at the same time, if the person is placing themselves sort of under tutelage or dang what's the word ____ / journeyman / master etc. with high input, would you not be proud of the results?
Things to mull.

Just search for local livestock auctions. I dump mine at the woodland one because its closest, sometimes dump at centraila if I'm going up there for some reason, or if I can't get Thursday morning off to take birds to woodland. I don't know all of them.
Edit: you do mention a pet peeve of mine. I never want anyone anywhere saying "that's Matt's line" unless it is a bird directly purchased from me as an adult. Too many variables. If you hatch it and raise it its yours, I don't want my name attached to it. Especially once someone else is making the culling and breeding decisions.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

"the auction"... which auction? Is there one out this way? Or is it the one in Enumclaw?
LOL You guys crack me up!
BGMatt, your criteria make perfect sense. Why have someone with a no good bird telling people "that's from Matt's line, you don't want those"... Good plan. SO, unless I can find "the auction", guess the ones I'm not willing to put my name on, as you say, will have to be freezer bound.
Stumpfarmer, I usually get around that (non-bird - have none to sell at the mo') by meeting people at our farmers market or fruit stand or maybe the Grange parking lots. Can be annoying if they don't show... and if you're worried about biosecurity/NPIP then if you have to bring 'em back home, they have to go into quarantine... hmm...

The worst culls that don't go in freezer go to the livestock auction because I don't want my name attached, a lot of extra males go that way too since lower demand.

Average quality birds I sell on Craigslist, or the poultry swaps. The best of the extras I will sell at shows.

I'd rather send everything to the auction rather than put them on Craigslist: I don't like having people I don't know come here, and that's the biggest drawback of CL for me.

You obviously drive, and have no current serious injuries/long term disabling positions.

That is not the case for me.

In any case, I've been farming WAY too long to see the money I'd get selling culls as more important than getting them off the feed bill.