What is a hen worth??

[chickened]

I have a friend that had a drunk driver take out her chicken fence. She was forced to move all her hens to another area of her property where the birds are less than secure. This move brought predator in and they killed quite a few birds. The DA has asked her the value of the hens to assign restitution to the DD. What would you value these hens at? they are mostly pullets POL. Please include egg loss also.

 

[bakerjw]

$20.00 for an egg laying hen.

 

[Fred's Hens]

You'll not re-coup all your future potential, sorry, that is gone.

Hatchery stock birds bring $15 on the very top here. Craigslist is what I use to sell POL pullets. Hens less than a year old, the same. Hens older than a year old only bring $10. Hens older than 2 years old bring about $4. This is completely dependent upon the price support of your local area and I am sure Oregon is slightly higher in pricing.

Unless you can show Craigs list ads pricing much higher than that, in your area, I'd be cautious about trying to ask much more. Some rural areas, where chickens are abundant, even those prices don't hold up. Attend a chicken/livestock sale barn or auction in your area. Some areas use this method for poultry sales. We have one here, but I never attend, as I have no interest in buying stock at such a place. Young layers often sell for as little as $8, especially if bundled in a lot of a dozen.

Hope that helps.

 

[speckledhen]

It so varies by location, hard to say. I always sell laying hens in their prime or pullets at point of lay for $10, unless they are extremely rare or top quality. One of my Stukel line BR hens might go for $50 or more, but those are one of the rare exceptions. I bet your very best figure would be no more than $20-30 per hen.

Older hens, over two years of age, I let go for $5, when I've ever done that, which is almost never, but you get the idea.

Now, if it was a neighbor I'd had big dog issues with, I'd add some on for egg loss, but court situations are more controlled and they rarely let you get away with that stuff.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

In my part of Florida I recently sold a number of POL pullets for $12.00 apiece. Older birds go for maybe $5.00.

 

[Mattemma]

I see $10-20 on craigs.$5 for the older ones.

 

[cmom]

I sell my laying hens in their prime or pullets at point of lay for $15 each. My older hens I sell at $10 each and my cockerels and roosters $5 to $12 depending on the breed. Most of my boys go for around $5 to $7.

 

[dainerra]

here, laying hatchery birds usually go for $3-5 a piece. In a few months, they will be free.

As others said, check Craigslist. Check your local classifieds. See if your area has an ad service geared toward livestock. Call local auctions that handle livestock and see what the price goes through.

 

[cupman]

I don't get how people can raise birds so cheap. $3-$5 for a laying hen? They must be taking a loss. The court isn't going to scrutinize what you have to say, they are going to be much harder on the drunk driver. I'd aim high, $30 each, maybe even up it to $40+ to account for lack of egg production and the time lost to raise a laying hen. Shoot high, the insurance company will probably pay whatever she asks for.. they are just glad he didn't crash into the side of the house and cause $20,000 in damage.

 

[cmom]

I get $2.50 a dozen for my eggs. I have gotten $3.00 a dozen but because others in my area are selling theirs for $2.50 I was kind of forced to put mine back to $2.50 as my sales declined. My laying birds lay 5 to 6 eggs each per week. My Isa Browns are dynamite layers.