What should I be selling my chicks for? Cause apparently...

[chicken_china_mom]

I'm charging too much? I'm selling pure breed chicks, and also some mixed breeds, most have lineage that stems from breeder stock, I hatched them myself, I raised them, I fed them, I loved them, I made sure all their physical needs were taken care of, but people don't want to buy them at the price I sell them. So, I'm frustrated. Seriously, is asking $8 for for a 3 to 8 week old chick too much? I mean, I've gotten over the hurdle where there's the chance they could die, they are healthy, hearty, eating good and putting on the proper weight, and spoiled rotten. And I've had several people say they can get them cheaper elsewhere. Ok, maybe you can. But GOOD stock? I dunno, maybe I'm just grumbly. I've seen people sell their birds for $15 a piece. For all the effort I put into these birds, i don't know. It's beginning to not look worth it to sell chicks. Maybe just enough for my own flocks, and then just sell eggs. I have tons of chicks and no one wants them. Especially the mixes. I have some of the absolute CUTEST little Silkie/Cochin mixes, and no one wants them. Looks like I'm going to have a very colorful flock, and I'll HAVE to stop breeding if I'm forced to house the kids with the parents permanently. So, I'm wondering, what do you all sell yours for? And is there a different way I should be going about doing this? Maybe make pre-orders and sell them as day olds for like $2.50? Then it's their problem if they don't make it, not mine. Me, personally, I would pay more for a good quality bird that will survive vs a newly hatched chick that could catch a chill on the ride home and croak. Am I being too picky about this? It's driving me nuts!!! Any advice, please, offer it. Looks like I'll have to do something about all the little extra roos...

I mean, how cute are these little faces???

 

[KellyHM]

It depends on the breeds you have and the demand there is for them. I sell purebred chicks that aren't rare for $5 each. Once I can tell sex I sell the females for $8-10. Rare breeds sell for a little more, depending on what they are. Mutts only sell for $2-3 around here, at the most.

 

[yotetrapper]

For me, it'd have to be darn fine line of birds to pay $8 for, or some extremely rare breed, or already laying hens of a good pure breed. For me, I'd much rather buy a day old than a teen. It's the cuteness factor. I really do think you'd make more money for day olds in the long run. I'd not hesitate to pay $3 for a breed I wanted in day old. And there's no cost in raising them for you,

 

[redhen]

I dont think your charging too much money... feed is expensive., and good stock birds cost more money. period.
Some people just dont get that... or their cheap....

 

[TennesseeTruly]

I've had a really hard time selling my good stock. No mixed breeds here but I live in an area where people want you to give them away.

Laurie

 

[chick_magnet]

I live I n Tennessee and chicks around one to two weeks old are about 2.50 per pullet minus one dollar for straight run and it all pure breed most sex link,rir,barred rock etc

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Ok, cause right now the pure breeds that I'm selling are Bantam Cochins, Standard Speckled Sussex, and Marans. and A LOT of mixes. I have Cochin/Silkie mixes, Brahma/Silkie mixes, Brahma/Cochin mixes, Cochin/BO mixes (All bantams), and then I have standard Marans mixes, SS/Wellie mixes, and some Silkie mixes that didn't come from my birds, but from someone that also has breeder stock, not hatchery stock. The Cochins and Cochin mixes I have in various ages, from 4 days old all the way up to 7 weeks old. The SS and SS mixes are 7 weeks old. Marans too. The Marans mixes range from 4 days old up to 7 weeks old too. I have blue, black, splash, barred Cochins, and the Cochin/Silkie mixes are so darn cute it isn't funny! Dunno what people actually call them, but they come out with the cutest little mohawks, and feathering like a Cochin, with that wonderful fluffy butt that I love so much. And my Marans mixes, WOW! Maybe I'm just bias, but according to the genetics calculator I've been using I'm NOT suppose to be getting the colors that I've been getting. I dunno, no one wants dark egg layers? What should I be selling those for? I don't have the heart to cull the roos. I've gotten solid yellow chicks that feather out white and look like White Marans, and I've gotten solid Black, and Black with white lacing. Stunning, and unexpected since according to the genetics calculator all I'm basically suppose to get is barred (roo is a Silver Cuckoo Marans). But no one wants them, despite the fact the pullets will lay awesome when they get older. Looks like I may have to find out where those nightmarish auctions that are in my county are. Eeeek!

Yes, feed IS expensive, and it costs a lot to feed everybody. If I could sell off 3/4 of these chicks, I'd be good. Maybe there is a better strategy for going about selling these chicks? I dunno. I'm bringing a bunch that, if I haven't sold them by then, to our state's chickenstock, but that's not til August, so that's another 2 full months of feeding, housing, and cleaning up after. People at chickenstock only seem to be interested in the pure Cochins and the pure SS. Nothing else. What to do? Besides bang my head against a wall...

If anyone can give me sales advice, or pricing advice, please, ADVISE! Cause apparently I stink at sales.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Yeah, people expect them to be sold for practically nothing here too. Maybe I'll just sell them for like $2.50 up to a week old, and state that they go up in price $.50 each week til laying age, at which point they will be like $10. Does that sound fair? And I'll sell them like that straight run. If they want them sexed, it's a $1.50 more. How does that idea sound? What about the mixed chicks? I need them to sell too!!! I REALLY need them to sell!!! I have already warned my family that if I can't sell those SS chicks, the roos are heading to freezer camp. I'll have a neighbor process them for me, cute as they are, I absolutely have NO place in my flock for them. Don't really have a place for the hens either, but I hate to see a potentially good layer go to waste, you know? I can't bring myself to eat a Cochin mixed chick though, especially a bantam. What a pathetically small meal they would make. And no way am I eating Silkies!

 

[yotetrapper]

Well, free chicken ads always work wonderfully. Or better yet, find a family that could perhaps use some free chickens for eggs, that are in need.

 

[onthespot]

It is probably where you live. I live where there is a lot of market potential, and lots of people that like chickens, and some disposable income even in a bad economy. Families that used to buy puppies for $600-800, are now buying chicks for $5 new hatched, more for older ones. My base price for any live chick that hatches is $5 and goes up from there. Some breeds are $40-50 even brand new day old hatched. Some people want those really badly and will pay. I chage $10 for silkie chicks, and showgirls, as soon as they start to feather out a little, but still need to be under lights, $7-up. EE and Olive eggers sell for $10 and up as soon as they are a little feathered out, $30 or so POL. Bantam cochins, not so much, Sometimes I only get two dollars for them. Oh well. I breed a lot of mismarked ones trying for the mille fleur, so anyone that offers anything for the mismarks can have them, or even for free. It all just depends. My turkey poults, they start out at $10 as day olds, $75 as adults, sliding scale in between. A lot of people want those pretty well started as they can be fragile and die easy as youngsters.