When buying chickens??

[Dixiedoodle]

Am I the only person who thinks most people UNDER price their birds?

I have never sold a bird. I have only purchased a dozen. I have kept them for less than a year. BUT I KNOW how much it cost to build my coop, I know how much I spend on food, treats, shavings, oyster shell and girt. I know how long I spend keeping their run and coop clean.

That doesn't include the cost of good breeding stock, incubators or breeding pens.
It doesn't include advertising, time spent waiting on buyers, answering our questions...

So when I hear people say-- 10-15 $ is too much for a healthy hen, I am confused..

NO, I am not talking about show chickens or the mite/worm infested under weight chicken, I am talking about healthy stock for meat, eggs, pets.. It just doesn't sound like a lot of money to spend for something that will provide me with what I need/want.

So, what are your thought when buying a chicken?? Thanks Dixie

 

[scbatz33]

I think you have to price at what the market will bare. Breed, color, size, age, temperament all play a part in price. I have paid $10-15 for a nice rooster. I have paid $50 for a pair of chicks. Likewise, I have sold birds in similar price range. I even had a man drive 3 hours to buy a particular bird. It cost him more in gas than the bird was worth, but he really, really wanted it. In the end, any thing, chickens included, is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

 

[MareeZoCool]

I know how some non-chicken lovers think; " I can buy a whole chicken, cut & cleaned at the grocery for 5 bucks, why on earth pay $15 when I'll have to feed it, then kill, clean and cut it?"
If they ever hold a fluffy-butt, they would begin to understand!

 

[Mrs.Puff]

It all depends on the breed, age, etc etc etc. I've bought scroungy-lookin red hens from a "free-range" confinement operation at an Amish farm for 65 CENTS each, and they were pretty decent layers, if that's all you're looking for.

Unfortunately, my hens enjoy reproducing constantly (i've had broodies all winter) so I don't have to buy chickens. I have to give away lots of them!

 

[no1male]

We brought our 4 ISA Browns last week at a farmers market auction and Paid £22 for all 4 (Approx $34) and that by UK standards is very cheap. We could have brought battery hens that were 3 years old for 50 pence each but as it was our first hens we wanted healthy looking birds that were vaccinated and wormed.

To buy them at a normal breeder would cost £12.50 each bird!

Looks like we need to move to the USA

 

[domino7]

The amount of $ you've put into something has very little to do with its value on the open market. If it did, we could all easily be rich.

 

[Kansaseq]

I agree; it's what the market will bear. There is an ad on CL in my area for laying hens being sold for $1 each. She is getting out of chickens and just wants them gone. I am trying to sell chicks for $2.50, but who the heck wants to pay MORE for a chick you have to feed for 5 months before you ever get an egg, if you can have an adult hen for a buck? My area is also pretty flooded with chickens, so that drives the prices down, too.

 

[little_grey_bantam]

What I hate is when people expect you to give your birds away for free...
Or when people want free birds...

I HATE HATE HATE it, because I NEVER bring birds into my flock due to fear of disease and what not that could wreak havoc on my birds.
People don't think about how much it costs to charge for birds.

The cheapest I ever go on roosters is $5 and that's only if they go to a STELLAR home.
Hens go for $10 for smaller bantams, up to $25 for the more expensive breeds. of course, I keep the more expensive birds and just don't sell those (for instance, my FBCMs!!).

I think people are waiting for a sucker out there to sell their birds for super cheap... or they're up for a bargain.
Once again, I rarely ever purchase chicks or birds from anyone unless I know they are raising good quality birds. Period.

No disease, mites and crap like that in my stock!%Pr