So I have 48 chicks from my first order from mcmurray, I ordered 50, so I was supposed to have 51, but they shorted me and I only ended up with 49, then 1 ended up passing, he was really lethargic upon arrival, so now I have 48, so needless to say I have 25 more on their way this week. But, my question is, when should I sell the chickens that I wont be keeping? I already have people wanting to take them, but my husband and daughter get to pick out 5 each they want to keep and of course I am picking some I want to keep as well. We want a big variety, we are trying to keep 2 of each breed. I know my hubby wants to see what they are going to look like as adults and get a feel for personality, so how long do you think we should wait? Also do you think keeping 30 chickens is too much for 2 + acres? I have a huge shed/coop with two kennels on each side for runs, but they will be allowed to free range the whole 2 acres because its privacy fenced. The most chickens I have had at one time was 16 so all opinions and advice would be appreciated
Truly, chicken math is going to kick in, and you're going to want to have all of those babies when they arrive!
Heck I've got 30 grown birds!!! 25 eggs in the incubator and 25 babies coming in the mail this week!!!! I do something similiar with mine-everyone picks their favs and by week 4 I can usually sell the spares. I have some customers that are willing to pay more for birds that are older. They look at the babies and make their picks and the babies go in with the keepers until they are old enough to go to their forever home. They are priced accordingly though-the longer I feed them the more they cost.... Good luck makin your picks. I always have one or two that I wish I had hung on to.
I have over 100 on less than an acre, and they are not crammed in like a commercial factory farm!!! You might want to wait to get rid of some, because you might end up with more roosters than you intend to keep. Your 2 acres should be more than enough room to accomodate them. However, if you know you REALLY want to dwindle the flock, now is the easiest time (when they are small)...before you and your family become too attached.
I would wait for them to get a little older before I got rid of any. You will charge more for them the longer you keep them, so it should work out ok. I wait to see what kind of personalities mine have - - - BEFORE I get rid of them. I have had to re-home a few just because they were CRABBY. Then, I had to re-home a few that turned out to be roos. . . . Oh Oh..... Then, I have my favorites that I absolutely WON'T re-home no matter what . . . . . LASTLY, Some have started laying eggs and did not lay enough or dark enough or green enough compared to everyone else and I re-homed those. . . . As long as your birds are HEATHLY- - - you will never have a trouble finding somebody who wants to buy them. I have 10 laying hens, 1 mature roo, 7 pullets, and 1 cockerel. I am planning on re-homing 2 - 4 birds by Christmas. . . . I am not sure who is going yet . . . . I may get rid of that crazy EE who never comes when I call and is as fast as the leghorns I have 2 welsummers that are at POL who totally ignore me - - - I really don't like being ignored This is how I make my decisions . . . .
