Animal Swaps-Question

LittleRedHen · #1 05/18/06, 02:26 PM

am planning on going to my first animal swap this Saturday. I dont know really what to expect. I just know that it is every saturday and it is a hour from here.

What is an animal swap like? I just have heard there is cages of animals and they are nice cheap prices.

Please.. can someone explain to me what to expect? What kind of money I should bring? If i take a bird, do i take my own cage to sell it with? How do you know who to pay? are the owners standing around? or what is it like?

I am going to look for midget white turkey poults, broilers, maybe a pig or two.. maybe a bunny. I heard that bunnies usually are about 50 cents there. I could be in farmer heaven there.

PS... Has anyone here gone to the swap in Ravenna Michigan?

holleegee · #2 05/18/06, 04:03 PM

It all depends on the swap. If you bring a bird make sure you don't have to pay a fee to sell it. If you do sell it offer two prices, one for the bird and one for the bird/cage combo.

I have gotten good deals and I have also been ripped off. (you have to know your prices!!)

Usually the owner is there and will answer your questions.

Don't be afraid to ask for a lower price (it never hurts to ask!)

Don't buy animals that look sick just because you feel sorry for them!

They are a lot of fun! (bunnies for 50cents wow!)

copperkid3 · #3 05/18/06, 07:56 PM

Tell us more about the Ravenna swap? When is it and where abouts in the city?

CowboyBunny · #4 05/18/06, 08:22 PM

Lived in Ravenna for 10 years and am now about 45 minutes away. This is an auction type sale at a livestock auction barn, Saturdays are small animals and poultry. This time of year there are tons of birds, chicks, hatching eggs and rabbits, a few goats. No pigs though, those usually sell on Monday at the cow/pig/hay auction. At the same time that the animals are being auctioned there is usually a seperate ring going with flea market type stuff. I believe the flea market ring starts around 10 and the animals start at noon. Animals usually last all afternoon. All in all it is not a bad auction to head to, you can sometimes manage to find some rare things along with the usuals. Prices are fair for buyers, sellers pay 25% commission (a little steep, IMO). The guy who runs it, Jim, is pretty good about not letting in sick animals. Of course, I always recommend a quarantine period for any animals I bring home. Watch out for the chicks being sold in the shoe boxes, he's notorious for selling crossed up mutts as purebreds. I sell a few things at this auction when I'm overun, usually I hold off for selling at the swaps, I tend to make more money at the swaps. And yes, our purebred (show culls) minirex go for around 50 cents...great for buyers...not so much for sellers. We get $10-$15 at the swaps for the same rabbits. Ditto on the poultry prices.

An actual poultry swap is different than the auction at Ravenna. Think of a poultry swap kind of like a flea market for animals. Sellers pull in, set up and sell. Buyers wander around with cages and wagons and buy. Most of the swaps that I go to someone will come around and collect sellers fees, some collect at the gate.

If your headed to Ravenna this Saturday we will probably run into each other and not even know it!! Small world.

Tami - Heritage Corner Poultry

Edited to Add: The Ravenna sale is right in town on Slocum Road.

Bitsy-Bet · #5 05/18/06, 08:32 PM

About 3 weeks ago I bought a Barred Rock rooster for $3 without a cage and 2 rabbits for $5 with a nice cage. I took a cage along just incase i found something that I wanted. Last fall I sold 15 young hens just about ready to start laying and got a good price for them. If you are going to sell there, you might take along some boxes or feed sacks to send your sold animals in unless you want to sell the cages too. Here everyone is responsible for their own sales and you just pay the owner. Some swaps might only have 6 or 7 people selling animals, 2 or 3 selling food stuffs and several selling rummage sale type stuff. They are usually in the parking lot of a feed store. It is fun to see what everyone has and to visit.

LittleRedHen · #6 05/19/06, 09:29 AM

Tami,

So I should aim to be there around noon then? I would be coming from the north, then turning onto Apple and going east until I think it was called S. Ravenna road or something like that. Is Ravenna small enough to figure out pretty easy? Are all animals auctioned off or do you walk around and look at cages? I am just trying to think if it would be easier with kids or without

Are you going tomorrow? Bringing anything good? lol

LittleRedHen · #7 05/19/06, 09:35 AM

What are the chances of finding broiler chicks there? Does the Townline Hatchery ever sell off extras there?

ozark_jewels · #8 05/19/06, 11:29 AM

Swap-meets in Missouri.
From a buyers point: Be very careful buying there. Some things are good deals and some have *reasons* for being so cheap. I won't buy goats from there because I like to see where they are coming from and have too much invested in keeping my herd healthy to risk bringing something in just because it was cheap. So there are some good deals to be had, but be careful. On the upside, I bought all my breeding rabbits there, and ended up with some great does. Rabbits at the swaps here tend to sell for around $4-$5.00.

Sellers point of view: I don't take my quality stuff there, as very few people will pay what they are worth. I may take a cull milker, a few butcher wethers, or my rabbits there, but that is about all. So the prices are pretty cheap........We did take weaned steers there one year and they sold like hot-cakes for a good price.
They are fun to go to, and we always visit with a lot of folks. If you take rabbits or chickens, take several smallish cardboard boxes with you so if the buyer has no cage, you can provide temporary housing for their trip home.

FourDeuce · #9 05/19/06, 11:50 AM

I've brought home chickens from swap meets, and you need to make sure you quarantine them, because sometimes they can come with something extra you didn't intend to bring home. I brought home a poultry illness that killed about half of my flock.

ozark_jewels · #10 05/19/06, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FourDeuce

I've brought home chickens from swap meets, and you need to make sure you quarantine them, because sometimes they can come with something extra you didn't intend to bring home. I brought home a poultry illness that killed about half of my flock.

Ooo, sorry to hear that. Yup, buy with great caution......

Unregistered · #11 05/20/06, 08:22 AM

Bring your own cages, always bring extras for the real good deals.
Arrive early so you can look over the animals and birds before they are picked over.
Ask questions, some sellers just buy from farmers and bring to the sale. They do not raise animals.
Have some idea on what you want to buy. Study up on what the bird or animal should look like.
Don't buy hatching eggs as you can never tell what layed them.
Beware of the so-called special animals or birds that are a different color or size from the normal.

tallpines · #12 05/20/06, 11:24 AM

You get the BEST deals early in the morning---like an hour before the scheduled start--------------or late in the day-----------but by then all the good stuff is gone.

Some people buy up stuff early in the morning---------and then turn around and sell it right there, for double the price.

"Haggle!"
No one with any experience pays the REAL price. Haggling is expected and part of the fun.

Bring pocket change.
Its much easier to get someone to lower there price when you stand there with ---say $1 in your hand.
If he wants $2..........and you are offering him $1.00-------------DO NOT stand there with a $20 bill in your hand.

HAVE FUN!