Flea Market chicken sales

Joshie · #21 07/12/10, 10:25 PM

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Originally Posted by treasureacres

This weekend I loaded up around 60 pullets that are just beginning to lay ( or very close to it) and hauled them to the sale.

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Originally Posted by mekasmom

I'm in Illnois, and it's common for pullets to sell for $3-$4 here at the salebarn. I did pay $7 each for a beautiful trio of Auracana hens once, but they were already laying. Depending upon how old your pullets were, it was a reasonable price, at least in this area. If they were very young, it was a good price.

A friend of mine bought a bunch of pullets that had just started laying last year. He took them to a poultry show down south and sold out of them quickly. Said he should have brought a lot more. He charged $10 each. Heck, I don't see how you can even break even by charging $10 each for a bird that's about six months old, especially considering chick loss along the way.

I'm in IL too. I want to know where in the world you can buy a pullet about to lay for $3. I wanna go there. It'd be a heck of a lot less expensive than hatching your own.

Have you tried craigslist? Seems like it'd be cheaper to sell them that way instead of hauling them all over.

Patt · #22 07/12/10, 10:28 PM

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Originally Posted by treasureacres

The price is pretty consistant $7 to $8. The deal is that I don't feed them much once we let them out to free range so that helps keep cost down, and these are usually unwanted chicks because I mostly want pullets. I have found that the market I sell to don't care for the bloated huge "commercial" chickens, just a good, healthy, normal chicken with average meat on it. Dark feather birds do sell better as well.

That's great! I can't stand store bought chicken, it has no flavor or texture.

momofseven · #23 07/13/10, 08:40 AM

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Originally Posted by Navotifarm

Wow! I paid $7 apiece for ten cuckoo marans that were only about a month old and more than you sold your pullets for when I ordered silver spangled hamburgs from a fancy breeder. I don't see how you could have FED your pullets to that size for the price you got, let alone got a return on your initial investment.

There are some sale and swap small animal sales around where I live, out in tractor supply parking lots but somehow I end up going to the wrong dealership on the right day or vice-versa so I've never been to one.

What happened to all the avian flu restrictions? I know many poultry shows were cancelled in Virginia. Was it summer before last?

My understanding is that "They" meaning local ag. testers are starting to show up at the swaps and testing birds. I don't know if it is voluntary or not. So far those tested in my neck of the woods have come back clean. BUT "they" now have those flock owners names and birds in the system.