I would like your thoughts.

I would like your thoughts about a some things that were rattling around in my head as I was driving today.

Day old, heritage purebreds can sell from $8-$20+ and half of these could be cockerels (more if you are me! whizzle ).

Pure eggs are anywhere from $25 to $60+ and again half could be cockerels. Depending on a lot of things the hatch may not go well and you could only get 6 or less chicks and remember a number of them will be boys.

In both these cases there is no guarentee on quality as you are just going by what the seller says they have, even if you have seen pictures if they have not been breeding them for a number of years there is probably going to be no consistancy in the quality of the hatch.

Now my questions are why is there such little value in older birds? Why are point of lay pullets so hard to sell? Why are nicely grown, decent quality cockerels hard to sell (well, I do understand that not as many of these are needed, but I think you see my point)?

When pullets are grown you can see the quality in them and to me it is worth paying more for them. I think it is better than the crap shoot of the day olds. Is it because everyone likes the babies? They take a lot of work and not all of them turn out to be what you want. I also think the person that does the hard work to get them there healthy deserves to get decent money for them.

What would you pay for a decent quality 20 week old pullet in the breed of your choice? What about a 20 week old cockerel?

Just some rambling thoughts bouncing around in my head on a long, boring drive today. Thanks for you thoughts on them.

I personally think that grown birds go for a lower price because there is more chance for diseases then in young birds or eggs.

For a 20 week old, I am going to use Buckeyes for my bird of choice mostly because they are the main breed I work with and the most inquiries I get are about them, I would buy or sell a decent Buckeye pullet for $30-$35 since they are quite rare and I would happily use them in my own breeding pen if someone wasn't interested in them. For cockerels I would buy or sell closer to $25, mainly because I get a kick out of serving up a home grown bird for the table over money in my pocket.

If someone is taking a large number of mixed cockerels and pullets I of course give them a little better of a deal. I really don't like putting a cheap price on my birds that is close to giving them away to someone who may be buying them to resell, or butcher, etc. It gives me more reassurance that they will be going to good homes where they will be cared for properly.

Eggs I sell for $30/doz during the spring, but if someone wanted eggs in the summer or fall I would sell for $25 or even $20 just because there is not as much demand and it's a lot less work.

Just my thoughts on the matter. Good topic by the way.

Coopslave I hear you and agree with you. What a strange frenzy??? So if a day old pure breed heritage chick is worth $10, then we as a hobby are saying that we have only put another $10 worth of feed, time and care to get them to point of lay and cockerels are now worth half of what they were as day olds???

I am all for buying new stock from breeders who have taken the time to grow out their birds, cull the poor ones. You as a buyer are getting a better bird and the seller is not having to worry about if the proper birds were culled to improve the breed. I would have no problem paying $50 for a good quality point of lay pullet of one of the breeds I am serious about raising. As for the bio security issue I am willing to take the proper steps to get a bird that will hopefully improve my breeding flock rather than play it safe and get unkown quality eggs/chicks that take alot of time and resources to grow up to an age that they can be culled. ( I am not saying that all birds that are heritage are worth $50 at point of lay though, we have lots to improve on the quality of all heritage breeds). I would also probably pay more for that same pullet if she was at a show and place well against other birds of her breed.

I think we all can get caught up in our minds idea of getting rich quick or "if all these eggs hatch and a great quality"...lol I know I have thought that a few times.
I know aside from the troubles of trying to get adults transported long distances I am all for getting good quality adults. But eggs might be an only option in some cases.

But I do agree we are under pricing our stock as a whole hobby.

Well, I do have to admit I get a real kick out of incubating, hatching and raising chicks.

There is something really special about the entire process, nurturing and caring for each egg in hopes it will grow into a healthy, little chick. Then watching that chick transform from a lil' fuzz butt into a fully feathered mini-dinosaur. Rawr! LoL Okay, not really, but you get what I mean. I honestly don’t think that feeling will ever get old. (Hubby keeps on hoping though. HAH! )

That said, I would gladly pay more $$ for quality young adult/adult birds from proven stock/breeders. Transportation can be tricky as already noted and is often the deal breaker. I also agree that poultry seems to be under valued in general as a whole. People are willing pay hundreds of dollars for various animals, and yet the thought of spending more than $15-$20 on a laying hen is considered absurd.

And don’t even get me started on trying to sell eating eggs for a decent price, UGH…

Coopslave, you bring up a good point that I have pondered for a long while. I just don't understand why anyone would pay all this money for chicks or eggs of unknown quality, hoping to get something decent but in reality even with well bred birds, as with all animals you are really going to get a small portion good enough to reproduce, so if you are wanting to go on raising your particular breed how much did that couple of chicks cost you and are they really good enough to breed from? Maybe good enough for layers but expensive layers when you factor in the chance to get more cockerels than pullets.
When you could go out and purchase a good quality pair or trio of birds of known quality from breeders who are out to produce the best they can and maybe pay 80- 100 dollars or maybe a bit more on a trio and then go on to raise likely 30-50 chicks off those birds, with the young ones(even the worst) being of better quality over all than anything you can buy at a hatchery.
I personally have set prices for my birds and I stand by them, it costs a lot to raise to raise a bird to breeding age these days with the cost of power and feed and not even factoring in the 4 hours per day I spend in the barn on average. But I think the undervaluing comes from people who are trying to make a living or more than likely a quick dollar and by putting such a low dollar value they devalue the whole idea of raising quality stock by thinking numbers is the only thing.
I personally do put value on well bred poultry that I can see excatly what I am getting as do the people in my exhibition circle and I don't think anyone here would believe me the prices paid for some birds of known quality.
"But the saying: You generally get the quality you pay for does apply in many cases"

Also addressing, I need chicks because of the Bio- hazard thing as with everything consider the source purchasing from and have a look around if possible to see how things are kept, barring that if you use proper procedures your chances are very low, and hatcheries get things too.
During the first part of any year I likely get a 100 requests for chicks and eggs, but not my thing I take pride in knowing that people get a known product from me and they will be able to get as good as I have in the first generation.

My take on things.
Heather

This is a really good thread CoopSlave. I have looked at adult birds at anywhere between $20 and $150. The more expensive birds were from a breeder who shows, and will only sell birds 6 months or older. He gave me several reasons for it - one, he wanted the best that he hatched, and it took that long to see the outcome. Secondly, he refused to sell a bird with his name attached that he would not show himself. He felt that he had made his line, and didn't want it sullied ( love that word) with bad stock. I really get that. He does seem to have buyers for his birds so it works for him.

Certainly $20 is not enough $ to cover costs to point of lay, and I have never seen a $20 hen that I would want to breed from. Perhaps the answer is showing so that people can see and value what you have. Then the prices you can ask would make it worthwhile growing them out. If there are more good birds at shows, then maybe more people would become interested in good birds?

Can you tell that the showing idea is growing on me?