Fair price for Pullets/Hens

[Mildyoffensivechook]

I was planning on getting 100 chicks this year, I wasn’t paying attention to the news.

Instead I will be hatching my own. I pay $18/50lbs local feed. I have incubator and have hatched before. Prior sales prices $15-30 bird.

Delaware
Delaware/rhode island cross (24 in the incubator)
Icelandics


What is a fair price for a 10 or 16 week old pullet/hen? Sold locally. No shipping.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Well that all depends on your area and what folks are wanting.

I would do some math and figure out how much $$ you will have in the group to get them to the age you want to sell at and check craigslist to see what others are asking for similar aged chicks.

 

[Mildyoffensivechook]

Well that all depends on your area and what folks are wanting.

I would do some math and figure out how much $$ you will have in the group to get them to the age you want to sell at and check craigslist to see what others are asking for similar aged chicks.

I rarely see anything but chicks or hens being sold when folks move.

Very expensive area. There are maybe 6 small scale hatcheries and 3 retail places that sell chicks.

My cost is $6/feed a bird to 16 weeks. Cost of the egg $1.00 (feed and sunk cost of the layer). Electricity $1.00 for me - off grid Add $2 for misc. $10 per bird cost + labor. I have infrastructure and plenty of space. I’m also keeping the best birds for myself.

I think $25 is fair. I’ve had folks balk at that. $30 is better.

Say a heritage layer will give 280 eggs/annually for 4 years avg across time. That’s 2.2 cents per egg.

Someone who buys a chick for $7.99 and spends $100 on brooding supplies spread across 4 birds will spend more to get a laying bird $33 before feed and labor.

I figure there is a 100 - 150 pullet/hen market if one goes for low hanging fruit. $1500 profit would pay for some of my chicken habit. Not a “real” business, which clouds pricing.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I would price them at $35 and see if you get takers.

It's a tough year for finding chicks at the feed stores. Here they sell out within a couple hours. That means people will likely be willing to pay a bit more.

 

[Toothpick]

Everyone is selling and buying right now. My uneducated guess is this will continue for at least 2-3 years until the egg laying hens fully populate the commercial plants again. Maybe longer. BUT - I highly doubt the price of eggs will fall. I can't think of a single thing that has fallen back to pre-covid prices so I doubt the eggs will. They will just stay up there and folks will just keep paying.

I check FB marketplace - you have to message sellers and ask cause they can't advertise selling eggs or animals.
check craigslist too.

I recently bought 36 Brahma eggs to hatch and gave $50. That's in Mid TN. Idk what my local TSC is will be selling chicks for this year cause they don't have any yet but I will price my chicks a buck or two less. I don't think $30 for an egg laying hen is a bad price anywhere in the country right now. From what folks are saying eggs are in the grocery store they should be paying $50 for an egg laying hen.

My goal isn't to make a living but rather to just have the chickens pay for themselves. If I get a little extra gas money in the process all the better.

 

[WingItRanch]

Locally (East Texas), pullets were going for $25 last year. I'm willing to bet they're closer to $35 this year due to the shortage.

 

[Mildyoffensivechook]

I’m in NW Montana. Eggs for eating don’t seem quite as bad as I see online. My brain still hasn’t adjusted to the new $$$ inflation.

I’m hoping my last Delaware roo over the RIR produces good pullets.

I love my Icelandics, but they aren’t what most people picture when they want birds. Some of them are beautiful.

 

[Mildyoffensivechook]

Unfortunately for me I stood in a crowd for 2 hours (they didn’t stagger the waitlist) and had the choice of (imo) obvious males in a straight run grab bag.

Instead I bought another incubator shell (my geese grabbed my foam one and destroyed it last year) Moving chicken eggs to that with the auto turner and putting goose eggs in my hard shell incubator.