This is a bit of a rant, sorry in advance.
People do not want to raise chickens to the point of adulthood, nor do they want to hatch chicks and brood them to the point where they no longer need a heat source and brood housing. There is a lot of work and if one major thing goes wrong, such as a power outage, the whole lot could die of hypothermia. There are perils in the raising of the chicks to adults as well, with a multitude of variables that could happen. Most don't.
But the people want to buy laying hens, only they do not want to pay very much. If I had to buy chicks, they usually cost around 4 dollars each newly hatched. The electric bill for heat lamps and the feed bill for the special chick starter without medication is high. There is some mortality as the weak ones do not survive for unknown reasons. In four months or so, the birds are at the point of lay, but there are roosters as well as hens, normally half and half. Yet, the people want to buy the hens only and expect to pay $20 dollars or so or LESS for a young hen ready to lay eggs. They do not want the roosters, but the roosters have cost the same as the hens for the farmer to produce. Yes, the farmer can butcher the roosters and eat them, but that does not help recoup the costs of rearing chicks.
So, I am not going to do that anymore. My hens hatch enough babies to make this flock sustainable now. The extra birds I have will be for my own freezer only and I am not going to sell chicks or chickens anymore. What is the point? People are not willing to pay a fair price. I say $25 each for a pair of birds, one hen and one rooster or $50 for the hen. Then the folks get angry, but they, too, could buy the rooster and butcher him themselves for their own freezers. People want the benefits and not the work and do not understand or care about the farmer. So be it.
This is another lesson. This spring I vowed I would not sell chicks and I have no plans to do so, unless the hens naturally hatch too many and I catch them and sell them. No more incubator hatching, is what I mean. And now, no more chickens for sale. They will be in my freezer before I give them away at $25 for a hen only!
People do not want to raise chickens to the point of adulthood, nor do they want to hatch chicks and brood them to the point where they no longer need a heat source and brood housing. There is a lot of work and if one major thing goes wrong, such as a power outage, the whole lot could die of hypothermia. There are perils in the raising of the chicks to adults as well, with a multitude of variables that could happen. Most don't.
But the people want to buy laying hens, only they do not want to pay very much. If I had to buy chicks, they usually cost around 4 dollars each newly hatched. The electric bill for heat lamps and the feed bill for the special chick starter without medication is high. There is some mortality as the weak ones do not survive for unknown reasons. In four months or so, the birds are at the point of lay, but there are roosters as well as hens, normally half and half. Yet, the people want to buy the hens only and expect to pay $20 dollars or so or LESS for a young hen ready to lay eggs. They do not want the roosters, but the roosters have cost the same as the hens for the farmer to produce. Yes, the farmer can butcher the roosters and eat them, but that does not help recoup the costs of rearing chicks.
So, I am not going to do that anymore. My hens hatch enough babies to make this flock sustainable now. The extra birds I have will be for my own freezer only and I am not going to sell chicks or chickens anymore. What is the point? People are not willing to pay a fair price. I say $25 each for a pair of birds, one hen and one rooster or $50 for the hen. Then the folks get angry, but they, too, could buy the rooster and butcher him themselves for their own freezers. People want the benefits and not the work and do not understand or care about the farmer. So be it.
This is another lesson. This spring I vowed I would not sell chicks and I have no plans to do so, unless the hens naturally hatch too many and I catch them and sell them. No more incubator hatching, is what I mean. And now, no more chickens for sale. They will be in my freezer before I give them away at $25 for a hen only!
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