The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Kitchen Cottage on February 19, 2014, 07:18:20 am
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This is a result of a total misunderstanding.
Basically at the start of the year I wanted some more ex bats (having got 6 last may of which 4 are still alive) so found a rescue doing them in February.... and paid my paypal £20 for 8.... all done, all sorted, all hunky dory.
I then got an email...... which I assumed was from the same rescue offering me hens in January. Being slightly thicker than a log, I thought "aha.... I'll pick them up now and not worry about the february ones"..... I duly ordered 8 hens.
when I turned up, it was (a) apparent it was a different rescue and (b) they had a load of reallllllllyyyy scraggy birds that they lobbed in .... so I ended up taking 16 scraggy birds for the price of 8. Not such a bargain cos their suggested donation is a fiver, so the same cost per hen as the other rescue....
So I now have 8 prepaid birds and don't want to let the rescue down.
GOOD NEWS! Is I have another shed to put them in (my ebay shopping consists entirely of secondhand sheds) which I can finish before the weekend. I'd prefer not to though, would it be mental to put these 8 in with the others...? I suspect so.
That will mean 33 birds at kitchen cottage and approximately 6 eggs a weeks so far :roflanim: :roflanim:
The ex batts are getting through 3 bags of food a week.... but I luv 'em ;D
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Depends how much space you have. I'm sure you can find a market for the eggs although I'm sure it's hard/virtually impossible to make a profit out of selling eggs. I'm selling virtually all of mine at the moment and yet to cover the cost of food - about half covered at the moment. Not even close to paying for bedding/sheds etc.
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crumbs, my ex-commercials were 50p each. youl be buying feed by the ton then ;D ;D ;D
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Hi Kitchencottage,
What rescue charity have you been speaking to?? Give them a call as it may not be a problem if you dont want another 8. I help out with the BHWT rescues and at the end of the day there is always people wanting more birds if not everyone turns up. Also some of the rescuers take them home too.
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This times its "fresh start for hens" and last time it was BHWT.
I actually do want them. I do make money out of my eggs... or rather I don't lose money because I sell at work and my tenant sells at her work and people give me the containers.
I hadn't anticipated upscaling to this amount :roflanim:... so I'll get a spreadsheet out.
I have been given a commercial coop by my neighbour so I just need to move that over when the weather is better (and replace about 6 pieces of corregated plastic on the roof). Other than that its food, straw and wormer. I don't usually have any conditioner in their food.
The hens tend to have longevity here, the ones I tend to lose are to Mr Fox. In 6 years I've had 4 hens of my own die due to illness (out of about 30 all told) and 3 of my tenants out of 6!!)
We'll have a go and see what happens ;)
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I was also quite surprised at the £5.00 each. Thought it would have been about half that.
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Fresh start for hens are £2.50, BHWT suggested donation is a fiver. The chooks I got from them were REALLY awful. So thin I thought I would lose more. The 14 left eat 20 kilos in 3-4 days (but are putting on weight really well and the feathers are coming through). I'm hopeful of having them outside in late march so they can start being proper chickens. Mine free range during the day in summer. :)
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A farmer down the road used to sell his 'old' free-range hens direct to the public for £1 each KC. Take your pick and the rest went for pet food. So £5 each sounds rather expensive, even allowing for the expenses, considering the mortality rate.
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In our area BHWT ask for a donation of about £2-3. Over the years the hens have been very mixed in type and health depending on which farm they are from. Nothing to do with BHWT , the helpers are equally appalled at the condition of the hens sometimes :( . It is lovely seeing them come back to 'life' :chook: ;D
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Well.... If anyone knows a farmer that does this in Essex.... Please let me know ;D
At a quid each I could feed them to the dogs as well :roflanim: :roflanim:
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I get my ex free range layers for £1 each too... can't go wrong for that kind of money even if you lose a couple like I did in January. They haven't really started laying yet 8 weeks in but when they are in lay they lay well and don't go broody. 37 chickens, 3 cockerals and 3 ducks going through a bag of layers pellets per week but I do supplement with other foods- rolled barley, loads of fruit and veg scraps. They would eat a bag of layers pellets a day if they had the chance!
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I have never been involved with the donation side of things but £5 does seem steep!!
The last batch we collected were very thin and oven ready. With the cold weather we tried to get them re-home as soon as everyone arrived as they was getting quite cold waiting around. Was you at the collection on the 1st Feb KC? Was it Great Totham you collected from?
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Yeah £5 is excessive.
I can buy POL ISA Brown pullets locally for £6 each!
When I worked on battery farms they were always £1 each
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Oh!!!! Essex seems much pricier than you lot. POL here is £15, even at the market (I don't buy from the market in case I import some disease I don't want).
Anyone know of a farmer who sells in essex please let me know.
In truth I partly do this cos I like to see them blossom and enjoy life ;D ;D
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It was 1st February and it was Maggot's End, Manuden. Is that Great Totham? It was such a great name it stuck in my mind :)
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you could make a fortune KC, buy them at 50p and sell for a £5, you could go on dragons den ;D ;D ;D :-J :-J
im sure the hens are grateful for a new life. are they non-profit charities? the thing is to get them re-loused and fit for anything is actually quite expensive for you.
hens can be expensive here especially if purebred. £15 a hen is a fair price bearing in mind the cost of getting it to POL. i used to sell mine for between £15-£25 each. commercial hybrids are cheaper though.
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My daughter had some ex batts a couple of years ago as part of her Christmas present. The 'suggested' donation was £5 per hen. From BHWT .... collection point Welsh/Shropshire border. We only had 4 birds and did pay the £5 per bird but other people did pay less as they thought the price too much.
The farmer local to us with a free range poultry business sells his ex layers at £1 per bird. A neighbour bought some and they were really good layers.
Father has just ordered hybrid pullets from Cyril Basons at Craven Arms, Shropshire. Think the Warren type were £7 each and Bason Whites (bit like a White Leghorn) were £9 each. They do deliver but not sure how far.
Is it £15 for a hybrid or pure breed bird?
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hybrid... seriously.
£25 for a purebreed, which usually seem to be a bit of a hybrid anyway.
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We had ex-batts two years ago, the suggested donation was first £4 but the information shortly before mentioned £5. We did pay £5 per bird as the BHWT does need to cover its costs, after all, and they're doing a great job. One of our ex-batts is still alive and well, she laid an egg practically every day for well over a year after being rescued.
Hybrids here cost at least £15, usually more.
We're based in Hertfordshire, btw. :)
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Purebreeds are certainly a lot more - even £30 sounds cheap around here. Given the number of eggs they lay, any hybrid is a bargain. But you can't really make much money of breeding from them which I guess is why they're cheaper?
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hybrid... seriously.
£25 for a purebreed, which usually seem to be a bit of a hybrid anyway.
that did make me laugh, a purebred hybrid - someone must be a good at marketing those ones. ;D ;D
Purebreeds are certainly a lot more - even £30 sounds cheap around here. Given the number of eggs they lay, any hybrid is a bargain. But you can't really make much money of breeding from them which I guess is why they're cheaper?
im guessing they are cheaper as they are mass produced, by the tens of thousands and sold nationwide.
they are what they are. our first hens were hybrids and excellent layers. we had sussex stars but then i bought pedigree light sussex and really couldnt tell the difference as the hybrids had very similar markings and looks.
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Well, I bought 3 light Sussex's..
Princess Emily is undoubtedly one...
The other two look like hybrids.... I do think that pure lines aren't automatic when you are buying hens .
Emily is the hen at the front of my avatar
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No, you're right. All chickens are hybrids of some sort - virtually all 'pure' breeds have been developed at some point (although some sort of evolved in the farm yard a long, long time ago). I guess the main difference is that 'pure' breeds breed true so you know what you're getting for generations to come too. If you're not fussed about that, it really doesn't matter.