Author Topic: Whot can we do (Read 2492 times)

Victorian Farmer · « **on:** March 20, 2013, 02:22:55 pm »

iv been to pic chick crumbs up and the price is naw over the top just over 14 pounds so if you had 50 chicks growing you would use 1 bag a week that's just over 50 pound as well as wood shavings up to ten pound that's 60 .So if you had a lot of cock birds you are screwed I'm botherd about the cost of the geese and turkeys for Christmas i do 100 geese and 50 turkeys iv checked the price from 2012 and its up just over 5 pounds bedding up 2 pound and 10 percent up electricity .So i need to think whats best iv already st opt hatching last lot in hex am 3 weeks time .Whot do you all think is the way forward a hen naw costs 16 pound to re are

goosepimple · « **Reply #1 on:** March 20, 2013, 03:50:40 pm »

Yes and they were selling averagely £12-£15 per bird at Lanark last week VF, its rubbish.

I made an almighty loss last year feeding my Muscovy ducklings, they're big eaters and fast growers, will be doing a lot less this year.

Smallholding is an expensive hobby, I know I'm a bit soft and have freeloaders as well but I don't see how anyone taking it seriously can make it stack up.

IS ANYONE OUT THERE MAKING A LIVING AT IT?

Victorian Farmer · « **Reply #2 on:** March 20, 2013, 04:04:53 pm »

it seems the wether cost and sales have hit rock bottom I'm not do in a nother winter with the hens and i might not do geese and turkeys ether sheep prices are up and dawn so Whit do we do .Iv done OK at 1 sale but dawn at thainstone so naw average going into the 3rd hexam and carlile and not hatching more stock .The cost of sorting the mote rs out to travel to these places lots of money spent to get them safe not Happy .

zarzar · « **Reply #3 on:** March 20, 2013, 05:04:28 pm »

where are you based we only been paying around £8 a bag of chick crumbs from mole avon.

HesterF · « **Reply #4 on:** March 20, 2013, 07:43:03 pm »

Farm & Pet Place has Marriages chick crumbs for £10.49 (plus shipping) which works out cheaper thn your guy. But,yes, it is expensive. If I throw all my fixed and variable costs in for setting up, buying birds and feeding/bedding/vetting them, I'm currently running at £20 an egg

. Even just the variable costs - feed, bedding and preventative healthcare - amount to over £2 an egg currently. I have to get into thousands of eggs before I get even close to supermarket prices - or hatch lots of rare geese.

Only way to make money out of breeding is rare breeds, I guess, which sell for more than £15 (a hen, maybe £10 a cockerel). Or just sell hatching eggs/day olds so you don't have the feed costs - although that also limits demand.

H

Victorian Farmer · « **Reply #5 on:** March 20, 2013, 08:15:52 pm »

WELL THAT HAPPEND SATERDAY i had 2 roads and 2 bared rocks very good spec rare breeds the black rocks and the heritage hybrids made more than the rare breeds .Just don't get it if i sold all stock in dingwall it would of been OK pens 3 pound dingwalll 6 Art thainstone and further to go

Mrs Snoodles · « **Reply #6 on:** March 20, 2013, 09:37:01 pm »

Do you sell eggs via eBay? I've seen some silly prices paid over the years for rare breeds. Not so much recently but I'm sure in a month it'll go bit barmy again. I have some friends who have auto sexing rare breeds - they keep going by subsidising them, selling eggs for eating from your bog standard hybrid egg machines.

graham-j · « **Reply #7 on:** March 20, 2013, 10:17:21 pm »

Hi,I paid £17.52 for two bags on Friday so £8.76 a bag,but that was only because it was part of a 1 tonne mixed load order.
I think the price of feed is a joke,it wasn't that long ago that we had a European grain mountain,now it seems there isn't enough wheat to go around.
Yet you go into the super market and they are selling chickens for £2 each.
My local agri store was selling a bag of layers pellets for just under £5, 7 or 8 years ago,I went in there today £9.75 a bag unbelievable and people pay that.

Graham.

MAK · « **Reply #8 on:** March 20, 2013, 10:26:13 pm »

Quote from: goosepimple on March 20, 2013, 03:50:40 pm

Yes and they were selling averagely £12-£15 per bird at Lanark last week VF, its rubbish.

I made an almighty loss last year feeding my Muscovy ducklings, they're big eaters and fast growers, will be doing a lot less this year.

Smallholding is an expensive hobby, I know I'm a bit soft and have freeloaders as well but I don't see how anyone taking it seriously can make it stack up.

IS ANYONE OUT THERE MAKING A LIVING AT IT?

Victorian Farmer · « **Reply #9 on:** March 20, 2013, 10:32:40 pm »

from October every six weeks was 1200 that inc sheep nuts geese turkey finisher and i only just did it The other half went mad at Christmas as i paid for there feed first we had Whit was left so i couldn't do it naw at this price.