Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: naturesparadise on February 01, 2008, 12:41

Title: price of chooks
Post by: naturesparadise on February 01, 2008, 12:41
been looking around and i have seen chooks at £19 each this to me seems a bit pricey

how much should i be paying for them and also i have found they wont deliver them this is a problem as i dont have a car

ill have to have them amtrak to me  :cry:
Title: price of chooks
Post by: babe on February 01, 2008, 13:18
prices vary, a ex batt is a 50 p per chook donation.

last years POL hybrid £1 each

anything else is £5 upto £30/35

depends what you are looking for, age etc etc
Title: price of chooks
Post by: GrannieAnnie on February 01, 2008, 13:21
POL's last year a £1 Babe?  where????  The cheapest I've ever paid is £3.95!
Title: price of chooks
Post by: babe on February 01, 2008, 13:34
Quote from: "GrannieAnnie"
POL's last year a £1 Babe?  where????  The cheapest I've ever paid is £3.95!


thats what i paid for cow, chicken and duck last year, my 3 warrens (cow and duck got by foxy)

its a local place, they buy in new POLs each year and sell last years £1.

i did think it was a bargain, as they still lay an eggy nearly everyday and are so cuddly.
Title: price of chooks
Post by: SnooziSuzi on February 01, 2008, 13:37
THat's how much I paid for my 1 YO hybrids too.

NP if you're paying that much then I'd say the birds are already laying and are a speciality breed - what breed are they?
Title: price of chooks
Post by: mercury on February 01, 2008, 13:37
POL, £4.50 up here in Yorkshire, the high priced birds will be pure breeds, why they should be so expensive i don't know, they only eat the same as hybrids, unscrupulous breeders are deliberately keeping the prices high, to line their own pockets, therefore denying those of us who are a bit short of money the pleasure of keeping pure breeds, if any of the big breeders can explain to me why this is so, then fair enough, i keep RIRs, and i sell them for £5 each, if i can do it, so can everyone else, sorry for going on folks, but its a bugbear of mine :)  :)
Title: price of chooks
Post by: babe on February 01, 2008, 13:41
i cant say it bothers me, i paid £15 for bluebell my blue brahma last week, and she's a POL.

i fell in love with her and will happily pay for a chicken i want. i trust the breeder and will go back to him for more.
Title: price of chooks
Post by: SnooziSuzi on February 01, 2008, 13:43
Mercury, I've heard that RIR's are good table birds as well as layers is that right?

I might well be popping down the A1 soon if yours are so inexpensive!
Title: price of chooks
Post by: GrannieAnnie on February 01, 2008, 13:49
Oh I see what you mean Babe, I thought you meant last year (as in 2007!) POL's were £1!!!!  What you meant were year old laying hens are £1.  They are not POL if they are a year old, they are spent chickens!!!  Well they are considered 'spent' by the commercials.

We used to get our one year old ex free rangers from Bill Rhodes at Free Chooks Farm at Earl's Colne They were £1 too!
Title: price of chooks
Post by: Selkie on February 01, 2008, 13:50
We paid €200 for our two, including their little house which was made especially for our hens.

We are going to get a couple more hens this year so I'll see how much they are; ours came from a small scale keeper so we didn't mind paying alot for them.
Title: price of chooks
Post by: babe on February 01, 2008, 13:52
Quote from: "GrannieAnnie"
Oh I see what you mean Babe, I thought you meant last year (as in 2007!) POL's were £1!!!!  What you meant were year old laying hens are £1.  They are not POL if they are a year old, they are spent chickens!!!  Well they are considered 'spent' by the commercials.

We used to get our one year old ex free rangers from Bill Rhodes at Free Chooks Farm at Earl's Colne They were £1 too!


doh.. well i knew what i meant, i think sideways :?  a spent chicken, my new phrase for today, nice to learn something everyday.  :)
Title: price of chooks
Post by: WG. on February 01, 2008, 14:03
Quote from: "babe"
thats what i paid for cow, chicken and duck last year, my 3 warrens
I'm beginning to think you missed out on a few of the My First Reading Book series, babe.

Maybe I need to rethink the next Picture Round in the quiz  :?
Title: price of chooks
Post by: naturesparadise on February 01, 2008, 14:05
Prices for 2008

Bantams                6 - 12 weeks old             Over 15 Weeks old
                     From £17.00                 From £22.00
 Large Fowl              From £19.00                 From £24.00
Title: price of chooks
Post by: mercury on February 01, 2008, 14:16
Quote from: "SnooziSuzi"
Mercury, I've heard that RIR's are good table birds as well as layers is that right?

I might well be popping down the A1 soon if yours are so inexpensive!

I hope to have some spare this summer snoozisuzi, i've a cockerill spare now, if anybody wants one, yes, they're decent layers, and decent table birds, they're fairly placid too :D
Title: price of chooks
Post by: babe on February 01, 2008, 14:21
Quote from: "WG."
Quote from: "babe"
thats what i paid for cow, chicken and duck last year, my 3 warrens
I'm beginning to think you missed out on a few of the My First Reading Book series, babe.

Maybe I need to rethink the next Picture Round in the quiz  :?


they were cute names waggy, chicken chicken knows her name too.

i never claimed to be normal  :wink:
Title: price of chooks
Post by: cudders on February 01, 2008, 21:06
Mercury,

Where in Yorks can I get POL? I'm after some Hybribs just for egg supply. I'm having to thin my stock as there are some oldies in there that just eat and never lay so time to get some new blood me thinks.

Cudders
Title: price of chooks
Post by: Aunt Sally on February 01, 2008, 21:18
Have a look on the poultry pages cudders.  John is building up a breeders list:

http://www.poultry.allotment-garden.org/poultry-suppliers/index.php
Title: price of chooks
Post by: mercury on February 01, 2008, 21:24
Pm, for you cudders :D
Title: price of chooks
Post by: SnooziSuzi on February 01, 2008, 22:20
Quote from: "Aunt Sally"
Have a look on the poultry pages cudders.  John is building up a breeders list:

http://www.poultry.allotment-garden.org/poultry-suppliers/index.php


Thanks Aunty.  Will have to wait until the list is more populated because the closest to me is Cumbria and that's still over 100 miles away!!

Mercury: why not add your details to the list if you're selling commercially?
Title: price of chooks
Post by: GrannieAnnie on February 01, 2008, 22:50
Quote from: "naturesparadise"
Prices for 2008

Bantams                6 - 12 weeks old             Over 15 Weeks old
                     From £17.00                 From £22.00
 Large Fowl              From £19.00                 From £24.00


They definitely look like pure breed prices NP, although someone on the River Cottage forum was quoted £12 for hybrid POL's in Kent!!!
Title: price of chooks
Post by: Aunt Sally on February 01, 2008, 22:52
Quote from: "SnooziSuzi"
Quote from: "Aunt Sally"
Have a look on the poultry pages cudders.  John is building up a breeders list:

http://www.poultry.allotment-garden.org/poultry-suppliers/index.php


Thanks Aunty.  Will have to wait until the list is more populated because the closest to me is Cumbria and that's still over 100 miles away!!

Mercury: why not add your details to the list if you're selling commercially?


Please do mercury  :D
Title: price of chooks
Post by: Bodger on February 02, 2008, 07:10
Chickens on a small scale do cost a considerable amount to raise to the POL stage and some of the prices charged represent a very small profit margin to the breeder. However there can be no doubt that some unscrupulous people see inexperienced poultry keepers as an easy touch and then continue to screw them into the floor with hugely inflated and unreasonable prices. There's a saying ' a fool and his money' but if you don't know any better ? What can you do ?

Pure breeds are generally less prolific than commercial hybrids and are thinner on the ground and so when it comes to buying them, IMO its quite appropriate to expect to pay more from them., It's a matter of supply and demand. Remember, that pure breds will breed true and that hybrids wont. In theory if you buy a trio of pure breds, you will never have to buy anymore again because you can breed your own replacements.

People should also be aware as to what constitutes a pured bred and what doesn't. Some of the hybrids have been given 'lovely' appealing names in order to capture the 'Poultry Snugglers ' amongst us. You know who you are :lol:  :lol:  :lol:
Title: price of chooks
Post by: mercury on February 02, 2008, 12:12
A few years ago when netherland dwarf rabbits were all the rage in my area, they were selling for between £8 - £15 each, now this is 15 years
 ago, it was a lot of money for a pet rabbit, so what did i do, i started breeding them in a big way, and flooded the market in my area with them at, £1.75 each, you should have seen the other prices drop, and the same could be done with poultry, after all the vast majority of breeders of purebreeds only do it for a hobby :D  :D
Title: price of chooks
Post by: babe on February 02, 2008, 15:44
Quote from: "Bodger !"

 'Poultry Snugglers ' amongst us. You know who you are :lol:  :lol:  :lol:


thanks for giving us nutters a name bodgy, now i now what i am... a poultry snuggler.. and what a lovely phrase it is too.
 :wink:

and proud of it
Title: price of chooks
Post by: WG. on February 02, 2008, 15:48
What?  No specialist quirky animated GIF for Poultry Snuggling??  Babe, you should be ashamed! :wink:
Title: price of chooks
Post by: babe on February 02, 2008, 16:01
just for you waggy x

VskVFchQp-4
Title: price of chooks
Post by: WG. on February 02, 2008, 16:05
Thank you ... ... I think  :?  :?
Title: price of chooks
Post by: mdueal on February 02, 2008, 18:56
We were looking for laying hybrids for our next door neighbour and the cheapest weve managed to find them pol is £6 each - most places were £12.
Title: price of chooks
Post by: SnooziSuzi on February 02, 2008, 19:01
take a look at your local ad trader, that's where I found mine