[stamford]

Hi Gang    

OK ordered the coop & pen, now need to source some chooks    but what prices should i be ideally paying ?? I've narrowed down the list to Buff Sussex, Maran Cuirvree, Speckledy and is it Bell Blues / Haze ??  I think thats right  :oops:  

Am i looking at high end prices for a newbie or should I be sticking to something like the ISA Browns ??

Also, if i wanted 4 hens, would it be ok if i had 4 different breeds ? Do they all get on as such or is there plenty of bitching going on  :?:

Soooo much choice  :shock:

Thanks

[nettynoodles1]

price  wise im not sure hens are just so trendy now that prices seem to vary wildly. i have paid anything from £5 to £20 odd for  hens. I had a blubelle at one point (mr fox munched munched her)  bought her roughly 3 years ago and paid £15 for her. I vought  unsexed growers not so long baxck... begining of may..... and they were £35 for 2 , 1 lemon cuckoo pekin and 1 white silkie.

I have never just had one breed life is too short and so far touch  wood they have all got on  just fine  at present i have 1maran (with babies), 2 sussex, 5 warrens 1 sussex boy and my youngsters plus woody an unknown breed.looks like a pekin..... boy. they all get  n fab.
good luck have fun choosing and shop around a little  befoer buying i think lol.

[blossom1044]

Great question as chickens do seem to be going fast.

In my research which has been plenty recently - you can pay anything from £4 to £50 and more so.  I depends on what you want and where you are and season and how old you want them and are they vacinated?

I'm in East Sussex and a local breeder is about to have lots of variety of breeds coming into lay.  Their Hybrids start at £12 and their pure breeds start £25.  they have a few specials which are breed from 2 show champion birds which are very expensive at £55 each.  A local organic egg farm was selling over stocked 1 year old ISA Brown for £4 recently, but they have gone.  Our last birds (foxed- -grr) were from a local farmer who free ranged his and they were free.  He had too many chickens and decided at Christmas to rehome a few instead of killing them.  they were Isa Brown and lovely girls. :cry:

I can give you a few places and numbers if you want of reputable suppliers local to me.  I've decided on 4 Sussex hybrids from our local breeder.  We choose them yesterday and they are ready for collection 21st june! yipeee!

My advice - look local and visit and pay a price you feel happy with.

[stamford]

Thanks for the info Blossom, could you pm me the details please, Sussex isnt far...  

Thanks

[Bodger]

With the advent of the HFW, Gordon ' Effing'  Ramsey and little Jamie jumping onto the boat, just about everyone wants to keep chickens, so the price has shot up. I can still get POL warrens for around the £4.00 mark. There's a lot of profiteering going on at the moment with a silly prices being asked and paid for chickens.

[peggyprice]

For what it's worth, if I was going to get any more hens now I'd probably go for breeds rather than hybrids (I currently have a Welsummer (breed) and three hybrids - a Black Rock, an Amber & a Bluebelle, and have just re-located my Warren (aka ISABrown) to Bristol ...   )

I thought hybrids were the way to go because they would produce most eggs, but as I've already learnt in just two months, they also stop laying pretty quickly - my Black Rock has laid just 3 eggs in a month, she's perfectly healthy in every other respect, so we guess she's a little bit older than we were led to believe when we got her (from a local farm) and has come to the end of her productivity.

Cost wise - I paid a fiver each for the Warren & the Black Rock (between them they've given me 23 eggs - that's nearly 44p per egg :roll: ); the Amber cost me £8 and the Bluebelle £10, both a POL from a reputable dealer; and the Welsummer cost me £15 and has so far given me 40 beautiful large dark brown eggs and is likely to keep going longer than the hybrids will  

[jammy]

When I bought my Buff Sussex girls a year ago they were £10 each at POL.

[Foxy]

Whatever the breed you go for -make sure they are healthy and the breeders level of husbandry is good.
Any doubts at all walk away. Some birds are pricey some are not -doesn't necessarily mean they will be healthy though!!! ( :x )
My advice would be have a good look around and ask loads of questions!!!

[compostqueen]

my brown hybrids were fully vaccinated and cost £7 each. So far they've laid every day and are in fab shape  

[Nome]

I have to agree with Bodger, just got two new POL girls yesterday and paid £7 each for them.

[stamford]

I have to agree with Bodger, just got two new POL girls yesterday and paid £7 each for them.

OK But what areas are we talking about ?

[GrannieAnnie]

Ah, that's the problem Stamford!  Different areas do charge different prices.  My Amberlinks last year I sold for £5.50p as when I worked it out, being a small rearer, they cost me £4.70p to rear, this year they will have to be £6 as the feed has gone up so much in price.  

But saying that, all 125 Babcock's are now either sold or reserved, with some previous customers coming back for more, and I've even got a pre-booked list starting for the Amberlinks which we are collecting tomorrow, and they only hatched today!!!

Shame you don't live in Stamford eh??  lol

[stamford]

Ah, that's the problem Stamford!  Different areas do charge different prices.  My Amberlinks last year I sold for £5.50p as when I worked it out, being a small rearer, they cost me £4.70p to rear, this year they will have to be £6 as the feed has gone up so much in price.  

But saying that, all 125 Babcock's are now either sold or reserved, with some previous customers coming back for more, and I've even got a pre-booked list starting for the Amberlinks which we are collecting tomorrow, and they only hatched today!!!

Shame you don't live in Stamford eh??  lol

 :cry:  :cry:

[Nome]

OK But what areas are we talking about ?

I'm near nottingham, didnt realise  there would a vast price difference across the country! Poor you!  :cry:

[stamford]

OK But what areas are we talking about ?

I'm near nottingham, didnt realise  there would a vast price difference across the country! Poor you!  :cry:

Trouble is, because of the fuel costs now, we would have to buy a high priced chook rather than driving 20-30 miles  :x  Mind you, all of my fuel costs are paid by my company, so maybe its not as bad as i make out