[Jane-M]

I saw an article in the paper about this chap and my interest was piqued when they referred to him keeping old and rare breeds. Well they turned out to be neither - he grows OC Legbars and Burford Browns. So I went to his website and to be fair found that he made no claims about his birds' breeding that he shouldn't - but the prices. OMG  :blink: take a look http://www.legbarsofbroadway.co.uk/

[karlooben]

i dont know anything about paying for a high or low price for a bird no matter what it is , although i have seen birds going for £35 to 45 in garden centres or bird centres near me . personally i will always stick to a ex batt they so so cheap to buy ...

[Jane-M]

Karlooben this is horrifying! I thought I was pushing the boat out spending a tenner for a young laying bird.

[karlooben]

i was going to pay £35 for a bird at a garden centre as a treat for myself at Christmas { also when i first saw her she was all on her own me a suckerrrrrrrrrr} but i decided on not doing it as when i called them to see if they still had her  the shop had another 15 birds.

i paided a £40 donation to a animal rescue centre for my 14 original ex batts.

[AndyRVTR]

£4 each for my POL's... 

[babe]

£10 for a day old chick...... that is absolutely disgusting

hopefully buyers will look around and realise they can get blue and brown egg layers cheaper

but its supply and demand, while people will pay it, he can demand it

[Rhode Runner]

At the 2007 Federation Poultry Show there were two trios of L/F Wyandatte that both sold for £350.00 each. They were entered in the sales section by the top breeder and exhibitor of these birds.

You gets what you pays for. Usually. 

Allan

[scotty]

wow! 
so does anyone know what the average price for a duck is? i have seen ready to go birds (sorry not in right word) not a chick but under 9 months. asking £20, is this normal?

Ta very much scotty

[Foxy]

Sorry guys, I would charge a lot of money for a pair of my birds. Cockerels related to mine have sold for £50 -my breeding cockerel is probably worth a lot lot more. I would be rather upset if anyone cited prices from my website as extortinate. There are breeders that have dedicated years of hard work and a lot of money to produce beautiful birds  true to the breeds' standard in both colour and type.
It is worth ringing these breeders up and having a chat -most good breeders are happy to share their experiences and the history of the breed they are specialising in.

[arrowni]

I paid £30 for my  two hens and rooster. For Pekins I thought it wasn't too bad but then again I have only just started keeping birds.

[babe]

good point foxy. there are two different markets. garden keeps and showing /breeding keepers.

my poland pair was £50, i wanted them and was prepared to pay whatever it took to get them.

yet many of mine have cost me just £5, and then there are my freebies that have hatched.

they are all priceless to me and i lurve them all the same.

and i can vouch that big foots babies are worth every penny. missy foot and little foot are gawgusss. am going to sillygillys on sat so will get a piccy of little foot. he is huge and absolutely fabulous

[nnbreeder]

Usually birds bred for show are much better quality then those gotten from a hatchery. It's hard to maintain top stock with a flock of thousands of birds.

[Jane-M]

Hi guys - I have no qualms about paying good money for pure breed birds (I'm ashamed at how much I pay for pedigree cats), I agree you need to keep up the price to keep up the quality, especially in view of recent reports of poor quality Cream Legbars flooding the market now that blue eggs are fashionable.

My amazement was at the price this guy is selling modern laying hybrids - these are  pure breed prices, and his hybrids have only the advantage of coloured eggs. And the newspaper report - fabulous free advertising for him even if it was inaccurate - refers to his "rare and old breeds" as raised by his grandmother - the old breeds he referred to in the article or on website were Old Cotswold Legbar and Burford Brown.

Good for him for having a profitable business, but what a shame for the unwary purchashers paying £30+  for a hybrid pullet. Oh and I know, buyer beware and all that, but I mean...

[Rhode Runner]

You are absolutely right Jane. These birds are hybrids, and it is mis-selling to try and pass them off as breeds.  The blue egg gene comes from the araucana a breed originally from South America. The gene is dominant so that the egg colour will be passed to any offspring. It will not always be blue in the cross and various shades such as Olive, Khaki and Green are possible. The legbar was made early last century by Prof Punnet and Mr Pease in Cambridge using leghorn x barred plymouth rock.  It was designed as an autosex so that males could be identified and culled at hatch. The breed is recognised by the PCGB and lays a white egg. Araucana was later added to create the Cream Legbar. Burford Browns and Old cotswold legbars are simply high priced hybrids.

Foxy makes the point that breeders of the fancy spend years selecting and perfecting their strain for the showpen. The nearer their matches the standard for the breed the more they will charge.

If you just want coloured egg layers simply get hold of an araucana cockerel and put him amongst your girls. Every pullet hatched will lay coloured eggs.

Allan

[Jane-M]

Hi RR - you have to be kidding about Prof Punnet and Mr Pease  (pals of Inspector Gadget I expect) I ought to know about them really as I have a couple of CLBs myself.

Sadly, I read on a forum last year (can't remember which now) someone asking how to breed their Black Rock "rare breed" to improve the strain for showing. They had assumed that as they could only get "real" Black Rocks from one breeder that they were rare and therefore special. (I must point out now that nothing in the forum led me to believe that this error originated with the breeder.  )

There are innocents abroad everywhere, and it is too easy to say that folk should do their homework, so they should, but many never will. I am old fashioned enough to believe in honesty and integrity - especially when dealing with less informed people.

Grr. Rant over.