Livestock Cost of chicks

ioujc

ioujc

MARANTHA!! Even so, come LORD JESUS!!!
Have any of you all noticed the MASSIVE price increase in day old chicks at the hatcheries??? I was planning to get my regular 50 chick, brown egg layer assortment, but they have not only DOUBLED in price, but most have TRIPLED!!!

Considering the HUGE cost of feed also, I just don't know if it is worth it!!! But then, WHAT can match a home grown fried egg in flavor.....guess I will really BITE the bullet and get them anyway!! Looked at hatching eggs, but they are OUTRAGEOUS in price and no guarantees AT ALL there!

I guess before I buy any at all, I will wait and price them at the sale barn here in town ...no guarantees THERE either though, and possible MORE risk!! I see pullets are about TEN TIMES what they were at the hatcheries too!! UNREAL!!!
 
Cardinal

Cardinal

Chickministrator
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Get yourself an incubator.
That is going to be the only way to avoid this cost.
I need to get some more this Spring. but will only get a few from TS.
 
Jeff B.

Jeff B.

Don’t let the Piss Ants get you down…
Oh... chickens!

I was going to say that it's been so long since I've been "on the dating scene" that I wouldn't know! ;)
 
20Gauge

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
ioujc said:
Have any of you all noticed the MASSIVE price increase in day old chicks at the hatcheries??? I was planning to get my regular 50 chick, brown egg layer assortment, but they have not only DOUBLED in price, but most have TRIPLED!!!

Considering the HUGE cost of feed also, I just don't know if it is worth it!!! But then, WHAT can match a home grown fried egg in flavor.....guess I will really BITE the bullet and get them anyway!! Looked at hatching eggs, but they are OUTRAGEOUS in price and no guarantees AT ALL there!

I guess before I buy any at all, I will wait and price them at the sale barn here in town ...no guarantees THERE either though, and possible MORE risk!! I see pullets are about TEN TIMES what they were at the hatcheries too!! UNREAL!!!
Click to expand...
You have the choice of breeding your own??

Didn't mean to sound harsh, but everything is up and is going to get much worse.
 
ioujc

ioujc

MARANTHA!! Even so, come LORD JESUS!!!
Cardinal said:
Get yourself an incubator.
That is going to be the only way to avoid this cost.
I need to get some more this Spring. but will only get a few from TS.
Click to expand...
I have one......addressed the cost of eggs for incubation in OP.
 
ioujc

ioujc

MARANTHA!! Even so, come LORD JESUS!!!
20Gauge said:
You have the choice of breeding your own??

Didn't mean to sound harsh, but everything is up and is going to get much worse.
Click to expand...
The last 50 I bought, well, 49 we're killed by the demon that continues to harass me....long story...too long to relate.

Yep, I know prices are up, but $115.75 for a PULLET!!!
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
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ioujc said:
The last 50 I bought, well, 49 we're killed by the demon that continues to harass me....long story...too long to relate.

Yep, I know prices are up, but $115.75 for a PULLET!!!
Click to expand...
Well, the prices for started birds has always been crazy. Factor in tripled feed costs, higher electricity costs (incubation and brooding) and bird flu losses.

Buy day old chicks of a decent breed, make sure you include several cockerels, and call it an investment.

Summerthyme
 
nomifyle

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Dh usually adds abut a dozen from TS each year. I'm going to encourage him to let a couple of our chickens set to get new ones and a friend has hatched for us in the past in his incubator. And I'm really not dising TS on this but I don't trust that something nefarious isn't being put into baby chicks to kill off our flocks. Bastards.
 
Sacajawea

Sacajawea

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Well, given my store bought brown eggs were $7/dz yesterday...
I'll look at the numbers for getting started with chickens again. We have ducks & geese that lay eggs. But not enough. We lost the last batch of chickens to a 'yote. Or something like that. It looked a LOT bigger than a std yote.
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
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Sacajawea said:
Well, given my store bought brown eggs were $7/dz yesterday...
I'll look at the numbers for getting started with chickens again. We have ducks & geese that lay eggs. But not enough. We lost the last batch of chickens to a 'yote. Or something like that. It looked a LOT bigger than a std yote.
Click to expand...
Eastern Coyote... a fertile hybrid of the Western Coyote and Eastern Gray wolf. They can get BIG. Hired man shot one on our farm that weighed 87#... DNA tested Eastern Coyote, no dog genes.

Summerthyme
 
N

NCGirl

Veteran Member
summerthyme said:
Eastern Coyote... a fertile hybrid of the Western Coyote and Eastern Gray wolf. They can get BIG. Hired man shot one on our farm that weighed 87#... DNA tested Eastern Coyote, no dog genes.

Summerthyme
Click to expand...
We have a family of coyotes behind us. Daddy coyote is almost black and bigger than my GSD's. I don't know if he is a mix of dog or ?? They come trotting by our front porch just outside the fence when we are sitting outside without a care in the world. Luckily they don't bother our livestock so I let them be. If we were to kill them I would be afraid the next batch to take up residence might not be so nice...
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
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NCGirl said:
We have a family of coyotes behind us. Daddy coyote is almost black and bigger than my GSD's. I don't know if he is a mix of dog or ?? They come trotting by our front porch just outside the fence when we are sitting outside without a care in the world. Luckily they don't bother our livestock so I let them be. If we were to kill them I would be afraid the next batch to take up residence might not be so nice...
Click to expand...
Eastern coyotes come in an interesting range of colors...

And they generally don't bother livestock as long as they have plenty of wild prey. They can be hell on the deer population. One pack took down a nice, 2 year old whitetail doe in our hay field... only ate the backstraps and maybe 5# out of a haunches. I found a den at the edge of our woods with literally dozens of fawn hooves scattered around.

Our dogs kept them pushed back from the farmstead, and our horned Dexter cattle discouraged them from targeting calves. But if we hadn't had dedicated teams of hunters with dogs who hunted them hard, it would have been bad.

Summerthyme
 
N

NCGirl

Veteran Member
summerthyme said:
Eastern coyotes come in an interesting range of colors...

And they generally don't bother livestock as long as they have plenty of wild prey. They can be hell on the deer population. One pack took down a nice, 2 year old whitetail doe in our hay field... only ate the backstraps and maybe 5# out of a haunches. I found a den at the edge of our woods with literally dozens of fawn hooves scattered around.

Our dogs kept them pushed back from the farmstead, and our horned Dexter cattle discouraged them from targeting calves. But if we hadn't had dedicated teams of hunters with dogs who hunted them hard, it would have been bad.

Summerthyme
Click to expand...
Our deer population has declined dramatically, I have to assume due to the coyotes. It is heartbreaking to me to think of how coyotes hunt and eat deer alive. I cried the first time I shot a coyote then later someone sent me a video of them taking down a deer. All guilt went out the window.

I think this male is mixed with something. He has to be 85# or more. They don't get that big naturally right?

Our local nextdoor goes absolutely crazy when someone mentions hunting coyotes. They scream " BUT THEY WERE HERE FIRST" and "THEY ARE BEING PUSHED OUT OF THEIR HOMES" while posting from their new house in the new subdivision. If you try and tell them there were NO coyotes here at all 20+ years ago... they fall back on the old Hunters are Evil while no doubt munching on some KFC chicken or a McDonalds hamburger.
 
20Gauge

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
ioujc said:
The last 50 I bought, well, 49 we're killed by the demon that continues to harass me....long story...too long to relate.

Yep, I know prices are up, but $115.75 for a PULLET!!!
Click to expand...
You have to be kidding!!

Triple digits?

We got ours from a local place that advertised on line. Had to drive 90 minutes, but it was worth it.
 
W

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
Yes, chicks are expensive. Guess I'd try to NOT buy 50 at a time. Yeeks. And I doubt that layer pullets from the swaps and farmer's market locally this spring are going to be any bargain either. I think a lot of people are going to cut down the size of their flock to simple family-sized. I used to keep enough hens to give away and sell a few dozen eggs/week but not very likely going forward. It's too expensive to feed them (properly).

Right now I have 14-15 hens - half are Ameraucana/half Cuckoo Maran with a gorgeous big Maran rooster. IF all heck breaks loose this winter/spring (and the predators don't get them), I could, if needed, easily incubate purebred Marans (the eggs are dark brown as opposed to blue/green). These Marans are very nice layers (who often show broodiness) and the young "extra" cockerels especially make better than average meat birds at 15-16 weeks.
 
Babs

Babs

Veteran Member
I have an incubator and have hatched eggs numerous times. We bought 40 dual purpose hens this year, and we plan on hatching and replenishing our stock going forward. Between the cost of chicks, Avian Flu, freight issues, etc.., we don't want to be dependent on hatcheries. We also purchased a ton tote of feed and another ton tote of barley for sprouting, in case the supply chain problems make it hard to get feed. I'm pretty sure that "they" are going to attempt to make it extremely difficult to nearly impossible for us to raise livestock in the future.
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
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NCGirl said:
Our deer population has declined dramatically, I have to assume due to the coyotes. It is heartbreaking to me to think of how coyotes hunt and eat deer alive. I cried the first time I shot a coyote then later someone sent me a video of them taking down a deer. All guilt went out the window.

I think this male is mixed with something. He has to be 85# or more. They don't get that big naturally right?
Click to expand...
Yes they do! See post #14!

And yes, that poor doe that was taken down on our farm put up a hell of a fight. An area at least 75 feet across was stomped down and dug up... hair and blood everywhere. It looked like a murder scene.

Where we are now, there are active trappers who help keep them in check. But our main defense, again, is the 3 dogs who travel the property lines, marking territory. We also will let them out at night when the pack starts howling close... probably pisses off some of the neighbors, but their barking sends a clear message to "stay away".

Summerthyme
 
J

John Deere Girl

Veteran Member
ioujc said:
Have any of you all noticed the MASSIVE price increase in day old chicks at the hatcheries??? I was planning to get my regular 50 chick, brown egg layer assortment, but they have not only DOUBLED in price, but most have TRIPLED!!!

Considering the HUGE cost of feed also, I just don't know if it is worth it!!! But then, WHAT can match a home grown fried egg in flavor.....guess I will really BITE the bullet and get them anyway!! Looked at hatching eggs, but they are OUTRAGEOUS in price and no guarantees AT ALL there!

I guess before I buy any at all, I will wait and price them at the sale barn here in town ...no guarantees THERE either though, and possible MORE risk!! I see pullets are about TEN TIMES what they were at the hatcheries too!! UNREAL!!!
Click to expand...
The livestock auctions in our area are selling 2 year old hens for $16-$25 each.

If you order chick's, maybe look into the buff orpingtons, marans, or Braham breeds. They are really good layers, big enough to eat, and they go broody.
 
M

mecoastie

Veteran Member
Lost one of my 2 roos last night and couldnt find 3 of my young hens. Something got him (them) 20 ft up in a tree. Now I am down to one roo going into winter and short hens.

Going to get some dorkings next year. Those arent going to be cheap.
 
oops

oops

Veteran Member
I'm not surprised at one that size...the one that had a state down with me wasn't to much smaller...oak ran around 95# at the time...n the size was comparable to him...
 
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