I need to sell some chickens....where though?!

[Millie]

Hullo all!

Mums asked me to sell 3 cockerels for her, but I have no idea where or how! Can I have an easy to follow guide as to whats involved and where please?! Its 1 biggun and 2 bantams.

Thanks in advance!

Millie

[Martin]

whatever you do, DON'T advertise them generally - you'll have every cock fighting nutter in christendom phoning up!
Not kidding, it happened to me!

[Millie]

I considered ebay.....just looking for the right bubble wrap to pack em in....

[glenniedragon]

Cockerals are devils to shift I'm afraid, where are you? if you know what breed they are you could see if local breeders might buy or swap one, might, most auctions don't let in single cock birds. Or you could try to make an unrelated pair/trio with the breeder and take a share of the sale. Or you may find them impossible to shift and only one thing to do with the bigger one. Hate to be so down but you always have more cocks than you need so most chicken rearers are in the same boat.

kind thoughts
Deb

[Millie]

Im in Wiltshire. Not sure what breed they are as the man we got them off is never that bothered, as long as they lay. He works on a farm and they have tons of chickens and its his job to hatch them at home, he has sheds full of incubators at home I can get some pics. Im sure he said he thought Britney is a black rock, but he had no idea what Bob and Froddo are. Originally he was going to swap the cocks, but the farm has too many also. He said that the bantams would go for about £20 each, apparently they are worth more than the big ones?

[glenniedragon]

That can be the case if you know what they are, my pair of bantam Lakenvelders went for more than a trio of Cochin at the poultry auction at the weekend-so could be true. If you've got any piccies we may be able to help on here as there are some real knowledgeable poultry folks! look in the back of your paper you may see ads for local agricultural auctions- the next one I know of round here is Bampton fair next week (26th) I don't know of things going on round your way. Log onto countryfayre site as they have breeder lists that may be around you.

sorry can't be more help
kind thoughts

Deb

[fenwoman]

I considered ebay.....just looking for the right bubble wrap to pack em in....

you cannot list live animals on ebay. Don't advertise them eat them. It is the kindest thing by far to do with surplus cockerels.
Why did your mum buy them if she didn't want them? To be honest the man was pulling her leg when he told her that cockerels could be sold for £20. Not even my top show winning Dutch bantam cockerels in a really rare colour like Silver quail, would fetch £20. I eat most of my cockerels I hatch, even the bantams. I simply put 2 or 3 of them into the roasting tin at a time.
You might be just starting out in poultry and it is all a sharp learning curve but just have a look at how many advert's there are on poultry sites, local free sheets and ad papers for 'Cockerels, free to good homes'. Nobody wants even my pure bred show winning cockerels so I'm afraid you have little hope at all of selling unknown birds.

[Millie]

I considered ebay.....just looking for the right bubble wrap to pack em in....

you cannot list live animals on ebay. Don't advertise them eat them. It is the kindest thing by far to do with surplus cockerels.
Why did your mum buy them if she didn't want them? To be honest the man was pulling her leg when he told her that cockerels could be sold for £20. Not even my top show winning Dutch bantam cockerels in a really rare colour like Silver quail, would fetch £20. I eat most of my cockerels I hatch, even the bantams. I simply put 2 or 3 of them into the roasting tin at a time.
You might be just starting out in poultry and it is all a sharp learning curve but just have a look at how many advert's there are on poultry sites, local free sheets and ad papers for 'Cockerels, free to good homes'. Nobody wants even my pure bred show winning cockerels so I'm afraid you have little hope at all of selling unknown birds.

I thought it was fairly obvious the ebay reference was a joke.....

Also, my mum didnt buy them, she was given them by her neighbour, who had hatched them and didnt know if they were male or female. He said that he would have any males back in exchange for females, but as the farm has been over run with males this time, he couldnt swap all 3 cocks. He has given mum another girly and suggested she sell the cocks for £20 each, which is what his farm gets per cockerel.

Just out of curiosity, how do you tell if you have a cock with a new chicken of a few weeks old? There seems to be no difference until they start cockadoodledoo-ing.



Deb, sorry I havent got the pics on yet, been laid low with blasted flu

[fenwoman]

I considered ebay.....just looking for the right bubble wrap to pack em in....

you cannot list live animals on ebay. Don't advertise them eat them. It is the kindest thing by far to do with surplus cockerels.
Why did your mum buy them if she didn't want them? To be honest the man was pulling her leg when he told her that cockerels could be sold for £20. Not even my top show winning Dutch bantam cockerels in a really rare colour like Silver quail, would fetch £20. I eat most of my cockerels I hatch, even the bantams. I simply put 2 or 3 of them into the roasting tin at a time.
You might be just starting out in poultry and it is all a sharp learning curve but just have a look at how many advert's there are on poultry sites, local free sheets and ad papers for 'Cockerels, free to good homes'. Nobody wants even my pure bred show winning cockerels so I'm afraid you have little hope at all of selling unknown birds.

I thought it was fairly obvious the ebay reference was a joke.....

Judging by the amount of live animals which get listed on ebay how was I to know that you were not simply another moron who would do such a thing? So no, not really obvious at all.

Also, my mum didnt buy them, she was given them by her neighbour, who had hatched them and didnt know if they were male or female. He said that he would have any males back in exchange for females, but as the farm has been over run with males this time, he couldnt swap all 3 cocks. He has given mum another girly and suggested she sell the cocks for £20 each, which is what his farm gets per cockerel.

which is why he is overrun with cockerels. Nobody in their right mind pays £20 for a cockerel but hey, what do I know? I have only been breeding and showing poultry for over 20 years. I bought a cochin stock cockerel in a rare colour off one of the top breeders in the country last year and only paid a tenner for that and my show winning Dutch in the colour mentions, of which I am one of only about 5 (or less_) people in the whole of the uk with that colour, still can't find homes for them all let alone for £20. If this farm can sell loads for that sort of money why doesn't he take your mum's birds and make himself £60? Personally if a breeder couldn't even sex what they bred, was overrun with cockerels and didn't even know what breed he had bred, I would be taking anything they said with a huge pinch of salt.

Just out of curiosity, how do you tell if you have a cock with a new chicken of a few weeks old? There seems to be no difference until they start cockadoodledoo-ing.

Mostly I sex mine at day old by the feathers on the wing. After that I look for sharp pointed sickle and hackle feathers. If I couldn't sex chickens I would not call myself a breeder and certainly would not sell anything until I was able to sex them. Its as bad as a kitten breeder not being able to sex the kittens like the one who gave me 3 ginger boys and told me that they were definately one girl and 2 boys

Deb, sorry I havent got the pics on yet, been laid low with blasted flu

Hope you recover from the flu soon. Chicken soup os said to be scientifically proven to aid recovery
Do let me know if you sell the cockerels for £20 as I will be sending loads to your area next year if you do instead of putting all of mine in the freezer.

[Thurston Garden]

You could put an ad on the Practical Poultry forum. There will also b tips on sexing there too. Although I am a novice the tips of the feathers at the base of the neck are rounded on hens and more pointy on cocks. Probably other differences too but am only a newbie at breeding hens!

[Millie]

Edited:

Its ok, I have spoken to mums neighbour, and the farm he works for sells live bantam cockerels for £20 each and has no probs doing so, so he is going to take them back and sell them on for us.

[fenwoman]

Edited:

Its ok, I have spoken to mums neighbour, and the farm he works for sells live bantam cockerels for £20 each and has no probs doing so, so he is going to take them back and sell them on for us.

Where in the country are you MIllie as I will advertise my bantam cockerels down your way if they fetch that much money

[Thomzo]

I thought it was fairly obvious the ebay reference was a joke.....

Judging by the amount of live animals which get listed on ebay how was I to know that you were not simply another moron who would do such a thing? So no, not really obvious at all.

Hi Millie
Don't worry I knew you were joking and that you weren't a moron! It was the bubble wrap reference and the little drunken face that kind of gave it away

Like you, I am new at chicken keeping so am picking up loads of tips as I go along. Sometimes you just have to go by what people tell you and, unfortunately, that isn't always true. Like any skill you learn as you go along.

Good luck with the chickens and I hope you are feeling better soon.

Zoe

[glenniedragon]

Hope you are feeling better soon, a result with the cockerals! well done!

Sexing is an art, there are folks out there who can sex at a day old- I'm nowhere near that proficient but can tell within the first week or so usually (primary wing feathers and a bit what my OH calls 'chicken fiddling') been right so far- but you have odds of 50/50 each time anyway!

The more experienced you get the easier it is, as is true with most things in life!

take care
Kind thoughts
Deb

PS Fenwoman please spare your sharpness, at no point did the ebay comment appear anything other than a joke, and as a novice chicken keeper Millie was asking advice on what to do- I understand you have lots of experience with poultry that can be passed on to others, surely a more nurturing tone would be appropriate? otherwise the people with queries are going to go underground in fear of raising your wrath.