Its stressful selling animals!

Honestly...you don't have to read this. It is long. But sometimes...

Right now it's my breeder birds. Next, it could be our bull. We haven't decided on that just yet.

Dealing with the wording and putting together good and accurate information, taking nice pictures, deciding on an appropriate asking price...I put a lot of time into that. Then, I stress & worry, sometimes need to adjust something, or the internet or platform is slow or frustrating. Once done, then sometimes I have quick calls or have to wait & wait and wonder...

Next, the calls start. There are the ones who ask for hens/layers only (they usually don't read the ad...no hens, except where stated). These people want cheap battery priced hens that they will make lay to death. They don't care about quality nor giving birds a proper and natural rest. They don't care if they are breeders or hatchery. They ask if I will give a discount or a "deal"...nope, in this case, they were already discounted (yes, really, these birds can sell for much more)...and only because of minor cosmetic frostbite damage to the rooster's combs & wattles.

I had one guy tried to get me down in price by using some birds that he got for dirt cheap. I knew the owner, knew the quality, but my stock for this breed is better than what she put up for sale. I used her name in my reply and told him I knew the quality of what she was selling & that she even told me that her price was too low & that the quality was much lower than mine. I had just talked to her a few days before about those very same birds he bought...but he hadn't realized what I knew. I was firm on my price & told him why. He is pretty pushy and dishonest and the breeders here don't like him at all for good reason. He is killing the market & with very poor quality birds. He is crossing over into the illegal realm, but honest breeders in my province are concerned about retaliation should any of them report him. Anyway, he kept trying until I told him that I had none left. That felt GOOD. He went on to hassle a big & respected breeder that I sold to. He found out through her grapevine, I guess. She is so tired of him & doesn't trust him. She won't deal with him & I never will.

I have had all types of crazy requests from my bird ads. Oh my. Last year, I had someone that wanted me to deliver freshly butchered chicken to them and drive 3 hours to give it to them, completely free of course. πŸ€·β€β™€οΈπŸ€¦β€β™€οΈ

Yes, it is a crazy world, the classifieds.

Then, after a sale, of course, they don't all go out immediately, so I need to keep a running tab on who bought what & what pens each are from. Sigh.

I am glad that I have now sold all of my breeders (save a few that I have held back for myself) of the one type. I had 8 trios and one pair to go. That's lots of huge birds! I have sold a few others in the meantime & have a buyer for 4 more unadvertised birds in about a month.

A big breeder (and importer of rare poultry) that I sold to has nothing but high praise for my breeder birds. That is so satisfying, getting confirmation from someone who knows breeding birds well. Then I know that it wasn't just me thinking that mine were good. She said that other big breeders had tried to keep them here in the past but failed. Hearing such support is good. The jersey giants take patience. πŸ˜„ I also think a good dose of love & admiration go a long way too.

I have my ducks, 6 black copper roosters & 2 serama cockerels left. Those serama babies are growing well!

All the stress will be worth it in the end, however, as I will have the money to buy & hatch out some beautiful new chicken eggs, get a dream pair of peafowl (that hold genes to have all white peachicks too), and possibly another dream bird of mine, Canada's rare heritage Ridley Bronze turkey. 😍 I will be heading into new (hopefully extra fun) territory! We will have less birds, but even more variety here. I told the kids that they will get some money from the sales & that they all have a share in these new ones. (They are pleased)

I am happy that I am almost done with the ad craziness! 🀯 πŸŽ‰ Hip, Hip Hooray!

Comments

  • Jens the Beekeeper
    Jens the Beekeeper Posts: 651 admin

    @LaurieLovesLearning selling something is always a box of surprises. 😲

    Luckily I did not sell any lifestock but when selling my honey it is sometimes ridiculous what people are willing to pay for quality raw honey.

  • Michelle D
    Michelle D Posts: 1,465 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Dealing with people can be very unpredictable. I have a few stories myself from when we used to breed and sell rabbits.

    @LaurieLovesLearning I would guess that even just talking about it here helps relieve some of the stress too. I'm happy for you that you have sold most of them. I hope to someday know as much as you do so that I can breed birds also. I'm assuming that there is a lot more to it than there is to breeding rabbits. Lol

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2021

    Glad to hear you have most sold and have new birds to raise soon. Its always fun trying out new breeds.

    I also worry about how well my sold birds will do at their new home. I have turned people down becuse I know they will not provide good homes for them or their attitude was so bad on the phone.

    I hope the people you sold to know the quality of birds they received.

    And yes, selling anything is difficult and down right insulting at times.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Thanks everyone. I just needed to get that out.

    @Jens That may be, but you are the lucky recipient. It's much better than the customers trying to get it for nothing!

    @Michelle D It did help. I have felt a bit off ever since I put the ads up. Some of it is when you say breeder stock, it doesn't mean that it is perfect either. You are using it to get there and it should have positive traits. It doesn't mean that every chick will be perfect either.

    I have no idea about rabbits. Each poultry breed has certain standard things that you breed for, but each one has very specific traits as well. It is good for observation skills.

    I got into breeding because I admire those who desire to keep heritage breeds from disappearing.

    I do find it fun & rewarding.

    @Denise Grant You never want your livestock to go to a home where they won't treat it well.

    It is interesting what you can pick up on through the phone. I refused two people and made notes to not sell to them in the future.

    Some know the quality. Some just want birds on their property...but are excited (a genuinely pure excited) to get these. Those folks are wonderful! I want to hear that they will love them and care for them like we do here. If they want deals and that is their focus...and not much else, that is a red flag that they really don't care.

    I always engage people in conversation to get a feel for them. I may be wrong on occasion, but I think that I usually can identify the ones that shouldn't be having my birds.

  • annflancan
    annflancan Posts: 84 ✭✭✭

    Remind buyers that they are buying a Rolls Royce, not a Yugo! Moving along.....

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @annflancan I certainly do, and need to stay polite even if they are not. They don't always want to hear that type of thing though. They are so used to the poor quality hatchery birds that they see all birds as just birds. They all lay eggs and all taste the same, so they should be able to get fancy, top of the line, for the same price.

    It just does not work that way.

    It is like the car scenario. They both have wheels and can get you somewhere, but what are the details that makes one rise far beyond the other?

  • Jens the Beekeeper
    Jens the Beekeeper Posts: 651 admin

    @LaurieLovesLearning oh there the forum swallowed two words.


    It should read "what less money". My asking price is 7€ for 500g and 4€ for 250g. A lot of people say I am robbing them as it is only 2€ for 500g in the supermarket.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin
    edited March 2021

    @Jens Sigh. But yours will be a better product. The stuff in the stores is never the same. There are too many corners cut. I know that in many places it is adulterated with imported "honey" that is not honey.

    Stay firm with your price. πŸ™‚

  • flowerpower *
    flowerpower * Posts: 258 ✭✭✭

    Wow @LaurieLovesLearning "Know your limit and play within it" I guess. I refuse to sell animals to bad people, though I would probably use "something is boiling over on the stove" to get rid of them.

  • JodieDownUnder
    JodieDownUnder Posts: 1,483 admin

    @LaurieLovesLearning the older i get the softer i am. I don’t have livestock any more- just as well. When we had our farm and knew we were retiring and moving to where we are now, i had a real dilemma. I had invested years in breeding up a nice herd of beef cattle, quiet cows who produced great vealer calves. When it came to selling them, i asked my agent to try and find a buyer that would take the lot on as breeders. He tried but no luck, told me they were worth much more if they all went to the abattoir. Eventually I succumbed, loaded them on the truck and cried my eyes out knowing their fate. Sure, that’s what the vealers were for but my lovely cows, I was heart broken. Good I got out when i did.

    We also had some goats, kids and an alpaca and after being stuffed around by tyre kickers, I decided to gift them to a friend, delivered them, had a couple of beers and happy days!

  • seeker.nancy - Central Texas
    seeker.nancy - Central Texas Posts: 795 ✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning you are so right! Sometimes the requests or demands are ludicrous. I went through that with selling my extra goats each year. By the time I quit I had a reliable group of different buyers that took most but that was a rocky road to get there. I'm sure there are so many here that have gone through those feelings and we could tell tales for hours lol. It feels good to get it off your chest and know you are not alone. It takes a world of patience and yours is so much more involved! Kudos to you for being such a responsible breeder.