chickens at auctions

hedgerow pete · Jan 17, 2011

off to buy some more chucks on wednesday ,

the ones we are looking at are sold inside a cardboard box with a netting top so i cant get them out to have a look, but does anyone have any tips for checking them out before i buy

Drew · Jan 17, 2011

Silly as it may sound - Do they "look OK".

As you say more chucks - I think you probably know what I mean.

Combs full of colour and "firm" - even the floppy combs should look "firm".
Not too scraggy featherwise.
Clucking and making Chuck type noises.... Ill/Sick birds don't
Any poop in the box - does it look and smell normal/healthy.

I mainly buy/get Battery/Rescue Hens so they tend to be a bit bedraggled and combs etc are pale - but you do sort of "know" if they are basically sound.

Erichalfbee · Jan 17, 2011

Agree with Drew and you need to check for clear eyes and no nasal discharge too. You should be able to see that from the top of the box. Good luck.

RoofTops · Jan 17, 2011

Try and see their feet. Our first two hens came from a big operation and green as we were we didn't look for things like this. They had a severe mite infestation with the mites burrowing under the scales of their feet which become lumpy and swollen. Feet looking different sizes and lumpiness around the "ankles" would be a bad sign. Like varroa the problem is not so much the mites as the diseases they carry.

The state of the comb will vary depending on age. Point of lay pullets will have small combs. If they have large combs they are probably already laying but then you have to ask why they are for sale. Perhaps they are not very good at laying?

Also some hens think they are cockerals. We had one and it wouldn't shut up crowing in the morning - until I pulled its neck, after which it was quieter. These are difficult to spot but if one in the group looks evil and has a well developed comb compared to the others be careful.

milkermel · Jan 17, 2011

personal advice is I wouldnt go to auction! I had a nice collection of 15 hens initially a couple of years back then decided to get some more, they seemed fine at auction but within a couple day of being home they came on with full blown microplasma, this infected the rest of my flock - yes I could have kept them quarentined but I was a little bit green!

Now I only buy from the likes of meadow sweet or direct from people I know and trust.

David. Cae Glas · Jan 17, 2011

I enjoy giong to the auctions and visit the local one at Ffairfach a village half a mile south of the market town of Llandeilo in the eastern part of Carmarthenshire, Wales. the bigest problem with auctions is getting carried away and paying over the odds. Good day out, normally the last Saturday of every month.
I'd agree with the general comments re health, if the look and sound OK they propable are.
I have also had some ex battery hens they were OK and laid well after they had moulted. I'll try and fine a link if you like.

David. Cae Glas · Jan 17, 2011

Should have said its a good idea to keep any new hens apart from your old flock for a couple of weeks, that way any infection etc will be noted and hopefully will not have affected your existing birds.