poultry auctions
- Thread starter jsmith7
- Start date
chrismahon
Well-known member
Can't help you with that Jsmith7. Just thought I would remind you of the risks involved in buying auction birds. They probably won't be good quality and transmittable infections are rife. I knew a breeder who unloaded all her duff stock at auctions. Some people are lucky and some are not.
Can't think of any Auctions Bucks based as such? the nearest regular Auctions I would Imagine at least, would be the Lambert and Foster sales at Detling or the Fabian Eagle sales at Swaffham?, although Neither of these are in your home county though I know!!
Auctions are hit and miss affairs, Great Fun, but as already mentioned potentially risky sources of stock in terms of breed quality or health. Having said that, I know a number of established and highly successful fanciers who regularly enter good quality birds in some of the larger sales, and I know of two currently VERY successful exhibitors of one breed who's foundation stock were bought at Auction some years ago, So there are diamonds amongst the largely rough to mediocre stock to be found at many sales!
Auctions are hit and miss affairs, Great Fun, but as already mentioned potentially risky sources of stock in terms of breed quality or health. Having said that, I know a number of established and highly successful fanciers who regularly enter good quality birds in some of the larger sales, and I know of two currently VERY successful exhibitors of one breed who's foundation stock were bought at Auction some years ago, So there are diamonds amongst the largely rough to mediocre stock to be found at many sales!
There is also a link between the stress suffered by poultry when transported to auctions, confined among all the noise and busy atmosphere, and then are moved on to a new home after yet another car journey, and the illness they often seem to come down with afterwards. Stress is inevitable when poultry move from one environment and routine to another place, and this can disrupt their immune systems so they go down with diseases they might otherwise have resisted. If you do buy birds at auction, be sure to quarantine them for several weeks on arrival at your premises. This is always a good idea, even when buying direct from a reputable place, without the added risk of the birds concerned being exposed to dirty cages and infections from other birds from different environments at the auction. Also, if you buy at auction, you have no chance to evaluate the quality of the conditions they have been living in, and no comeback to the breeder if anything goes wrong. We have had several accounts on here from people who bought at auctions and then had to pay large vets bills to deal with the ensuing medical problems.
foxy
Active member
Yes you can get some "rough diamonds" at auctions, but you really need to know your poultry to pick them out. Only consider healthy birds with bright eyes, fresh plumage and clean bottoms. Another trick to watch out for is the "two pullets in a cage" which can be one pullet and a young cockerel... :roll:
