Me: Hey Honey, can I spend more money?
Husband: How much are you thinking?
Me: Um, give me a minute... (grabs pen and paper)
Husband: That's never a good sign...
Me: Well, before tax and rounding a little... about $300.
Husband: For what?
Me: I have an addiction...
Husband: Yes, you do.
Me: At least it isn't drugs.
Husband: That might be cheaper.
Me: Maybe I should try smoking pot (jokingly)
Husband: No, 'cause then social services will take the kids away.
Oldest Daughter (from the other room): Well that would definitely be cheaper then!
Alright, so a little context. I want turkeys. Specifically, Bourbon Red turkeys. I want a trio to breed and produce purebred hatching eggs and offspring, so they would be our only turkeys (aside from some broad breasted that can't breed naturally to raise for food). A lot of hatcheries have a minimum. I don't want 12 or 15 or 25 turkeys. I want three. And since almost all of the hatcheries charge huge shipping fines for ordering less than a set number of birds (if they'll ship at all), that means trying to find a dozen more birds to fill out the order, which makes an already expensive breed choice that much more expensive.
Today I came upon a hatchery that offers free shipping if you order at least 15 birds. Their prices are around the same as other hatcheries but without the segregated minimums (you can mix and match species to fill the minimum). So I put together a mock order. Three Bourbon Red turkeys (unsexed), two assorted broad breasted turkeys, three Buff Orpington hens, three Easter egger hens, one ancona duck, three Salmon Faverolle hens, and one Salmon Faverolle rooster. Then I went back to my preferred hatchery and put together the identical order. The new hatchery is cheaper by $23.22 ($125.52 versus $102.30).
This would mean I'd have to get another coop ($220) set up for the Faverolles. A breed I have not tested yet. There doesn't seem to be any available locally. Or at least I have not seen any ads for Faverolle chicks or hatching eggs. They're gorgeous birds and I think posting some photos of the grown adults would be enough to sell the eggs or chicks. But will it be enough to pay off the coop? I won't know until next year. That's a pretty big investment on a whim with no source of information on how that breed will sell here.
The Faverolle is listed as Threatened by the Livestock Conservancy. So is the Spitzhauben, which is why if we get a hen in the assorted box coming in a week and a half - then I'll be buying (or building) another coop for them too... And I ordered the three Dark Brahmas to arrive in June or July with the guinea keets... Might be time to work on building some coops!
So here we go. I placed a third hatchery order for this year. I'm done now. I think three orders is more than enough. I've spent enough on birds this year! This should be 46 ordered birds this year, plus any bonus chicks the hatcheries might throw in. We're anticipating 15 rare breeds the first week in May, followed by the order I mentioned above coming mid to late May, and the guinea and dark Brahma order that still hasn't had a ship day confirmed, but is supposed to be coming in June or July.