Poultry Auction Day

 Hustle. Bustle. Hurry. Wait. Shuffle. Arrange. Busy, busy, busy. Poultry auction day is always swarming with anticipation and energy. Poultry auction is always the last Friday of the month, with the exception of March and April. March and April auction are full of sellers, lots of livestock, the pulse of Spring on the farm, and full of buyers. The time is right to add chicks, and doeling and buck goats, and calves, and piglets, and bunnies and.... well, so much more. This is going to be a seller's market (keep those fingers crossed), and there will be a throng of buyers from all over the state and even some surrounding states. 

Yesterday afternoon we counted and sorted and discussed. Thirty-six birds total. We're hoping for an average of $10/bird. With commission and vertinary fees (a new thing), we hope to clear around $300. Which will go to repay our farm for feed and animal and other farm needs and also add to our flocks. We really want to add some silkie hens. It would seem right to wait until a later date, July-November-ish, so it might be more of a buyers market. But the truth is, the best of the best will be at auction today. Every seller knows that this month and next month are a big deal. And if they are like us, they saved their best quality babies for this month or next. So this is also prime time to buy. 

But I got off-topic. Yesterday we counted and separated. We figured out that we need 5 pens. After choring last evening, I took the time to find the cages I thought would work for us. Knowing that some cages will hold up to 14 birds, while one cage will only need to hold 2 birds. And to figure out the jigsaw puzzle that is our vehicle and making everything fit. Since we don't own a truck, we are loading everything into our Pontiac Grand Prix. Towels cover the back seat as we shove and prod and re-arrange and trade cages when we realize the cages first chosen will not fit. Finally, everything is in order. All birds are in the car, the cages we'll need when we get there are finagled into the trunk. Water containers are packed, and zip ties (the farmer's friend), and a wire snips. And we're off.... ! 

We arrived shortly after 9:30 am. They began check in a 7 a.m.. We are number 79. There are 78 consignors ahead of us. And consigner number 78 had a PACKED trailer. I bet they brought close to 1000 birds of every different kind.... ducks, call ducks, laying hens galore, some roosters, and more. We kept having to slide down the line and give them a little more room! So the number of consignors (I was so confused about the spelling, either one seems to work) ahead of us doesn't always mean that much, there could be a LOT of items/animals/birds ahead of us. And so it seems that this is true this month. We were "lucky" to get there in time to be under the rooftop and not out in the direct sun. 

After we got bird separated, waters distributed, and checked in with the auctioneer, we wander the aisles to see all that there is to see. There's guineas, and rabbits, and silkies, and crested polish birds, and laying hens, roos, and pheasants, and quail, and geese and peafowl. 

We are fortunate to live a mere 20 miles from the sale. So after check-in, we go back home for a moment to eat, rest, pack a chair or two, a few drinks, check for sunscreen, and make sure we have appropriate clothing and some cash in hand. 

Friday auctions start at 4p.m., but today the auction starts at 1 p.m. My hope is that it will be over by 7 or so. In a few minutes we will go before we go, and then head back to the auction, reminding each other most of the way there that we are NOT going to spend money today. Neither of us fully committed to that.

The anticiptation is real. The struggle will be real soon enough. I think we have some really pretty, really high quality poultry today, and I can't wait to see what they bring.