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Quail_Antwerp
Cold is on the Right, Hot is on The Left
So I loaded up the Pekin Ducks and Embden Geese and hauled them into the auction. Met up with Becca and another friend of ours while there. I had NO intentions of staying for the auction.
We checked in our birds and then I started looking over the other poultry that had been brought in. Friends, I saw the first pen and looked no further. I was staring at 4 Welsummer hens, and judging by their leg scales, not very old ones either!!!
I felt my pulse quicken and my hands started shaking. I wanted those hens!!! Some quick talking with Becca and we made a plan for her to bid on them for me, and we agreed to a top dollar bid amount. Then I resigned myself to coming home with Ernie.
Wrong.
Ernie comes running out of the large animal barn and breathlessly exclaims, "We gotta go before I spend some money!" I rolled my eyes, laughed at him, and asked, "What did you see?"
"Two black angus calves! Looks like they're just off the bottle!" You could feel his excitement in the air. So we did some more figuring, and decided that I would stay behind with Becca, who would bring me home later, and bid on one of those calves for Ernie.
Which worked well for me because I had every intention of bidding on those Welsummers!
Folks, it seemed like forever before they started the small animal auction. Finally they get to it, though, and they start at the far end. I plant myself infront of the Welsummer pen and patiently wait. Ducks sold, geese sold, rabbits sold...I'm holding my breath and impatiently waiting for the auctioneer to get to my Welsummers. He gets to the chickens and starts with the top row, almost all are roosters. They sell. Goes to the last two pens in the row, sells them, and then FINALLY gets to my Welsummers.
Now here's a little history. Earlier this year, Welsummers had come into this auction barn TWICE. First batch sold for $9 each, even the Roosters! The second batch sold for $20+, so I realized I'd have to be prepared to pay a pretty penny to take these girls home.
He's standing with his back to me, so I was a bit frustrated and worried that he wouldn't see me if I bid. He starts the bidding at $20 (the bids are per hen, not cage)...no bids...he gradually drops it down, gets to $10, no bids...keeps coming down....he said $3, I was pretty sure anyway, and I thought someone bid $3, so I shout, "FIVE DOLLARS!"
Folks, you should have seen how fast his head whipped around, his eyes are huge, he looks at me and asks, "Did you say $5???" I said, "Yes, Sir!" Incredulous, he asks, "A piece?" I again said, "Yes, sir!" He says, in shock I might add, "Thank you!" It was quite hilarious. He spent about 30 seconds trying to get a higher bid, but no one did. I got four very nice Welsummer hens, although a little on the thin side, for $20!!!!
I thought it was a good price, considering I paid $15 a hen earlier this year from a private breeder...my trio cost me a grand total of $35! (Paid $5 for my rooster)
I cannot begin to explain the sense of anticipation of the bid, and then the feelings of euphoria upon having the winning bid. Literally, I was jumping and skipping with excitement.
Unfortunately, we didn't get any of the calves today. They went for way more than we had anticipated, so we're going to hold off for a later auction and try again.
We did see a horse, about 14 hands high, broke to ride and pull a cart, sell for $30!!!
Two little piglets, one boar one gilt, sold for $50 each! They were barely big enough to be away from Mama!
So we go back outside to load up the Welsummers, and one of my hens had laid a pretty terracotta egg in the cage. There was a group of kids standing around the cages, eyeballing the hens and the egg. One girl looks at a boy and asks, "Do you want that egg?"
Yea, my reaction wasn't that well, er nice? I'm sure they must have thought I hate kids or something
But it's WELSUMMERS and I take this chicken thing...well a bit seriously??
I looked at the girl and said, "No! Those are my chickens, so that's MY EGG!" She gave me a weird look and the kids wandered off.
Not even five minutes later one of the auction employees, an Amish man, walks up to the cages and says, "Oh, one of them laid an egg." He then proceeds to open the cage. Again, I said, "No, those are my hens, my egg." He looks startled and said, "Oh, you want the egg?" I said, "Yes, I paid for the hens and that means eggs from them are mine." I should have told him he could buy the egg for $1
Becca brought me home, with my precious Welsummers. I put them in a coop and run with grass, and the girls went nuts snapping up blades of grass. They were quite thinner than I had anticipated, but I figure a couple weeks on good food, grass, and bugs, they'll be fattened up in no time. One of the girls has had a bit too much loving from a rooster, and the others are just hungry.
I checked them for mites/lice, found none. Legs look good. Small scales, and they look about the same as my 2 year old Welsummer hen.
Oh, and I made an agreement with Becca to buy her two Welsummer hens as well!!
Plus, 8 Welsummer eggs under my broody BLRW!! By next spring, I should have quite the flock of Wellies!!!!
We checked in our birds and then I started looking over the other poultry that had been brought in. Friends, I saw the first pen and looked no further. I was staring at 4 Welsummer hens, and judging by their leg scales, not very old ones either!!!
I felt my pulse quicken and my hands started shaking. I wanted those hens!!! Some quick talking with Becca and we made a plan for her to bid on them for me, and we agreed to a top dollar bid amount. Then I resigned myself to coming home with Ernie.
Wrong.
Ernie comes running out of the large animal barn and breathlessly exclaims, "We gotta go before I spend some money!" I rolled my eyes, laughed at him, and asked, "What did you see?"
"Two black angus calves! Looks like they're just off the bottle!" You could feel his excitement in the air. So we did some more figuring, and decided that I would stay behind with Becca, who would bring me home later, and bid on one of those calves for Ernie.
Which worked well for me because I had every intention of bidding on those Welsummers!
Folks, it seemed like forever before they started the small animal auction. Finally they get to it, though, and they start at the far end. I plant myself infront of the Welsummer pen and patiently wait. Ducks sold, geese sold, rabbits sold...I'm holding my breath and impatiently waiting for the auctioneer to get to my Welsummers. He gets to the chickens and starts with the top row, almost all are roosters. They sell. Goes to the last two pens in the row, sells them, and then FINALLY gets to my Welsummers.
Now here's a little history. Earlier this year, Welsummers had come into this auction barn TWICE. First batch sold for $9 each, even the Roosters! The second batch sold for $20+, so I realized I'd have to be prepared to pay a pretty penny to take these girls home.
He's standing with his back to me, so I was a bit frustrated and worried that he wouldn't see me if I bid. He starts the bidding at $20 (the bids are per hen, not cage)...no bids...he gradually drops it down, gets to $10, no bids...keeps coming down....he said $3, I was pretty sure anyway, and I thought someone bid $3, so I shout, "FIVE DOLLARS!"
Folks, you should have seen how fast his head whipped around, his eyes are huge, he looks at me and asks, "Did you say $5???" I said, "Yes, Sir!" Incredulous, he asks, "A piece?" I again said, "Yes, sir!" He says, in shock I might add, "Thank you!" It was quite hilarious. He spent about 30 seconds trying to get a higher bid, but no one did. I got four very nice Welsummer hens, although a little on the thin side, for $20!!!!
I thought it was a good price, considering I paid $15 a hen earlier this year from a private breeder...my trio cost me a grand total of $35! (Paid $5 for my rooster)
I cannot begin to explain the sense of anticipation of the bid, and then the feelings of euphoria upon having the winning bid. Literally, I was jumping and skipping with excitement.
Unfortunately, we didn't get any of the calves today. They went for way more than we had anticipated, so we're going to hold off for a later auction and try again.
We did see a horse, about 14 hands high, broke to ride and pull a cart, sell for $30!!!
Two little piglets, one boar one gilt, sold for $50 each! They were barely big enough to be away from Mama!
So we go back outside to load up the Welsummers, and one of my hens had laid a pretty terracotta egg in the cage. There was a group of kids standing around the cages, eyeballing the hens and the egg. One girl looks at a boy and asks, "Do you want that egg?"
Yea, my reaction wasn't that well, er nice? I'm sure they must have thought I hate kids or something
But it's WELSUMMERS and I take this chicken thing...well a bit seriously??I looked at the girl and said, "No! Those are my chickens, so that's MY EGG!" She gave me a weird look and the kids wandered off.
Not even five minutes later one of the auction employees, an Amish man, walks up to the cages and says, "Oh, one of them laid an egg." He then proceeds to open the cage. Again, I said, "No, those are my hens, my egg." He looks startled and said, "Oh, you want the egg?" I said, "Yes, I paid for the hens and that means eggs from them are mine." I should have told him he could buy the egg for $1
Becca brought me home, with my precious Welsummers. I put them in a coop and run with grass, and the girls went nuts snapping up blades of grass. They were quite thinner than I had anticipated, but I figure a couple weeks on good food, grass, and bugs, they'll be fattened up in no time. One of the girls has had a bit too much loving from a rooster, and the others are just hungry.
I checked them for mites/lice, found none. Legs look good. Small scales, and they look about the same as my 2 year old Welsummer hen.
Oh, and I made an agreement with Becca to buy her two Welsummer hens as well!!
Plus, 8 Welsummer eggs under my broody BLRW!! By next spring, I should have quite the flock of Wellies!!!!
