Value of visual green pied and green/pied in South Africa?

[Lushen1600]

Hi all, a fellow breeder and friend has bred 2 visual green pied chicks(4 chicks altogether, the other 2 a green) from a green split pied cock to a green split pied hen. I'm interested in buying these chicks for my breeding program, but would like to know how would one price/value a visual green pied here in South Africa. I know that the more yellow the bird has, the higher the price, but how would a buyer know what to pay for a particular bird and how would a seller know what to sell a particular bird for. Is there some sort of scale or ratio of piedness to price

Here are some pics of the chicks I want to buy, if he send me more pics as the chicks grow I will update you guys












Thanks
Lushen

[Lushen1600]

Hi Molossus, thanks for the reply, and yes I am keen on adding visual pieds to my collection, but I would like to get as much information as possible before investing my money into the ringneck pied mutation, each breeder I have met has his own prices for his birds and there is no set standard price for green pieds here in pietermaritzburg, I prefer to invest in visual birds than get split birds as this will reduce my possiblities with breeding outcomes, and would have 2 buy another 2 pied chicks of opposite sex to breed with these if I take them, but am considering what you are saying and willing to wait and see what is on offer once the breeding season is over

Thanks
Lushen

[Lushen1600]

Hi all, so is there any way of knowing how much to sell a green pied for, and in the same respect how much to pay for a green pied, is there some sort of structure or price list in place if say a bird had 10% pied markings, 20% pied markings, 30% pied markings and so forth?

I would also be interested to know from sellers from others countries, how do they price their pied birds when selling, say if you get 5 pied chicks in a nest and 2 have 10% pied markings, 2 have 20% pied markings and 1 has 30% pied markings, would all the babies be sold for the same price or would each bird be priced individually and how would one know how much to sell them for?

The reason I ask is seeing that I want to get into the pied mutations, I would like to know what to pay for stock and what to sell chicks for?

Also is there any tips that you guys can share when looking for pied birds, what would I look out for when buying quality pied birds?

Thanks
Lushen

[Johan S]

Lushen, I always feel that a good price to pay for any bird is one that is acceptable to both the buyer AND the seller, irrespective of what the market trend is. This is the best way to ensure a good relationship, that will ultimately lead to more buying/selling birds. Until you get to the point with some breeders that you have a "funny"/virtual money account between yourselfs, with the same money going back and forth. At that stage, you might as well just swop birds and be done with it.

You will pick up bargains at some places, and at others you will have no or very little room for negotiation. Keep an eye on the local bird trader (hint) websites, they give you a good indication of price. However, you will need to keep a clear head about you and be very careful of 'traders' (buy birds for cheap and sell them for profit) that advertise birds way under value. Often these guys don't even have these birds and are simply undermining the bird economy. You can also imagine the risk of PBFD in these aviaries where birds simply make a stop over for a couple of days/weeks. There is one such a trader in your vicinity (Durban), but I won't mention names on a public forum. You will only fall for it once, and it will be expensive school fees to pay.

So, getting back to price, the Ringneck Association of SA do have a guideline/pricelist available to it's members, and you can also get a good feeling of price by visiting auctions. No distinction is made for quality. That is simply because quality is objective. You consider amount of piedness important. I consider that secondary to the symmetry of the pied pattern. Now, obviously a recommended price is a two sided coin. Many people hate the idea and will always strive for a bargain. The flip side, however, is that a recommended price protects the investment you are making, if everybody sticks to it. Now, if you drive a hard bargain and buy a mature bird worth R3000 for R1500 in April and that bird breeds 4-5 months later, would you feel OK to sell the chicks for R2500 in December?

But I suppose you want a straight answer? For that you'll need to contact me in private. My apologies for not being upfront, but I don't think it is a good idea to discuss exact prices on a discussion forum.

Molossus got it spot on, don't buy the first birds that come your way. There will be many to choose from. And then you'll be faced with, a) do I buy this bargain, or b) do I buy those high quality birds, but at a price??? The difficult choices never stop!