Ameraucana Breeders Club
The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club => Housing, Health & Hatching => Topic started by: John on July 06, 2011, 06:56:54 PM
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Our Fowl Stuff nest boxes are now available. These are a completely new-original-unique design...like no one has made nest boxes like these before. They are Made in U.S.A. and are not some chintzy nest box. Fowl Stuff 100% plastic nest boxes have many advantages over metal and wood ones.
We are keeping the prices low and hope you will consider buying some (we need to pay the bills). Go to Fowl Stuff (http://fowlstuff.com) to get the low down and order. Several poultry supply retailers are selling them and more are wanted.
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Do you sell direct?? And give a small discount to ABC members?
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Hey, I saw the FULL PAGE AD in Poultry Press. Way to John, the entrepreneur I never was. Congratulations on your new enterprise. They look good!
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Love them!
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Jean, If we do retail them ourselves someday we\'ll have to make sure we don\'t sell for less than our dealers do.
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There is a nice two page article with photos in the current issue of Backyard Poultry. The subject is the development of the Fowl Stuff plastic nestbox, and the well written article was authored by John Blehm. Congratulations!
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Thanks Mike. My writing skills aren\'t great, but somehow I get by in life.
It was very kind of Elaine, from Backyard Poultry magazine, to include my article. Ameraucanas got honorable mention and we also have a 1/3 page ad in BYP.
There is another full page ad in the August Poultry Press and it is in color. The advertising budget is spent for now.
We now have 9 retailers and several more that are thinking about selling the nest boxes.
I have a 5 1/2 minute YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVeDh7m_Bq4&feature=player_embedded)on the FowlStuff.com site that explains more about the nest boxes.
The covers & perches also fit some 3 1/2 gallon pails and are great for bantams and pigeons.
We\'ll soon try to get the covers & perches into retail stores. We are putting them in carded bags to hang on hooks.
We\'ll have a display at Indy to show them to the poultry public and I think that at least 3 retailers will offer them for sale there.
We also have donated 6 complete Fowl Stuff nest boxes as awards for the ABC national.
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If anyone missed the article in Backyard Poultry magazine they can read it online and even forward it to a friend that may be considering nest boxes. Just click on the link below.
http://backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/6/6-4/a_nest_box_with_a_21st_century_design.html
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Just watched your video! Very professional!
How are sales going?
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How are sales going?
They started out great after the ads and article, but have slowed way down.
We\'ll have a display at the Indy show and I think about 3 of our retailers will have them for sale there. I\'m hoping that will make many more aware of them.
We\'ve had a few folks asking if they will work in their chicken \"tractors\", so the eggs can be gathered from outside the tractor or coop. We should have that version of the nest box available in a few days.
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I had never watched the Youtube video on the Fowlstuff website before today. Very nice! Now we can all see and listen to John 24/7 if we so desire! Seriously, great job!
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I\'m going to get a couple of the fronts and bring them home from Indy!!!!
I just put a link to your site on a backyard chicken forum topic that was talking about nest boxes.......
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Some folks want to know if our nest boxes will work in Chicken Tractors so they can collect thier eggs from outside the tractors. Kathy and I came up with some modifications to your standard nest box unit that makes it work for these chicken tractors or even conventional chicken coops.
http://youtu.be/wVqxfPi13KU
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Great job on both the nests & the videos!
I know you aren\'t selling direct just yet, but do you sell to small retailers? I\'ll mention it to Stan and see if he\'s interested in putting a couple in the store.
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We\'re retailing them on our website and on ebay, besides wholesaling to several poultry supply retailers that are listed on our site.
We\'re hoping to get \"farm\" type stores to retail them and have the covers & perches in bags with header cards for them to hang on thier store racks. We just haven\'t had time to pursue this very much yet.
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We will have a display of Fowl Stuff nest boxes setup at the Crossroads show in Indy and I think there will be 3 poultry supply companies there selling them. If you are going and are interested in buying some, this is your chance to get some and save on shipping costs.
As we devote more time and space to the Fowl Stuff business I\'ve decided to cut way back on the hatchery business.
The Fowl Stuff sales aren\'t enough at this point to justify putting up another building, but it requires a lot of space to store all the nest boxes and related items. By cutting back on birds and incubators we can move the \"stuff\" out of the garage & house and into the sheds/barns. We\'ll do that after the 2012 hatching season is over, but the ChickHatchery.com domain name is for sale now. Please contact me if you would like to make an offer. :D
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John, does that mean you are closing down the hatchery business? If not, which varieties will you be offering in the future?
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Not sure...I plan to sell the incubators after the 2012 hatching season and maybe just keep one for personal use and to maybe sell a few orders for chicks. The office and hatchery area will be used for Fowl Stuff stuff.
I\'ll keep the bantam buff, silver and lavender varieties and probably the same in LF. I think the Chanteclers will be gone too. That will free up half of the chicken barn for the tractor, UTV, lawnmower, etc.
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I\'m sorry to hear you\'ll be largely shutting down the chick operation, but congratulations on the business success with Fowl Stuff! The Virginia Poultry Breeders Association show is coming up next month, so I think I\'ll order a couple of the next box kits. One for the raffle and one for me!
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Just a little update...
I know I planned to "cut way back on the hatchery", but I haven't yet. The nesting box business is doing well, but it didn't need all the space I thought it would so I've been able to keep my little hatchery going. The office area, next to it, is used for egg storage for a few months during the hatching season and also gets used for the Fowl Stuff business. Plus, my heart doctors seem more optimistic than they did the last couple years. There were several reasons for the plan to cut back and I will continue to, but it won't be lickity split. I have dropped the LF wheatens for 2013, so that gets me down to 4 varieties of LF Ameraucanas, 3 varieties of bantams and 3 varieties or LF Chanteclers for next year.
The Chick Hatchery domain is still for sale. I've had a couple folks interested, but not enough to make an offer. I've sold a couple incubators and have the rest listed on the Saginaw Craig's List (http://saginaw.craigslist.org/). I'll make some or buy more if I need them.
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Well, that is good news. What's good for the soul must be good for the heart...(raising birds)
I might have to get one last order in for next year! :)