Chicken Sale?

Well, I went to my first “chicken sale” yesterday afternoon.  I was told it was akin to a flea market where you are likely to find just about anything, and its true!  The whole affair is run like an auction with the exception of the definite “party” atmosphere.

We arrived early to find a good parking spot and to allow time to peruse all the treasures on display.  Anyone can bring their unwanted items to a chicken sale, find a spot along the lengthy driveway, and lay their goods out for others to see, all for no charge.  Also, anyone can bid on the items as long as they get an assigned “buyer’s number” before the sale begins.  Once you have a buyer’s number, you keep it for your lifetime and use it whenever you attend this chicken sale.  I went with Gary, one of the “board members” who has been before and has a buyer’s number.

At first, I thought the name chicken sale was a little deceiving but then I noticed a large barn at the end of the driveway.  I entered the barn and saw an amazing assortment of game birds.  Ducks, chickens, quail, turkeys, and geese were there, just to name a few, but the amazing thing was that there were several species of each!  The barn was literally packed with birds, all in cages stacked as high as you could reach; thousands of them.  I guess if you wanted a more descriptive name for the affair you could call it a “game bird sale.”  You could also purchase eggs from any of these species.

At 6:00 pm sharp, the owner came out of the barn and worked his way to the end of the driveway farthest from the barn where the first items were displayed.  In a clear auctioneer’s call he began asking for bids on what appeared to be a box of junk.  He started at $5 and was soon just asking for $1.  When he got no takers, he added a couple of used tires belonging to the same seller and that got the ball rolling.  The tires went for about $10 as I remember it, and the box of junk went with them.  In this manner, the auctioneer worked his way along the driveway until he was back at the barn.

All of the items on sale were used and sold “as-is.”  Corrugated roofing, lumber, fencing, farm implements, horse tack, quads, ammunition, guns, furniture, clothing and appliances were some of the items sold that night.  Many of the items on sale were in such bad shape that a junk yard would have refused them but, believe it or not, everything sold.  I noticed several times that items went for a price very near what you would pay if you bought it new at a store but it seems like all the excitement and the desire to be “part of the action” overrode common sense.  I’m sure many of the buyers woke up the next morning wondering what the hell they had done.

Gary bought a “critter cam,” an infra-red camera for photographing warm blooded animals in the dark, that normally sells for $230 for $10, and it works!  He also bought a very old antique telephone hand crank that contained three large horseshoe magnets that he said he was going to use for fishing.  Apparently, you just drop the ends of two wires into the water a few feet apart, crank the handle, and the fish float to the surface.  I’ve heard of that before but never witnessed it.  Maybe he will take me along when he tests it.  All in all, I had a good time and met some interesting people, several of whom were newbies like me.