In this articles I want to share with you my experiences at livestock auction’s and some tips for first time bidders. Many local farmers gather every saturday at the livestock auction. They come to sell what they can no longer feed. This is when you can really find some good deals.

First Time
For your first time at a livestock auction, it can be overwhelming. First and foremost, get there early. I can’t stress that enough. If you get there early enough, you can get a seat. If not, you’ll be standing for five to six hours. Also, if you get there early enough, you can see what animals are being sold and what condition they are in. As compared to when you are sitting in the main section and they are auctioning off the animals and they can get a bit harder to see. I know that from experience, as I bought a rooster that had a chunk bit out of it by a dog.

Careful not to accidentally bid.
Second, watch what you do. Raising your hand or nodding your head is a verbal binding agreement. So, if you need to scratch your nose or something of the like, just turn your head away and do it. In order to get an auction number, you must provide a driver’s license with current address. Which means, whatever you bid on, you must pay, or they will hunt you down. So, if you accidentally scratched your nose on a $300 cow, and won the bid, you have to pay $300 for your new cow.

Muliple Animals and One Cage
As for multiple animals in a cage, it gets tricky. Roosters are like single men at a swingers party. There are way too many and no one cares much for them. Farmers will bring in 20 roosters at a time in one cage. The auctioneer starts off with a $2 start. The next part is crucial. You must listen very carefully. Most farmers wanting to get rid of their excess roosters will just sell them all for one price. Others wanting a few extra dollars will sell them individually, BUT they will still be all in the cage. In his hurried voice, the auctioneer will say “1 and 20 times your money.” What that means is, if you bid $4 on those 20 roosters, that means you are willing to pay $4 for EACH rooster. Now if the auctioneer says “One money”, you’ll buy them all for only $4. It’s very tricky and hard to get used to at first. So be careful.

Bring a Truck
Also, if you even think you’re going to buy something, bring a truck and a few extra cages. We found a good deal on a turkey once and we only brought Dad’s car. We ended up having to hold down a 50lb turkey in the back of the car for a one hour trip home. On top of that, this turkey wasn’t tame. It was wild. Believe me, it was quite an adventure by the time we got home. Anyway, I hope this article will help you out a bit. I have plenty more to write and plan on posting it fairly soon as I get it organized.

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 26th, 2008 at 6:24 pm and is filed under Farming Tips, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.