I need advice or suggestions for purchasing chickens...

[friednotscrambled]

I would first determine where your priorities lie, as far as egg color, egg production, temperament.

If you know you want only brown eggs, if you want a flashy/colorful chicken, if you want a friendly or more aloof breed. If you need birds that would be more ideal for hot summers or frigid winters, etc.....

I have only ever bought chicks from Cackle hatchery and if you go to their website you can see they have their online catalog divided into types of chickens that lay brown, white, or colored eggs. They also have a general breed description that outlines what you can expect from a production and temperament POV.

I would guess most hatcheries do.
If you buy pullets or chicks from a local supplier - ask if they are an NPIP facility, perhaps. Then you would know that the facility was at least being inspected by state officials.

 

[McChooky]

Integrating chickens to one another isn't as easy as you might think. My chickens mingle but are closest to the chickens they were raised with. Some have been separated for as high as 6 months to keep peace in the flock.Adding leghorns was the hardest because they're flighty which made the other chickens try to avoid them

 

[Mrs. K]

I have a bantam chicken that becomes 10 yo in 2 weeks, she stil lays a few eggs in spring and is a joy to have around.

Oh, I have Gramma Feathers, I suppose most of us keep a favorite. However, is your whole flock that age?

I like a multi-generational flock.

Mrs K

 

[BDutch]

Oh, I have Gramma Feathers, I suppose most of us keep a favorite. However, is your whole flock that age?

I like a multi-generational flock.

Mrs K

I like a multi-generation flock too. But my coop and run isn’t big enough to add new life every year. All my hens are nice to have around. I don’t kill the older hens, but a couple of times a hen disappeared when they were free ranging, 2 hens died and one was killed by a fox who broke into the run. Sad, but it gives me the opportunity to buy hatchery eggs if I have a broody. Once I sold a mama hen with 2 male chicks to keep things in balance.

I don’t want to buy pullets or chicks to prevent bringing in diseases. I usually buy hatchery eggs when I have a broody and enough space for a broody and chicks.

Now I have 1 10yo, 2 9yo, 1 6yo, 1 5yo, 1 3yo and a 1mo male chick. My coop/run space is good for 8 bantam chickens.

I had a bit of bad luck the last two years to expand a little.
Last year I was eager for 2 or max 3 more hens and bought 11 hatchery eggs when I had 2 broodies. They hatched 9 chicks. A lot of irritation occurred within the group when the broodies stopped mothering. I kept two pullets and sold the others. But sadly the 2 pullets disappeared (free ranging).

This year I had an early hatch and only 1 chick out of 6 eggs hatched. The chick is a boy. He can stay if he doesn’t get too loud to have offspring next year. I am tempted to try another hatch this year but I don’t have enough space for a tranquil nest/hatch if I want to keep the cockerel.

 

[McChooky]

I started out with 6 and added 6 the following year before adding 15 chickens of various breeds I wanted last spring. I'm happy with the flock I have and don't want anymore.I re-homed 3 and still have 19

 

[chicken tender lady]

Thank you everyone for all your helpful advice! I will take it into careful consideration when deciding to purchase young hens.

I've been doing a lot of research on different breeds, raising chicks vs. hens, buying online or local etc. And after doing this I think I'm gonna continue searching for what I what locally and if not I may do mail order chickens as a last resort. But if I do that I'm still gonna stay in my local region. Which is Southern California.

Also I didn't mention this, and I know a few of you asked me about it. I have an existing flock of five hens I got them from a friend of mine last summer. I did start with six but I lose one last fall I think due to old age. So I was just looking to add two more hens to my existing flock this spring/summer. I'm in no rush to do so and if I don't end up buying hens this spring or summer I will try for next year. And at that point I may or may not end up buying chicks. But we'll just have to wait and see. I also don't have the space or the time to raise a bunch of chicks.

Thank you for all the advice on mixing chickens and with an existing flock as far as disease and parasites go. I am aware of this and that's why I'm going to do a 30-day quarantine on the new chickens when I buy them. To make sure their disease-free and healthy. I'm just not sure if the 30 days includes the introduction process? Or not? Maybe somebody can answer that here or if not I'll do further research on it! Thanks again everybody for your responses! Have a great day! ❤

 

[nuthatched]

I'm just not sure if the 30 days includes the introduction process..

It isn't. 30 day quarantine mean that the news birds are 100% seperate, wash hands, change shoes, the wind can't blow dander to them.
For example, your flock is in their coop in the back yard, new birds are in your garage, which is only accessed by the front yard. Good luck with your new birds!

 

[NatJ]

I'm going to do a 30-day quarantine on the new chickens when I buy them. To make sure their disease-free and healthy. I'm just not sure if the 30 days includes the introduction process? Or not?

Quarantine is keeping them separate from your current flock.

Introduction is putting them with your current flock, usually separated by wire mesh at first, so they can interact but not hurt each other. At that point, they can share any diseases and parasites, so it is definitely not quarantine.

So the whole quarantine needs to happen before you even start the introduction.

You could introduce people by video chat while maintaining a quarantine, but that is just not possible with chickens.