too many kinds?

[scootermom]

I was happy to have my kids get excited about ordering chicks, but I think they spent almost as much time as I did agonizing over which breed to get. The breed selection tool at MPC is too cool! One son wants a Black Jersey Giant, one wants a Barnvelder and the other wants a RIR. Hubby wants a RIR also, and I'm going with 2 EEs. I get an extra because ... well just because! This is not enough for an order so I'm going to share and order with some neighbors.
My question is: will we be able to tell which chick is which?
Also, is the mortality rate high enough to worry that one (or more) of my kids suffers a broken heart when "thier" chick dies? I wish I had enough room to get three of each, but space is limited. I wish now I had just planned a trip to the feed store to get whatever was available!

 

[Uzuri]

Different people have different luck with mortality -- I got 7 chicks last year for my first time because I expected some to die.

Guess who had to adjust all her housing plans up since all lived?

I think figuring out which chick is which is the most fun part of the whole thing. People will help you here if you post photos and check out Feathersite for lots of pictures of chicks: http://feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html#Chickens

Just looking at your list, though, I think most of those should be pretty distinctive. Some breeds look like other breeds for a good while, though. Just get familiar with lots and lots of pics.

Edit: as for individual chicks (as in "this is MY RIR; this is YOUR RIR") you'll probably want to tag them. Some people use zipties for that. Some use proper bird bands. Some even use markers. I just had such a small number last time that I was able to tell all of them apart merely by physical details.

 

[scootermom]

Thanks for the great link - it is just what I needed. Now I also have more breeds to read about- the Scots Dumpie sounds interesting! I can see how this gets addicting

 

[MissAnnieFrannie]

If your concerned about mortality, you could also order an extra or two

. I ordered a few extra just in case, and will sell the non-keepers once they are feathered out. Like instead of ordering 1 slw and 1 glw and 1 bb I ordered 3 of each...

 

[Keri78]

My first batch all lived except for one(ideal-poutry.com) Second batch all lived!(ideal as well!) I would take my chances and just order what you want...don't worry before long you'll be like the rest of us and planning your next chickie order a year in advance!!!(LOL)

 

[fiberart57]

Yup, I've heard the "buy more than you want because 50% of them will die" story from the feed store guy. Yup, I had to adjust living arrangements and my mindset when I ended up with six chickens instead of three. They're a little like kids; I can't send any of them away.

Mary

 

[MissAnnieFrannie]

lol, well i dont necessarily think that 50% will die or anything....I personally would rather have too many than not enough. I have prepared myself for the likelihood of wanting to keep them though

so worse comes to worse, i have a few extra to love...

 

[newchickmom09]

I ordered my chicks from MPC last year and was SO pleased.

They don't lable them but if you can't figure it out yourself then you can call and they are very helpful. If you look at there chicks on there website and try and try and match them with yours you will probably be able to figure it out. That is what I did, also you can post them on here so all of us can help ID them.

We ordered 1 Silver Laced Wyandotte, 1 Golden Laced Wyandotte, 2 Black Australorps, and 3 EE's. They sexed all of mine correct I have 7 hens and 3 have started to lay. Non of my died all 7 good to go.

 

[scootermom]

Thanks for all the advice! I guess I'll go with my original order, if anything goes wrong we can visist the feed store to pick out a new chick.
newchickmom09 thanks for the pictures - that's the kind of different looks I was expecting. I just want to make sure my order doesn't get confused with the other family's - but I'm sure we'll all end up happy with what we get!
PS I like the PVC feeder - that is a great idea!

 

[chixie]

I ordered 10 silkies last september and got them and 10 barred rocks(packing peanuts)from ideal and all survived except 1 silkie(she died from wry neck-think from a head injury) at about 3 months old... the rest are do ng great