You know, for a company that claims to put a six chick minimum in place to discourage impulse buys, they sure do time things with Easter in mind! I know Chick Days went into May last year (and started later).
I've heard that they can get around the minimum by selling one as "snake food". You might mention it if anyone gives you a hard time but I would hope they'd replace it since it was only a few days.
The face puffs with green legs are really the giveaways. There are only a few bearded breeds and I don't think any of the others have off-colored legs. So, if you find hatchery-bred chicks with both traits, you're looking at EEs.
If you post a picture, it will be easy enough for experienced eyes to tell if they'll be red. The bin I saw mislabeled as gold laced Wyandottes was full of chicks of many colors with puffy cheeks and greenish legs. It was oh-so-obvious but I wondered after they refused to listen to reason how...
Actually, the big hatcheries ship on Mon, Tues, and Wed to arrive by Saturday but their high-volume customers may get more say over when their chicks ship than the rest of us.
Do you have a co-op near you? I know the one closest to me has a schedule of breeds and dates and they get a nice variety. Not sure if WR were on the list but I know BR were as well as Delawares.
I'm thinking of my boys at 11 months... Yikes! Not sure the chicks would have made it. I was worried enough when they were five and able to control their impulses a bit.
That's one I haven't heard before. Lots of folks claim to be able to sex them by some subtle appearance differences and I'd believe them if they are a breeder who has been working with the same line for a decade. But hatchery chicks from a breed that isn't sexable by chick down color? No way...
I really doubt they're importing. There is a big hatchery in New Mexico called Privett. Between them and Ideal (Texas), there shouldn't be a need to import to supply the southern states.