2018 Newbie Chat!

[Anna Ranieri]

They're so darling!!! I can't wait for mine to get here!

Hi, I hope you don't mind me asking but do you order your birds and have them sent to you or something? I'm just curious - just noticed a lot of people on here saying they've ordered and/or that they have some coming - Where I live, although sellers advertise their livestock for sale, if we want to buy we have to go to them and as far as I know they don't take orders - i.e we go there, choose from their stock which and what we want, pay for it and take it there and then.

 

[JMotuzick]

Yes, there are several hatcherys throught the country that ship day old chicks. I ordered from Meyer in Ohio 500 miles from me. Order was placed in January, our birds arrived in late February. We where able to mix and match the order and brought in 18 birds. All are laying at this point. Except for the ops rooster!

Every hatchery has a bet and is tested for a ton of things! Very easy!

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Yes, there are several hatcherys throught the country that ship day old chicks. I ordered from Meyer in Ohio 500 miles from me. Order was placed in January, our birds arrived in late February. We where able to mix and match the order and brought in 18 birds. All are laying at this point. Except for the ops rooster!

Every hatchery has a bet and is tested for a ton of things! Very easy!

What a great idea! Wish they had this service available over here, would make things so much easier!

 

[CannedMonster]

What a great idea! Wish they had this service available over here, would make things so much easier!

Yes there are a lot of commercial chick hatcheries in the US.
I believe some even ship outside the US but I’m not sure what the shipping costs would be...probably a lot.
This has been going on since incubators were invented.
After hatching, baby chicks don’t need food or water for the first 48-72 hours.
This is because they absorb the yolk in the egg just prior to hatching.
The US Postal Service has been delivering baby chicks to people for many decades.
Nowadays, it’s even more efficient due to the Internet and the use of heat packs in the shipping boxes.
And hatcheries hire professionals to sex the chicks too.
Most hatcheries also allow the public to come and buy chicks at their physical location.
There’s a hatchery here in Idaho called Dunlap Hatchery. It’s only about 45 minutes away from me. They’ve been in business since the 1930s. I didn’t buy from them because they didn’t have the breeds I wanted. They focus mainly on basic production breeds like RIR, Leghorn, sex link hybrids, etc.
They do have a pretty good selection of bantams though.
I may buy from them at some point.
My friend wasn’t impressed with their birds though.
There are also private non-commercial breeders all over the country as well.
I will probably start selling my own chicks once I get an incubator and some broody hens lol.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

I started a big project today!
I’ve been letting my birds free range in specific areas all summer so they’d kill the grass for me. Today I started landscaping around the coop!

Everything I needed for it was already on my property. I even found this French Lilac starting to grow in an improper place, I yanked it out of the ground and planted it here! By the end of the day I hope to have most of it completed! I don’t think the birds know how to react with such a big change. By next summer this landscaping should look amazing!

 

[Frizzlychick]

Anyone else feel like their chicks are being micro managers when you’re cleaning out their brood box?
I had to share this I was cracking up that she climbed up my back, perched herself on my shoulder and sat there watching me work.
Chickens are so much fun!

 

[BBZZZZTT]

Anyone else feel like their chicks are being micro managers when you’re cleaning out their brood box?
I had to share this I was cracking up that she climbed up my back, perched herself on my shoulder and sat there watching me work.
Chickens are so much fun!View attachment 1512749

Belle used to hop on my head any chance she got. Especially to catch some sun in our cold spring weather!
Now she is too big

 

[Geranium]

Hi, I hope you don't mind me asking but do you order your birds and have them sent to you or something? I'm just curious - just noticed a lot of people on here saying they've ordered and/or that they have some coming - Where I live, although sellers advertise their livestock for sale, if we want to buy we have to go to them and as far as I know they don't take orders - i.e we go there, choose from their stock which and what we want, pay for it and take it there and then.

I ordered from an online hatchery. I don't live near hatcheries or in a farming area, and wanted a couple specific breeds, so online was a good solution for me.

 

[Cbarr00]

I got 5 eggs yesterday and 2 were really big ones! Another big one today too.
Next to a smaller one to show size

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Yes there are a lot of commercial chick hatcheries in the US.
I believe some even ship outside the US but I’m not sure what the shipping costs would be...probably a lot.
This has been going on since incubators were invented.
After hatching, baby chicks don’t need food or water for the first 48-72 hours.
This is because they absorb the yolk in the egg just prior to hatching.
The US Postal Service has been delivering baby chicks to people for many decades.
Nowadays, it’s even more efficient due to the Internet and the use of heat packs in the shipping boxes.
And hatcheries hire professionals to sex the chicks too.
Most hatcheries also allow the public to come and buy chicks at their physical location.
There’s a hatchery here in Idaho called Dunlap Hatchery. It’s only about 45 minutes away from me. They’ve been in business since the 1930s. I didn’t buy from them because they didn’t have the breeds I wanted. They focus mainly on basic production breeds like RIR, Leghorn, sex link hybrids, etc.
They do have a pretty good selection of bantams though.
I may buy from them at some point.
My friend wasn’t impressed with their birds though.
There are also private non-commercial breeders all over the country as well.
I will probably start selling my own chicks once I get an incubator and some broody hens lol.

Oh my gosh what a great idea -I wonder how long it will be until the UK catch onto this idea - I'm wanting to get two more hens while the weather is still warm so on saturday we are going to look at a couple of places to see what they have available - how much easier it would be if we could mail order them!