Adding to my flock: chicks or hatching eggs

[michiele]

I will be adding to our flock in the spring. I want to get some Faverolles. There do not seem to be any around where I live so I either have to have chicks shipped in or hatching eggs shipped in. I really only need a few pullets in the end so... Would you order eggs and hatch them or order chicks (only 4-6) and ship them in? Seems the shipped eggs do not hatch that well. And I have heard that Faverolle chicks do not ship very well. Oh, what to do... Or, if anyone lives near Tulsa, OK and have some standard faverolle chicks....

 

[yinepu]

I think what you need to do is ask yourself if you can handle trying to hatch eggs.. waiting 21 days and possibly have 0 hatch.. if you're ok with that then get the eggs.. if you are not ok with the possibility of a 0 hatch.. then get the chicks.. either way order a few more than what you want just in case you do have losses.

 

[Azriel]

Quote:
Or, with eggs, you have a good hatch, but all end up being roos. Don't think it can't happen, I hatched out 10 EE's, all but maybe 1 are roos and need to either be rehomed or eaten this fall. Even with sexed pullets that you order, you can get up to 10% roos, so be sure to order extra.

 

[Oregon Blues]

What quality of birds are you hoping to get?

Hatchery chicks are more of a sure thing, but they are very likely to be pet quality.

Serious breeders very often will not ship chicks, so either you drive to get the birds if they are close enough to you, or else hatching eggs are your only other option.

 

[michiele]

Although my chicks will just be pets, I was hoping to get better quality than what comes from hatcheries... Sounds like chicks is the easiest option, if I can find a breeder who can ship or is close enough for me to drive to. Thanks for the help!

 

[inky123]

I am very new to the hatching game, so this is just an amateur opinion based on my experience. We recently decided to add to our flock and went with hatching eggs. 15 of the eggs came from our hens and were simply carried from the hen-house to the incubator. Also placed in the incubator were 16 guinea eggs that came from a friend's farm about 10 miles away. These were carefully packed and driven over. 33 additional eggs were ordered and came through the mail. Here are our results: all 15 eggs from our hen-house hatched beautifully on day 21 and all are doing well. All 16 guinea eggs hatched in a 24-hour period beginning at the end of day 26. All are healthy and happy keets so far. Of the 33 eggs that came through the mail, only 11 hatched and survived. Of the remaining 22 mail-order eggs, 13 never developed chicks at all, 4 had chicks develop in the eggs but never even began to hatch, 3 started hatching but died before they made it through the membrane, and 2 hatched and died within hours. These eggs came from a reputable supplier, were packaged beautifully, and I have no doubt that they were good, fertile eggs when they left to begin their journey via USPS. Based on our experience, we will not be ordering eggs again unless they are close enough for us to pick up in person.
Hope your flock addition goes well in the spring!