Am I paying too much?

[colby318]

Looks like a supplier for Tyson or Perdue to me for the broilers. The chicks you'll be buying from there are probably destined to the factory egg laying farms for the grocery chains, etc. Your chicks are very lucky to have escaped the factory life! Kudoos to you!

 

[Chickgirl201040]

if it is a new hampshire you are paying almost a dollar more per peep than you would for if you ordered from cackle hatchery

 

[Oregon Blues]

It depends upon what you are buying.

I pay $10-$12 and up to $50 for a peep. They have to be worth that much, though. How much are the peeps you are buying worth? It seems like a cheap price to me for anything that isn't dead. I wouldn't bother to hatch eggs out if that was all I could get for the chicks. That wouldn't pay for the electricity, let alone my time.

 

[debid]

Ah yes, that is a BIG hatchery geared toward commercial operations and not what people would call a "local breeder". I'm sure you'd get good producers and the price is competitive with other big hatcheries. Some are a bit less per chick and some a bit more but you'd have to include shipping costs to know exactly. Buying closer to home is easier on the chicks because shipping is inherently stressful so all things being equal, I'd go that route. Some folks remarked on the living conditions but I suspect that all of the big hatcheries have their birds living in similarly close quarters.

 

[musikfan6]

I believe you're just looking for a few chickens that will lay eggs, not show birds. Sex links will work for that, and I believe the price is reasonable.

I'd like to think so, but then I'm a novice. This is my first time. Live and learn. We'll see what comes of it. I have a while yet until March, which is when I can actually get the peeps.

 

[Laingcroft]

OK, here's my very first question for you all.

I'm buying my peeps in March from a local breeder. They are going to charge me $2.60 per peep. Is that too much?

The first question to answer is what do you want from your chickens?

Are you looking for pets and/or eggs? The price is average for red-sex link pullets. Do you know if the quoted price is for straight run or pullets only? Is the pullets only order even an option? As others have posted, sex link chickens are bred for early,100% accurate sexing. If you don't care if you get roosters or want meat birds, then the price is higher than a straight run price per bird and almost double the rooster price. Here is the link to McMurray Hatchery's red-star aka red sex link page for reference: http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/red_star.html

Your local hatchery also lists Barred Rocks which is another nice egg layer, but they aren't sex linked so you may get roos even if you order pullets only (again assuming that option exists.)

Also, as others have said, being able to pick up locally is a good thing.

If you just want a couple of chickens to lay a few eggs and can pick them up then it's probably a good deal. If you want variety and a good number of chickens (most mail order requires 25 min chicks) then one of the other hatcheries might be better for you. If you might be interested (or have kids interested) in 4-H, county fairs, and sanctioned shows, then learn about the different breeds out there, select the one(s) you like best and find a true breeder.

BTW - I wasn't impressed by their website. Rather sparse on useful info, talking guy image was annoying and there really isn't much selection compared to other hatcheries.

 

[musikfan6]

Looks like a supplier for Tyson or Perdue to me for the broilers. The chicks you'll be buying from there are probably destined to the factory egg laying farms for the grocery chains, etc. Your chicks are very lucky to have escaped the factory life! Kudoos to you!

I never realized that I was such a nice person to do that for those little guys! Makes me feel even better about what I'm doing.

 

[musikfan6]

The first question to answer is what do you want from your chickens?

Are you looking for pets and/or eggs? The price is average for red-sex link pullets. Do you know if the quoted price is for straight run or pullets only? Is the pullets only order even an option? As others have posted, sex link chickens are bred for early,100% accurate sexing. If you don't care if you get roosters or want meat birds, then the price is higher than a straight run price per bird and almost double the rooster price. Here is the link to McMurray Hatchery's red-star aka red sex link page for reference: http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/red_star.html

Your local hatchery also lists Barred Rocks which is another nice egg layer, but they aren't sex linked so you may get roos even if you order pullets only (again assuming that option exists.)

Also, as others have said, being able to pick up locally is a good thing.

If you just want a couple of chickens to lay a few eggs and can pick them up then it's probably a good deal. If you want variety and a good number of chickens (most mail order requires 25 min chicks) then one of the other hatcheries might be better for you. If you might be interested (or have kids interested) in 4-H, county fairs, and sanctioned shows, then learn about the different breeds out there, select the one(s) you like best and find a true breeder.

BTW - I wasn't impressed by their website. Rather sparse on useful info, talking guy image was annoying and there really isn't much selection compared to other hatcheries.


That's OK if you didn't like their website. I know hardly anything about them except for the guy that I talked to on the phone. He was very nice and helpful to me. I think that with only having 5 hens, I'll probably be OK. Like I said to another member here, I"m new to this. I'll take the chance this time and just do it. Live and learn. If there's a problem, I'll be sure to re-think where I get my little ladies from the next time.

We plan on having them primarly as layers, but with my kids, I'm sure they'll become pets to some degree. My boys are already picking out names for them and we haven't even got them yet! Go figure.

 

[Laingcroft]

We started with three EE hens: one for me, one for each of my kids. Each hen had a name and everyone got their own eggs for breakfast in the morning. It was quite a hoot. Now the kids are grown and don't really care much about the hens, but they still do ask for delivered dozens of their favorite eggs every now and then

If your boys are young, I would definitely see about getting sex link pullets only. Roosters can be beautiful, docile, ornery or downright dangerous and I don't 100% trust them (or any intact male farm animal for that matter) with kids. JMHO.

Good luck with your (future) clucks and remember that chicken math....LOL