Are one day olds the best age at which to buy?

[huntsman]

I've ordered one day olds for my first flock, but would like to know at what age you feel is the best to buy? RTL, four weeks, several days?

 

[gkeesling]

I bought one day olds to get my flock started and am glad I did so that I could get the experience of raising them from chicks. But, once I got my flock started I now look for pullets that are either just at the laying age or almost there. I've just thought it was easier to introduce chickens to the flock that were about the same size and I haven't wanted to go through the trouble of raising the chicks any more.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I started my flock with 1 day olds.

 

[teach1rusl]

I've only had day olds, so don't know otherwise. I like that they've been with me from the start. Less exposure to possible illnesses/diseases too I would think...

 

[gritsar]

The reason the hatcheries ship day olds is simple. A chick absorbs the remaining nutrients from the yolk shortly before hatch. After hatch the chick can go up to three days without needing food or water; so shipping is simplified.

 

[HEChicken]

My initial flock purchase was from a local person. I got 3 1-month-olds and 4 1-week-olds. Since they weren't being shipped, this was possible. I already had some day-olds on order from MPC and they arrived six weeks later. Integration took awhile but is pretty much complete now. So - my flock is mixed ages. Of the three month-olds, two turned out to be roosters, so we ate them. The hen just started laying. Two of the week-olds were also roosters but the two hens are getting close to laying age. The chicks that started out as day olds still have a couple of months to go.

 

[AngieChick]

For biosecurity reasons I don't generally add chickens older than day olds to my flock.

I usually hatch my own or get day old chicks. There are still issues that can arise, but the chances slimmer.

If adding any new birds to your flock, please remember to quarantine for at least a month. If starting from scratch with your first birds, get whatever you feel comfortable with. I love having cheepy chicks in the house in a brooder, but not everyone does.

 

[AZKat]

I got day olds from MPC, and week-old-ish chicks from the hatchery. It might be a coincidence, but the week olds are messier, and more aggressive towards each other than the day olds, even though the week olds have a lot more space in the brooder, as there are only five of the week olds. Personally, I attribute that to the fact that the week olds spent their first week in a slightly overcrowded pen, and didn't get food or clean water as often as they should have.

 

[felidaet]

I got chicks from local feed stores last year. They were actually about 3 days old by the time they were available. I will do the same thing again this year. I can handle them daily to try to get them friendly. If someone else raises them for a few weeks I have no idea how they were raised. I won't have to quarantine a new adult bird for 30 days. AND... Who can resist the little fuzzy creatures. You miss out on a lot of the enjoyment if you adopt them when they are no longer babies.

 

[huntsman]

That's 100% in favour of da leetle ones.

Wish everything was that easy. Thank you!