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1 Decide what you want, or at least give some pretty good criteria. Narrow it down some.
2. Some hatcheries do ship pretty small orders, but they are expensive when you do that. Hatchery chicks are great if you are looking for good egg laying chickens and can be very attractive. They are not what you want if you plan to show chickens. For that you need to get good stock from someone that knows what they are doing. I hate to single out any one person on here because somebody will probably feel slighted, but if you are into showing, I suggest become friendly with Jimsfarmstand. He is into that, has common sense and knowledge about it (his post in an Ideal Poultry thread convinced me of that), and probably knows the diffferent breeders and their stock in this area as well as anybody else. I apologize to any others that feel slighted, but if I were to change my goals and decide to start showing, Jim is the one I would start with.
3. Find some people on this forum in your area and possibly split an order from a hatchery.
4. Find people on this forum within driving distance. See what breeds they have.
5. Go to chicken swaps and shows. Meet people. Talk to them about your goals and maybe find what you want.
6. Get an incubator and order some hatching eggs. Biggest downside to this is that you will probably get a bunch of roosters. Of course, with your goals, that might not be a downside.
7. Find someone near you with an incubator that is willing to hatch shipped eggs for you.
That's all I can think of this morning. I'm sure I am missing somethign obvious. Good luck!
1 Decide what you want, or at least give some pretty good criteria. Narrow it down some.
2. Some hatcheries do ship pretty small orders, but they are expensive when you do that. Hatchery chicks are great if you are looking for good egg laying chickens and can be very attractive. They are not what you want if you plan to show chickens. For that you need to get good stock from someone that knows what they are doing. I hate to single out any one person on here because somebody will probably feel slighted, but if you are into showing, I suggest become friendly with Jimsfarmstand. He is into that, has common sense and knowledge about it (his post in an Ideal Poultry thread convinced me of that), and probably knows the diffferent breeders and their stock in this area as well as anybody else. I apologize to any others that feel slighted, but if I were to change my goals and decide to start showing, Jim is the one I would start with.
3. Find some people on this forum in your area and possibly split an order from a hatchery.
4. Find people on this forum within driving distance. See what breeds they have.
5. Go to chicken swaps and shows. Meet people. Talk to them about your goals and maybe find what you want.
6. Get an incubator and order some hatching eggs. Biggest downside to this is that you will probably get a bunch of roosters. Of course, with your goals, that might not be a downside.
7. Find someone near you with an incubator that is willing to hatch shipped eggs for you.
That's all I can think of this morning. I'm sure I am missing somethign obvious. Good luck!
