Beginner info needed.

[cybercat]

Seafood I have done alot of reading on many hatchies. You will be very happy with Myers chicks.

You can do a seach on there name here to read the many posts on them. Also go down to breed and breeders and hatcheries here and read about them. From what I have heard from those that have order from multi hatcheries, Myers chicks have better temperments than some in many breeds. Just do not order till after weather is warmer up there. You should be very happy with what you get.

 

[SeaChick]

Hi Seafood,

Welcome!!

Meyer doesn't have any Speckled Sussex this year, although they are on the site. also, they will add "Extra males for warmth" to small orders, so you'll have to find homes for the roos. If you want to avoid that, you can order through MyPetChicken.com. They source most of their brids from Meyer, so they'll be shipped from Ohio and you have the same selection. They DON"T ship "males for warmth" but they DO charge $25 extra for a little heating pad thing to keep them warm/

I agree that a mixed flock is the most fun. My daughter is 11 and we LOVE our mix of girls and the pretty vari-colored egg basket we get. WE get blue-green eggs from the Easter Eggers ("Ameraucana"), a variety of cream-to-brown eggs from the others, and we're ordering a Welsummer this spring for darker brown eggs. It's also easier for kids to tell them apart when they're different breeds!

Another thought for getting small amounts of chicks: call around to your local feed stores and see who will have chicks next month. Around here you have to pre-order, so you get to choose your breeds. Some feed stores elsewhere just order big boxes of chicks and you just go pick some out. That's what we did last year and of course it costs a lot less (no shipping or heat pad!) but the breed variety isn't as broad as ordering direct.

Have fun!!

 

[s6bee]

Welcome to BYC. I think most of your questions have been answered so I will only chime in on Meyer's hatchery. I live in Upstate NY and got my chicks from them. They came a day earlier than expected and all were very healthy! I would go through them again. If you want pets, I think the choices you made are good. I'm partial to our Barred Rock and Austrolorp though.
With only 6 hens, 2-3 nesting boxes are needed. They sleep on the roost so make sure that's big enough.
If you do order through Meyer, order by phone. I told them that I knew that at times extras were thrown in for warmth, but that I lived in the suburbs and could NOT have a roo. I got an extra Silver Laced Wyandotte pullet. Of course it's not a guarantee but maybe they'll listen to your plea.
I would also hold back your order till you can put the babies out at 5 weeks in May. Hope that helps.

 

[MikelJohn]

Ideal Poultry has the friendliest staff to work with. I have never had a problem as many times I have had to call. No PETA fan here! Welcome.

 

[gritsar]

Welcome. I'm going to put a vote in for Ideal too. Great people to work with and really even the hatcheries that have so-called small order programs are going to either add extra roos for warmth or charge you a small fortune for their heating pad.
I'm not a PETA person, but I am for the ethical treatment of animals. In my work first as a domestic violence counselor and as a house manager working with the mentally disabled I've found that you can tell alot about a person by the way they treat their animals. Just MHO