Best time to pick up chicks from the feed store?

[cmom]

I hatch out all of my chicks. For the first couple of weeks they are in a brooder. Depending on the outside temperature I then move them into my chick/grow-out coop. I do have heat lamps if I need them especially at night when it's cooler. Good luck and have fun with your planning and chicks when you get them and have fun... Let the journey begin...

 

[cmom]

Because of covid and your states restrictions, you will have to research and see who will have chicks and if they will have the breeds you want. Different stores may use different hatcheries. Again, good luck and have fun...

 

[3KillerBs]

A suggestion,

Before you go to the farm store take time to look at resources on the internet to find out what the chicks of the breeds you want are supposed to look like. That way you can reduce (though not eliminate), the change of getting something wildly different from what you intended when chicks are mislabeled or mixed up.

 

[Percheron chick]

I just printed the 2021 chick list from my local feed store! I'm planning to go a few days after they ship so if any pass they will be on feed stores watch

I would go in Saturday or Sunday at the beginning of chicks and see how fast they are selling. As others have pointed out with the current situation and the surge in interested in backyard flocks the inventory might not last one day. Hopefully the feed stores have upped their orders but it's not guaranteed. You might not have a choice but to buy as soon as they become available.

 

[jeapa]

Any of those can work.
I think you should build the coop first, then get the chicks.
Chicks always seem to grow faster than people build coops, so building the coop first helps avoid problems.

Research how much space chickens will need when they're grown up, think about how many, and be sure to build the coop big enough.



Some people brood chicks in the house for some number of weeks, but it is often possible to brood the chicks in the coop from the first day. You just put the heat lamp or brooder plate in the coop, check the temperature over a several day period, and then go buy your chicks and put them there. (The temperature checking is to be sure it's right for the chicks, and also to reassure YOU that it's right, so you won't panic the first night.)

It's probably best to keep the chicks in just the coop, not the run, for at least the first week or two. After that you could pick a day with nice weather and open the door to the run so they can explore. It will be big and scary at first, and they may just peek out the door, but pretty soon they will like playing in the run. Just make sure they all get back inside before dark--they sometimes need a bit of help to learn that.

I always brood my chicks in the coop!! They seem to feather out faster and no mess in the house. By the time they are 2 weeks old if the weather is nice you can let them come and go in the run. I always use the brooder plates for heat as it is safer then heat lamps.

 

[Alex S]

Because of covid and your states restrictions, you will have to research and see who will have chicks and if they will have the breeds you want. Different stores may use different hatcheries. Again, good luck and have fun...

Yep all the feed stores are curbside pickup and 10-45min shopping max

 

[bobbi-j]

I start my chicks out in the coop. I use a heating pad brooder - best thing ever! My chicks have been so much healthier and happier than they were when I used a heat lamp. They feathered out faster and were off heat faster. I'm in MN, and have gotten chicks as ealy as April. They were just fine in the coop, even when night time temps got down into the 20's.

I think you could get them in April, but be sure to have the coop done BEFORE you get them, even if you don't start them out in it. It's way too easy to think, "Oh, I have time yet" and put it off until you have dirty, dust-raising chickens all over your house.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I would call and give the your number and ask them to call you when they get chicks in. I have to admit I wasn’t really planning on getting chicks this spring. I was planning on hatching some out. But I might start trying to convince the rest of the family to let me pick up some BO EE chicks if TSC has any...

 

[cmom]

On our first coop, DH did start late on building the coop. He didn't put the nest boxes in too soon. It was just a couple of days after he put them in that we got our first egg.