Buying at feed store: what to look for?

[PurpleGizmo]

Thanks for sharing your experiences and insight! I'll certainly pick out healthy birds and be on the look out for their little personalities. Part of the reason for such a small flock is so I can enjoy their individual personalities as debakadeb mentioned. It's also good to know I can handle them right away. I'll be sure to spend plenty of time with them from the moment they come home.

Incidentally, the chicks are supposed to be sexed as pullets but I've been reading on this forum enough to know that the accuracy varies a lot. I have another question related to that but will post it as a separate topic.

Thanks again!

 

[lindseythefork]

I picked out my three Buff Orp chicks just by sticking my hand in there and wiggling my fingers- whatever chick ran over to investigate got to come home.

You can handle them right from the get-go. The younger they are the more heat they need, so just don't keep them out for TOO long. You;ll be able to tell when they want to go back!

 

[PurpleGizmo]

Quote:
Thanks, linseythefork! That's two suggestions for doing a little "hand test" so I'll have to give it a try. In your experience, has that made a lasting difference in picking out friendly chicks?

 

[PurpleGizmo]

Well, our four chicks are nearly three weeks old—we got an extra in case one was a boy or died—and I thought I'd write back in case it matters to anyone else.

The only chick that I can really say came over to investigate my hand at the feed store was our barred rock, and I'm certain she's going to be the matriarch of the flock. When I reach into the box these days, she races over to see what I've brought or what I'm up to. That doesn't necessarily mean she's the tamest, just very curious and the instigator of much madness. I've watched her jump/fly up 15" to grab something dangling from the wire mesh lid to their brooder. None of the others do that. When I give them a musclin piñata, she races in and tears it apart while the others recoil against the noisy vegetable carnage. She certainly keeps things lively!



As for the other chicks, they were so crammed in their box at the feed store that it was hard to really see behavioral patterns, plus they were pretty confused after arriving in the mail that morning.

Our kids were falling apart as young ones tend to, so in the end I just grabbed a few chicks that looked healthy and not too afraid of me and hoped for the best. Ironically, my absolute favorite, a buff orpington, was one of those "random" chicks. All of them tolerate my hands moving around the brooder, but this one buffy will jump up onto my hand to come visit and snuggle down into my hand. When I leave, she sometimes has a fit, cheeping loudly while looking for a way out of the box, like she's been separated from her mama. Maybe that's me!

The other buffy is much more aloof, though she's coming along. All of them, particularly our Ameraucana, fly up onto the edge of the box (or try, that is) when I remove the lid to watch me clean their stuff in the sink. It must be time for a real perch!

So, I guess I'm saying, you never really know what you're going to get, but I absolutely believe that each chicken has a distinct personality if you take the time to notice. Now I just have to find good names for them!

 

[cmom]

I agree with your analysis. Every bird has it's own personality. Sooooo true and then there is that pecking order.