Hi!
As a former resident of St. Petersburg, I would recommend Holloway's. They are up on 41 in Land O' Lakes, but the owner is at the downtown farmers' market at Al Lang field when it starts up in October on various Saturdays. Yea!!! (Love, love, love the farmers' market. If you have never been you should go. It is like a fair with a band and food booths. Super crowded but fun. Squirrel!). You could possibly call and have him have chicks at the market with him and he usually does bring some along to the booth with him.
I like going in the store and picking out my own chicks. I always go for the ones that eye you before dashing away. They seem to grow up braver and smarter.
I have purchased over 20 (RIR, SLW, EE, Australorp, Marans, BR) from him at various times, and only one has ever turned out to be a rooster. They all survived into adulthood and never have had a mite or failure-to-thrive problem with his chicks.
I did have very bad luck with purchasing two silkie chicks from a "breeder" (who if googled apparently runs a "rescue") in Largo. They were mite-ridden and one died in infancy, the other turned out to be a rooster which I could not keep at the time. Her place had water dishes with lots of algae growth and a lot of the animals were in small cages so we should have known better. When I called her after my vet bill and the chick died, she claimed she was not allowed by law to give refunds. Offered me a new chick, but I was not about to go back there.
So I highly recommend Holloway's. Personally, I would start with RIR, they are smart, brave, have great eyesight (which makes them softer on your hands when you are hand-feeding them), lay a lot and still friendly enough. Plus if you like chatty hens, they're the breed.
Hope this helps!
