day old chicks

[Bluebelle7]

I have never before got day old chicks, but in this moment everybody is going broody. And in the same time I would like to get 2 Belgian D'Uccles, one porcelain and one millefleur, and all what people sell are day old chicks, and they seem to be going fast. Which to me means they will not have older pullets later on (I am in Australia = spring here just started. So I started to think about getting some D'Uccle chicks and stick them under my broody Orpington. Of course that means I will have several roosters, which we are not allowed here. Then the broody may reject them, and I will have to deal with the babies. Fortunately I do have a heat lamp, which I got some years ago for my litter of pups when we got unusual cold spell just as they were born. But still, it sounds like lot of work. i wonder if the people who buy these day old chicks all have a broody at home, what will they do with the roosters? Is there really so much demand for day old chicks that they are all sold out within days?

I never wanted to breed my girls, I just like some cute chickens wondering around my garden getting rid of snails and weeds.

My Mabel (Frizzle) and Angelina (Pekin), and my broody Saffron

 

[NatJ]

Fortunately I do have a heat lamp, which I got some years ago for my litter of pups when we got unusual cold spell just as they were born. But still, it sounds like lot of work. i wonder if the people who buy these day old chicks all have a broody at home, what will they do with the roosters? Is there really so much demand for day old chicks that they are all sold out within days?

In the USA, where I live, hatcheries and stores sell large numbers of day-old chicks. Yes, there really is a great demand. At the busiest part of the year, people sometimes complain of stores that sell out within hours or even minutes of when the chicks arrive.

Most people do not have a broody hen. They raise the chicks with a heat lamp, or a brooder heat plate, or various other sources of heat.

Raising chicks is a bit of work, but not too bad once you have the setup and know what you are doing. If they have a warm place, plenty of cool space, food, and water, they almost take care of themselves. They play in the cool area, warm up in the warm area and usually sleep there too, eat and drink as needed, poop everywhere, and generally act like chickens from a very young age. They will be scratching, dust bathing, preening, and trying to fly before they are even a week old. Of course they do need protection from predators and from bad weather (rain, snow, too much sun, etc.)

As for what to do with the roosters:
--sometimes it is possible to buy sexed pullets (just females)
--sometimes people plan to eat the males
--sometimes people sell the males or give them away, often to people who will eat them, sometimes to people who want a rooster for their flock
--sometimes people do not have a plan, and when one starts crowing they make a post asking "Do I have a rooster?" and then they scramble to decide what to do next.

 

[Debbie292d]

I'm in Wisconsin, USA, and I've put little chicks under broody hens in the past very successfully. In fact, two were broody so I gave half the batch to each of them and both hens paraded around together with a dozen little chicks trailing behind. The chicks went to whichever hen and the hens didn't know whose was whose and didn't care.

Generally, about half the chicks will be roosters, and even though we can keep as many as we want as we live in the country, you can't have too many or the hens will start looking ragged. We have 1 rooster to 6 hens, and that works out well. The extras, I have posted in Facebook poultry groups in my state, or on Craig's List, and given them away that way.

Mabel and Angelina are beautiful!!

 

[Bluebelle7]

Thanks. Unfortunately, here nobody sells sexed chicks any more, and some are asking $35 per chick! Then people come on discussion boards saying "I bought 6 and they are all males". So it is not exactly peanuts.
I could not bring myself to eat my roosters, but as I do eat meat, I do not have any objection giving the boys to people who eat them, as long as I get some girl - getting 1/2 dozen of chicks only to find they are all cockerels, I would not be happy. The problem here is that people dump roosters in the bush or at the beach.

 

[Debbie292d]

Thanks. Unfortunately, here nobody sells sexed chicks any more, and some are asking $35 per chick! Then people come on discussion boards saying "I bought 6 and they are all males". So it is not exactly peanuts.
I could not bring myself to eat my roosters, but as I do eat meat, I do not have any objection giving the boys to people who eat them, as long as I get some girl - getting 1/2 dozen of chicks only to find they are all cockerels, I would not be happy. The problem here is that people dump roosters in the bush or at the beach.

I would order sexed chicks from a hatchery then. Yes, they're more expensive, but then you don't have the hassle. The problem is they have a minimum order, and shipping is sometimes more than the chicks. A lot of people do it though. I found out at our local feed mill, I could order sexed chicks through them and they were only $6.95 for like Speckled Sussex pullets. Perhaps you could find a local place like that?

 

[NatJ]

I would order sexed chicks from a hatchery then. Yes, they're more expensive, but then you don't have the hassle. The problem is they have a minimum order, and shipping is sometimes more than the chicks. A lot of people do it though. I found out at our local feed mill, I could order sexed chicks through them and they were only $6.95 for like Speckled Sussex pullets. Perhaps you could find a local place like that?

OP is in Australia, you and I are in the USA.

I don't think they have the same system of large hatcheries shipping chicks by mail for semi-reasonable prices.

I agree it is a good thing to look into, just not sure if it will work.

 

[LuciferRoo]

I would order sexed chicks from a hatchery then. Yes, they're more expensive, but then you don't have the hassle. The problem is they have a minimum order, and shipping is sometimes more than the chicks. A lot of people do it though. I found out at our local feed mill, I could order sexed chicks through them and they were only $6.95 for like Speckled Sussex pullets. Perhaps you could find a local place like that?

I ordered a dozen sexed chicks (female) from a hatchery. They sent me 13 chicks. Seven of them turned out to be male. To say I am unhappy about it is an understatement.

 

[Debbie292d]

I ordered a dozen sexed chicks (female) from a hatchery. They sent me 13 chicks. Seven of them turned out to be male. To say I am unhappy about it is an understatement.

Good grief. I'd be livid. I've never heard it be so bad as that. Mind naming who they are so in case I ever order from a hatchery, I won't go there?

 

[LuciferRoo]

Good grief. I'd be livid. I've never heard it be so bad as that. Mind naming who they are so in case I ever order from a hatchery, I won't go there?

AV Bird Hatchery.
I did not even contact them about it. I am a novice so it took a little while for me to see that I had a bunch of cockrells and then had a series of events which took a higher priority.