Egg Laying Chickens

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Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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We have some great breeders here on BYC. If you have a breed in mind, just type it into that search box underneath the BYC heading and post this question in that breeds thread.

You can also stop by your state thread and do some chatting with your chicken neighbors there. Maybe you can connect with a local breeder. Scroll through this link to find your state thread...https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/26/where-am-i-where-are-you

You can also take a look through our Buy Sell and Trade section and maybe find some nice birds there...https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/67/buy-sell-trade

And you can also purchase chicks and sometimes started pullets from hatcheries. Here is a thread on hatchery reviews you might take a look at. There are lots more threads on each of these hatcheries in our archives...https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/638764/best-hatcheries

You might also stop by this link on breeds. This chart may help you narrow down what breed you are looking for...http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

I am a big fan of the Orpington breeds. Just friendly, docile, quiet birds. Great on the laying as well.

Have you stopped by our learning center yet? All kinds of great articles on all the aspects of keeping poultry...https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

Good luck and if you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask!
 
Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Two Crows has given you great links.

MAIL ORDER-Most farmers and some city people like to order their chicks from a hatchery online. They do this because they already know what to expect and which hatchery to order from. However, if you are a beginner, I suggest visiting your local farm store such as JAX, Farm King or Tractor Supply, to get your chicks. If you do decide to mail order, remember these things: Order from a good hatchery, know what breeds you are wanting and that you specify them. (Some hatcheries send you a surprising variety of birds if you are not sure which breeds you want. However, I don’t recommend this if you are a first time owner and don’t know much about different breeds. It would be a huge problem if you have limited space and then receive large, heavy breeds.) If possible, email or call the hatchery and be sure you know what you are getting into. Also, if you are wanting to order from a hatchery but you only want a few chicks, then try and find a friend or someone who is wanting to order as well and have all your chicks shipped together. That way the chicks are much more likely to survive and will be kept warmer with more chicks in the box.
There are many resources, hatcheries and books out there so take your time on ordering. Make sure you order or “put on hold” your chicks early since most hatcheries will sell out of breeds quickly during peak season. Additionally, hatcheries only ship once or twice a week so you will need to decide which week of which month you want them to arrive. Hatcheries guarantee you with live chicks. If you do receive one or more dead chicks then they will return your money. Of course they will not send you another single chick to replace the dead one, only for her to die too.


VISITING YOUR LOCAL STORE-I got my chicks at our local JAX. Visiting your local store is a great idea as you can look at the chicks to make sure they are healthy and you can talk with the sales people and find out more about the chicks you are interested in. Be sure that if you have decided on certain breeds, you visit ahead of time and write out an order of the ones you want and when you want them. Farm stores have most chicken breeds but just at different time periods. Farm stores also receive their chicks from a nearby hatchery so you will probably still be getting hatchery chicks but you can actually observe and meet the chicks in person at the store. Local stores are great place to get chicks.

Good luck to you!
 
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Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. TwoCrows and Mountain Peeps have given you some great links and advice. If you're just wanting the most bang for your buck (egg laying machines at low prices), then mail order hatcheries are the way to go. They breed high yield layers like Black and Red Sex Links and White Leghorn strains by the thousands and the chicks can be purchased very inexpensively. Some of them like Dunlap Hatchery, Hoover Hatchery, Ideal Poultry, and Abendroth's Hatchery are very low priced, and even others like Murray McMurray, Cackle Hatchery, and Meyer Hatchery, which tend to run a little more expensive are still good values and often run specials on layers which enables the buyer to pick up pullets at extremely low prices.
As Mountain Peeps pointed out, local feed and farm stores are also a good place to pick up chicks. The advantage is that you can actually see the chicks before you buy and assess their health condition. The disadvantages are that your selection of breeds or hybrids is much more limited and you will pay a little more as the feed and farm stores order their chicks from the hatcheries mentioned above and so they have to raise the price per chick somewhat in order to make a profit. Please feel free to ask any other questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.
 

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