feedstore chicks?

[AccidentalFarm]

Rooster01-

Your barred rocks look exactly like my black sex-links!

 

[Kimblee]

Quote:
Usually minimum is 25 chicks.

 

[Henriettahen]

thanks for the replies

does anyone else have any pictures?

 

[SpottedCrow]

That silkie was a good example of a feed store chick...His feathering is beautiful, but he's got a single comb...
Occasionally you'll get a wonderful surprise, but mostly you'll get pet quality birds.

 

[speckledhen]

Chickiepooh, I see you have a single combed Wyandotte, just like I have. Of my three SLW's, I ended up with one that has a large floppy single comb insead of the standard rose comb. Of the three Brahma chicks, only one had any real foot feathering to speak of. My Rhode Island Reds are narrower in body and lighter in color than they really should be, as are most of the hatchery RIR's today. And they are not even Production Reds. It's really hit or miss with the feedstore/hatchery chicks. I have since hatched a RIR chick from a breeder. She is a black-red and her half sibling from the same mahogany red RIR rooster with a Buff Orpington mother is a bright orangey red like my hatchery RIR purebreds I originally got. If you want show quality birds, hatchery stock should not be your first choice. Sometimes you luck out, but that's all it is-luck. If you want them for eggs, they are perfectly fine. I love my hatchery birds as well as my birds from breeder stock.

 

[blue90292]

i recently purchased 10 white non-bearded and 10 black silkies from mcmurray. the black ones are alot smaller than the whites. and the whites have more distinct wing feathers than i think they should. they are all starting to get the walnut and it's mulberry in color. the third toe doesn't have any feathers on any of the bunch. i got a couple from louisiana and they're really nice. i'll be hatching their eggs and probably selling the ones i got from mcmurray at the swap.

my rir from ideal are darker than the ones i got from mcmurray but they're not light, either. they almost have a green sheen to them if the light hits them just right. i have no idea if that's good or not, i just have them for their eggs. my buff orpington female from mcmurray is not as big as i'd expect her to be, but the male is huge and very pretty. too bad i'm going to be selling him at the swap.

my black crested white polish rooster from mcmurray is really a black crested black polish. lol. but we love him and he's currently the top rooster of the bunch. he's pictured with my son as my avatar.

my wyondottes, i'm very happy with my blr but am disappointed with the penciled.

i will say that most of them have great temperments. the people that came by to buy a couple of my americanas (ee's), that i got from mcmurray, told me they were surprised at how calm my chickens are when they hold them.

it is definitely a hit or miss. in the end, it really depends on what the chickens are to be used for.

 

[GoPups]

Quote:
Wow! That one little girl up there sure knows how to work the crowd, doesn't she! She looks like she's on the runway in a fashion show!

 

[chickbea]

Your experiences will vary widely from one store to the next. Some places know nothing about chickens other than they order piles from MM every Spring and hope they all get sold. Those that aren't sold go in the freezer as snake food. One store in my area sells quality chicks that a local farmer supplies, but your choices are limited to 4-5 breeds. My main feed store has stopped selling chicks all together; they were tired of people ordering chicks and then never picking them up.
If you are really looking for quality, you are probably best off looking for your local fancier's club and making friends with someone who knows the breed you are interested in. See if you can get some fertile eggs.

 

[birdlady58]

Going way back to an earlier reply to this post:

I agree, leghorns are lunatics. Well my two hens are anyhow. They are small little hyper chickens but lay BIG eggs

 

[SleekDominique]

Some years ago I bought 5 different chicks from 2 separate feed stores and they all turned out magnificent: healthy and gorgeous, superb layers. My friend bought hers from the same store and some turned out well, others a bit weedy. I just bought an Araucana and a Barred Rock from a feed store in Georgetown TX and I'm hoping for the same luck. Since I wanted a couple of Dominiques, they agreed to add them to their order (25 minimum, but what I don't buy they will use as regular stock). I was thrilled! Of course, I'm just looking for pet-quality pullets. If the goal was show-quality birds, I'd go to a special breeder.

Holly