First time ordering chicks....I think I made aHUGE mistake!!

[Featherstone5]

Thank you, thank you, thank you all for your replies!! You have all been so kind!! I will keep you posted on what we decide. I have been on my laptop all afternoon trying to figure out what to do.

If I may ask...I hesitate because I have read the threads on BYC and know that there are many differing opinions...if we were to cancel our order with My Pet Chicken...what do you recommend as far as breeds?!?
Where do you recommend me getting the new chicks from?!? To be honest, I am soooooo confused!!

Our goals is to have chickens that we enjoy....that produce eggs for the table....also to have a rooster and hens that allow for babies!

Again, thank you all for your kindness and counsel!!

 

[Eggcessive]

There are many large hatcheries around the country. Since I live in Ohio, I would prefer to order from Meyer or Mt. Healthy Hatcheries because of less time in shipping .Ideal, Cackle, and McMurray Hatcheries are other large ones, and have good websites. Every farm store and TSC has chick days in March, and although the usually have only 1 breed at a time. they come from local hatcheries. If I were starting out again, I would get 2 black australorps, 2 easter eggers, 2 speckled sussex, 2 barred rocks, 2 buff orpingtons, 2 New Hampshires, and a rooster, perhaps an easter egger. Alternate selections would be 2Welsummers. That way I could get just about any color eggs, and I could breed for more EE's or some interesting mixes. I will tell you that in an area where there are many breeders, you can get free cockerels in the fall because people want their extras to go to good homes. So you could even hold off getting a rooster because they aren't necessary for eggs anyway, just for getting fertile eggs.

 

[dekel18042]

Oh, my, recommending favorite breeds for someone else is sooooooooo difficult. There can be five different people and they all have a different favorite breed or two.
Maybe the better question to ask would be, "What are some better breeds FOR ME?" You can start by asking yourself some questions. Why am I getting chickens? How many am I getting? What do I want them for? Eggs, meat, dual purpose? If egg laying, do I want lots of eggs, what size and color eggs or just a colorful egg basket? What kind of climate do I live in? Any particular colors or patterns appeal to me? Are they going to be in a coop with a run, chicken tractor or free range?
Once you decide the characteristics your best chicken sould have, then you can start researching which chickens might be a good match.
Others gave the very excellent advice since you are just starting out of getting one or two of the breeds you are most interested in and seeing how you like each one. You might decide that you really like one or two breeds and get more of those later and then a rooster to match that breed.
I've had chickens off and on much of my life and the only aggressive roosters we ever had were white leghorns. They were given to or taken in by my parents because back then everyone would get the dyed Easter peeps and they always became nasty leghorn roosters and then people knowing we had other chickens would ask if we would take them, and my mother feeling sorry for them would say yes. After a year or two, my mother wised up.
I still don't have one favorite breed although I like everything I have now. My goal is a colorful egg basket so I'm interested in chickens that can produce different egg colors. So that is the criteria I use in trying to figure out what else I might want.
Have fun. I'm sure you'll enjoy whatever you get and down the line you might want to add something different........I thoroughly enjoy what I have now, and have a few new different ones ordered for next spring
Hopefully MPC will let you modify or change your order. An added advantage of several different breeds is that you may be able to tell who is laying which egg and even see if you have an egg preference.
So many chicken choices....so little time. ;-))

 

[jonsccm]

Don't stress your self out to much. Barred rocks are not that bad. Some people like to have them just for the fact that the hens tend to be friendly. Different breeds do have different traits but they all speak chicken. You need to learn how to speak chicken, learn how they establish there pecking order and be part of it. Preferably on the top of that order.
And don't baby the roosters. You will hear a lot about someone has a couple roosters and they are best friends, that's great. But the reality is it's not so much a friendship as it is a comand structure. If you try to have a friendship then that rooster will try to roost on the top of that comand ladder.
But if your looking for a friendly dual purposes breed that lays well and may get broody you may try Orpingtons. The sweetest birds I have are Buff Orpingtons, this year I have ordered some Lavender Orpingtons from meyer hatchery to start a breeding project but for the cost buffs are a better deal if your looking for a back yard breed.
As a side note. Sometimes Orpingtons take a long time to start laying. Mine started at about 30 weeks. But once they start they lay great!

 

[lazy gardener]

I agree with Eggcessive. Why spend the money for a rooster, when there is a glut of them being given away from late summer to late fall? What state or part of the country are you in? Place some phone calls to some of your larger local hardware stores as well as the feed supply stores. Depending on where they get their chicks from, you might be able to special order any breeds that their hatchery carries. You might also want to go to your state's thread and see who lives reasonably near you. You might be pleasantly surprised to be able to pick up some locally bred chicks. When contacting hatcheries, do your homework. One question you want to have answered is: If you order, when will your chicks be shipped out? You don't want them to get hung up somewhere over a weekend, and especially on a holiday. Ask if they hatch on site, or are they "brokers" like MPC. I still can't wrap my head around how they do business. There is a hardware store within 1/2 hour of my home that orders from Murray McMurray at least 3 times/year. I can get any thing that MMc carries, and have to pay the charges just as if I was ordering directly. The benefit to me is that I can get as few as 6 chicks, a single one of each breed if I choose to... Now, here's the real benefit! The chicks leave the hatchery Sunday night, and arrive at the hardware store 7:30 AM Monday morning. If I had them shipped directly to me, I most likely wouldn't see them until at least Tuesday.

Also, re: the rooster situation, It happens more than the hatcheries will admit that an order of pullets will have at least one rooster. They claim 90% accuracy on their sexing, but unless you're buying sex linked birds, the odds are likely that you'll end up with a rooster even if you just order pullets. I wouldn't order a rooster unless I had a particular breeding program in mind, and then, would probably choose straight run birds so I could choose the best genetic options for the next generation.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

...Also, re: the rooster situation, It happens more than the hatcheries will admit that an order of pullets will have at least one rooster. They claim 90% accuracy on their sexing, but unless you're buying sex linked birds, the odds are likely that you'll end up with a rooster even if you just order pullets. I wouldn't order a rooster unless I had a particular breeding program in mind, and then, would probably choose straight run birds so I could choose the best genetic options for the next generation.

That is good advise Lazy G. The only way to learn what kind of chicken you prefer is to try 3 or 4 breeds that you find interesting but only try one breed at a time. Only after you do that would I recommend that you start assembling a mixed flock of 15 or more chickens. If you don't there is no way to compare the chickens in a flock. No one on this forum, myself included, can figure out every time which chicken did or didn't do what, not even with a deck of Taro cards or even with an Ouija board.

 

[lazy gardener]

My personal preference is to start with at least 3 of each preferred breed. In my experience, I've found that they tend to stick together in those sets of 3, and if I didn't see it play out that way in my flock, I would tell any one who said that that they were one sandwich short of a picnic. BTW, I like picnics, so say what you will! All kidding aside, I would not want to have a flock consisting of only one breed, b/c that would mean a minimum of 2 - 3 years before getting to experience an other great breed. By limiting myself to 3 birds of a particular breed, especially if there is variation in the feather pattern, I can know which chicken did what. Especially re: EE. I know each bird's egg, and can tell at a glance who gave it to me.

 

[Mountain Man 60]

I just started my flock last year and had the following experience. I started with a Buff Orpington Roo and Two Mottled Hudan Roos given to me by a friend. Since they just followed each other around all day I added eight hens of the following breeds. One White Leghorn, One Rhode Island Red, one Wellsummer, one Americana, two easter eggers one Silver Laced Wyandot and one bantom. The Hudan Roos ended up fighting like serial killers and blindsiding the hens so they had to go. The bantom died of unknown causes but all others are still with me. If I had to pick one breed it would be Orpingtons. They are gentle and curious. I have the roo and my friend has a hen. She is the only one of her flock that will let you pet her. The only down side is they are BIG chickens. They eat a lot of food. They are reliable layers after they start and good moms from what I have read. What ever you choose once you have them you will love them all. The only heart break I had was the aggressive chickens like my experience with the hudans. It was painful having to put them down. They were beautiful but I could not take the cock fights several times a day. I would also not recommend one bantam with a flock of larger hens. They picked on her all the time and she spent most of her life under the coop by herself. Have fun and relax. This is just the beginning.

 

[jenifry]

A note: If you watch the hatcheries, they all seem to have a "Barnyard mix" type deal. You can get a variety (A surprise, Yay!!) and at a lower cost. They aren't second rate chicks, just leftovers from a hatch. You can tailor the mix for your liking. I have seen a brown egg layer mix, a rainbow egg layer mix, a heavy breed mix, a bantam mix, a top hat (Feathered head) mix... even a frying pan mix. You can choose straight run or pullets on most of them. If you read the description it will tell you what types of chickens are in it. I have seriously considered this, because my kids love my oddball ameracauna rooster... so I thought I might try to get different hens. I can't seem to decide, so I might let the hatchery!!

 

[foreverlearning]

A note: If you watch the hatcheries, they all seem to have a "Barnyard mix" type deal. You can get a variety (A surprise, Yay!!) and at a lower cost. They aren't second rate chicks, just leftovers from a hatch. You can tailor the mix for your liking. I have seen a brown egg layer mix, a rainbow egg layer mix, a heavy breed mix, a bantam mix, a top hat (Feathered head) mix... even a frying pan mix. You can choose straight run or pullets on most of them. If you read the description it will tell you what types of chickens are in it. I have seriously considered this, because my kids love my oddball ameracauna rooster... so I thought I might try to get different hens. I can't seem to decide, so I might let the hatchery!!

Makes me think about barnyard mix hatching eggs! You are always so excited to find out what you got and you end up with something that you love and can't see your flock without, but you wouldn't have picked them out of a list because you never knew you would like them so much.