Frustrated about the availability of chicks

[OphyliaOrpington]

Local breeders are always an option.
Most don't want to draw the attention of chicken-craze folks, they want normal buyers.

I have extra chicks from my hatches who don't meet my breeding goals (color, size, combs) but I'm too worried to list them like I usually would. I can just imagine them in someone's closet under an incandescent light bulb being fed cracked corn and mashed potatoes.

We should all be mentally preparing for a wave of queries on BYC when people have chicks sick, dying, injured, etc. Most searches lead here.
Our collective kindness could help convert some to real chicken keepers, while others are going to need a come-to-chicken wake up call.

I wonder if we could proactively push articles for new chicken keepers? Would some new-dated content help get it out there at the top of

So is anyone else having issues with every chick being bought up within a small amount of time after arrival at stores?

In my area they are being bought up so fast?

Farm girl left the farm. Wanted chickens her whole life. Turned 50 and finally got some last year. Everyone said she was crazy. But hubby built a great coop and extra large run.

7 babies all grew into beautiful healthy birds. 5-6 eggs per day. She quickly becomes everyone’s favorite neighbor. Chicken math…. Expanded coop = 5 more this year, to make an even dozen. (Seemed appropriate. lol. Plus the run is big enough for 20 + free range when weather appropriate.) She knows what she’s doing now and is having SO much fun spoiling her hens in return for delicious eggs.

Then bam, 2025 and suddenly she’s not crazy anymore, but now she can’t find any chickens! TSC can’t tell you what breed to expect or when to expect them— then sell out in 45 minutes! The local co-op orders keep getting canceled.

She is ME and I am SO disappointed. Where can I get my 5 new babies? I am very picky now that I know what I’m doing, but at this point I’ll settle for almost any large egg layers who will be nice to my sweet orpingtons. Also considering a rooster (to “fertilize” Orpington and/or Jersey giant eggs.) as an alternative. And I’ll drive anywhere in Tennessee to get them!

 

[Iluveggers]

Farm girl left the farm. Wanted chickens her whole life. Turned 50 and finally got some last year. Everyone said she was crazy. But hubby built a great coop and extra large run.

7 babies all grew into beautiful healthy birds. 5-6 eggs per day. She quickly becomes everyone’s favorite neighbor. Chicken math…. Expanded coop = 5 more this year, to make an even dozen. (Seemed appropriate. lol. Plus the run is big enough for 20 + free range when weather appropriate.) She knows what she’s doing now and is having SO much fun spoiling her hens in return for delicious eggs.

Then bam, 2025 and suddenly she’s not crazy anymore, but now she can’t find any chickens! TSC can’t tell you what breed to expect or when to expect them— then sell out in 45 minutes! The local co-op orders keep getting canceled.

She is ME and I am SO disappointed. Where can I get my 5 new babies? I am very picky now that I know what I’m doing, but at this point I’ll settle for almost any large egg layers who will be nice to my sweet orpingtons. Also considering a rooster (to “fertilize” Orpington and/or Jersey giant eggs.) as an alternative. And I’ll drive anywhere in Tennessee to get them!

Farm girl left the farm. Wanted chickens her whole life. Turned 50 and finally got some last year. Everyone said she was crazy. But hubby built a great coop and extra large run.

7 babies all grew into beautiful healthy birds. 5-6 eggs per day. She quickly becomes everyone’s favorite neighbor. Chicken math…. Expanded coop = 5 more this year, to make an even dozen. (Seemed appropriate. lol. Plus the run is big enough for 20 + free range when weather appropriate.) She knows what she’s doing now and is having SO much fun spoiling her hens in return for delicious eggs.

Then bam, 2025 and suddenly she’s not crazy anymore, but now she can’t find any chickens! TSC can’t tell you what breed to expect or when to expect them— then sell out in 45 minutes! The local co-op orders keep getting canceled.

She is ME and I am SO disappointed. Where can I get my 5 new babies? I am very picky now that I know what I’m doing, but at this point I’ll settle for almost any large egg layers who will be nice to my sweet orpingtons. Also considering a rooster (to “fertilize” Orpington and/or Jersey giant eggs.) as an alternative. And I’ll drive anywhere in Tennessee to get them!

Would you consider having chicks shipped? Mt Healthy does have a decent selection left for the middle & end of May…they have a 3 chick minimum to ship and some really cool colors! Their breeds have tended to be very healthy and the most friendly chicks I have had upon arrival. I don’t think they should take long to reach you from Ohio, either. They only took about 36 hours to make it to me in NY.

 

[OphyliaOrpington]

Would you consider having chicks shipped? Mt Healthy does have a decent selection left for the middle & end of May…they have a 3 chick minimum to ship and some really cool colors! Their breeds have tended to be very healthy and the most friendly chicks I have had upon arrival. I don’t think they should take long to reach you from Ohio, either. They only took about 36 hours to make it to me in NY.

Yes! BYC once again Actually looked at Mt. Healthy

Would you consider having chicks shipped? Mt Healthy does have a decent selection left for the middle & end of May…they have a 3 chick minimum to ship and some really cool colors! Their breeds have tended to be very healthy and the most friendly chicks I have had upon arrival. I don’t think they should take long to reach you from Ohio, either. They only took about 36 hours to make it to me in NY.

Thank you for the advice! I actually found two other Mt. Healthy recommendation on BYC last night and started looking!

To help me decide what breed to get, I had spent hours and hours creating a 4 page spreadsheet based on what the co-op said they were getting this year. I sifted through details of 100’s of chickens and eventually decided I wanted California Grey and Production Blue chickens. (For a very large number of Large white and a large number of large blue eggs.).

Basically what I’m saying is that I had my heart set and now I can’t get what I wanted. It’s a long commitment and I don’t expect to get more for years to come.

So I am torn between doing more research and settling for another breed and therefore abandoning my white and blue egg dreams. Or waiting until the craze dies down. What would you do?

Also, what breed of chicks did you get this year? And why?

 

[StacyT]

You could also check Meyers. They have a colored egg laying mix of chicks with availability starting in June. I’ve ordered this package before and was happy with the variety that I got. For the price you can get some really good deals.

 

[OphyliaOrpington]

You could also check Meyers. They have a colored egg laying mix of chicks with availability starting in June. I’ve ordered this package before and was happy with the variety that I got. For the price you can get some really good deal

 

[OphyliaOrpington]

Thank you! I will look into it.

 

[MichaelDJ]

Look on the bright side. A year from now the market will be flooded with cheap laying hens. Hopefully they have been properly cared for and healthy.

 

[catsndogs4us]

She is ME and I am SO disappointed. Where can I get my 5 new babies? I am very picky now that I know what I’m doing, but at this point I’ll settle for almost any large egg layers who will be nice to my sweet orpingtons.

You've had plenty of good suggestions. My only other thought is to call other feed stores in your state/area in case a different place is getting in your dream chickens. I just ordered 6 chicks a few weeks ago for an April arrival at the feed store. You could order and pay ahead of time.

So I am torn between doing more research and settling for another breed and therefore abandoning my white and blue egg dreams. Or waiting until the craze dies down. What would you do?

Also, what breed of chicks did you get this year? And why?

I did really want a Bantam Calico Cochin and was going to place an order with Meyer but found I left it too late and they were sold out. That's when I checked out some feed stores and found one had some breeds I really like available to order. Maybe another year.

I ordered 2 Turkens, 1 BLR Wyandotte, 2 dif. colored Orpintons, 1 Crevecoeur. These babies are to go along with those I'll bring home from our classroom hatch. This way I'm adding a few females to offset the straight run hatched chicks. Very good chicken math indeed .

I would say the why is that I wanted breeds or colors we don't already have and our flock is aging, mostly ages 2-10 years, so we could use some new layers.

I hope you can get just the right chicks. One more thought, fall chicks can do very well too if there is availability for what you want later in the year.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

Rough draft for the flyer:

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Thoughts?

 

[OphyliaOrpington]

Rough draft for the flyer:



Thoughts?

I like this idea. And it could really help a lot of folks who are interested in being good chick parents with happy healthy chickens. BUT the people who were going to look for info were going to find info anyway (very likely to find this BYC resource). You can’t force people who haven’t considered getting advice to get advice — Even though they are the ones who need it the most! I was a first time chick mom last year. BYC has been my go-to source for all my questions. That’s only because I cared enough to seek help. That’s my 2 cents!

There are SO many things to know. Would you organize the list of advice by order of events? Like day 1: brooder set up. Day 2: poop management … keeping chicks warm…Other food, treats and grit. Poopy butts. Moving outside. Coop/Run size, etc.

Or would you just have the the BYC community comment with their best advice to new chick parents? Something else? Either/all sound good to me! I don’t think anyone can put too much good advice out there.