Frustrated about the availability of chicks

[backyardbouquet]

You can’t…unless you want cockerels. Unless I’m seeing something wrong, none of the hatcheries have female chicks available.

I had to order out to September to get one of the three breeds I wanted.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Does anybody know the actual reason(s) for the chicken rush (think 1849 just with feathers)? Is there trouble on the supply side (breeders have had to depopulate due to AI and don’t have breeding stock)? Is it a fad (like Dalmatians after a certain Disney movie)? Are people really that bad at math that they think raising your own eggs is somehow cheaper? All of the above? Reminds me of Holstein bull calves fifteen years ago, some less scrupulous farmers would dump them at the sale barn and you could get them for a buck or two, but they were still wet and had no colostrum (thus no immune system) and people would come to the vet clinic spending a hundred bucks to try saving their $2 calf they had bought without thinking. The much better solution was to sell the calves directly to someone who knew what they were doing with bucket calves and while it cost the buyer a little more, the poor things had had colostrum and thus a good shot at becoming decent butcher steers. Now we have newborn beef calves selling for $850! I don’t understand livestock markets in any species! Though it would be interesting to know the actual driving factors behind the chick shortages this year.

 

[Iluveggers]

Are people really that bad at math that they think raising your own eggs is somehow cheaper?

I think there’s a little bit of this. But I also think people saw what happened with the supply chain during Covid, and now want to become more self-sufficient. Or people that had chickens awhile ago that want to jump back in. Now that we’ve see that food is not a “guarantee”, I think people want to provide more for themselves and their neighbors. Maybe that is just my optimism…

Now, could some hatcheries like Hoovers have been hit w AI and haven’t announced it? Quite possibly. It happened to McMurray a few years back and we lost part of an order (only hit part of their flock), but the egg prices weren’t as high and eggs weren’t as scarce as they are now. I hope more restrictive towns & villages will stop prohibiting residents with enough space to keep a few chickens. I really think now is the best time for people to try to get their laws changed.

 

[McChooky]

egg prices already going down, I feel there’s going to be a surge of people selling their new flocks for cheap soon.

I split an order of chicks with a guy who didn't build a predator proof coop. They didn't live long enough to lay an egg, much less sell.

 

[McChooky]

You can’t…unless you want cockerels. Unless I’m seeing something wrong, none of the hatcheries have female chicks available.

I ordered 15 sexed legbars & barred rocks in January and the earliest ship date was September 10th .The hatchery is 1000 miles from here

 

[McChooky]

I stopped by the local TSC yesterday to see if they had any chicks. They told me the last 2 shipments they received that over half the chicks they sold customers have come back within a day saying they’re chicks died. I don’t know if the chicks are poor quality, shipping issues or if it’s the fact that so many new beginners are trying to raise chicks.

In my opinion they're new to raising chicks and aren't home long enough to take proper care of them

 

[McChooky]

Exactly this. We were talking to one of the TS guys today and he's upset (as are we) that people are buying without brooders or lights etc and are completely unprepared for chicks. It's almost horrifying in a way.

Chicks are literally the new covid toilet paper

Not everyone cares enough to ask questions or learn.Enough said.

 

[McChooky]

My husband and I were waiting on our tax returns to come in so we could get the supplies to turn one of our sheds into a coop and get chicks. We wanted Orpingtons specifically because of their dual purpose and how they are good with kids. Imagine our horror when we couldnt get pullets A N Y W H E R E. Its had us down in the dumps for weeks. We didnt know this would happen and we sure couldnt buy the chicks months ahead of time because of said tax returns that we were anxiously waiting on
It sucks and we are mad

Some hatcheries don't charge your card at the time you place your order.They'll wait until the week before they ship them to you.So order your chicks to arrive around the time you get your refund next year to get the chicks you want.I've waited 3 years to get the breed and sex I want but they'll be here in September

 

[McChooky]

I happened to stop by my local TSC exactly 3 weeks ago right after they received their first shipment of chicks. Went home, set up the brooder and returned the next day hoping pullets were still available.
An employee said like half of the chicks purchased the day before were returned and several had died in the store overnight because they were exposed to the cold weather (in the 20s IIRC) for too long when they were being delivered/moved into the store.
I got the last two pullets (BA) and a couple straight run RIRs at a 50% discount because of the issues. They're doing fine now 3 weeks later.
Haven't seen any pullets the last few times I went, but they still had straight runs in stock a couple days ago.

In breeds where roosters and hens have the same identical coloring its almost impossible to tell the chicks apart even the best sexers have a hard time. I only order easy to sex breeds and always received pullets from the hatcheries

 

[McChooky]

Yes! BYC once again Actually looked at Mt. Healthy

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?

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.

Our neighbors had 50,000 vehicles and took regular vacations but wouldn't buy their chickens a coop or run.All they had was a 3 sided shed with nest boxes so predators and their own dogs picked them all off.I celebrated when they moved but recently heard they were coming back.