Hatchery vs. Local Feed Store

[prose15]

In the past my chicks have been fine with shavings, after I taught them where the food was e

 

[McCoysOrps]

Yeah I had a problem with them eating them then after two died they learened food and shavings were totally different!

 

[DanEP]

The odds are that your local feed store is getting their chicks from a hatchery too so either source would be the same maybe just different hatchery. The main advantage of buying from the hatchery is a bigger variety to choose from. That being said if your feed store has the breed you want you will save shipping cost and if you only want a few chicks most feed stores around here will sell as few as 6 at a time while a lot of hatchery's have a 15 minimum.
I'm gone all day to so I just make sure they have food and water before I go to work,I also set my heat lamp up on one end of the brooder so that if they want the heat they can get to it and if not can hang out on the other end. They are real good at regulating the heat for themselves.
Good luck with the chicks Dan

 

[prose15]

Try covering the shavings with paper towels the first few days. Huge mess, but if you change them pretty often, it is controllable. It's definitely worth it though

 

[prose15]

Called feedstore, they have no idea what they'll get

 

[Craftygirl]

That's too bad. Must be different management at different stores. :-(

 

[Secretlyspotted]

I ordered my chicks from My Pet Chicken which is a middle man for several hatcheries. I didn't even consider getting chicks from a local feed store b/c of the time of year I wanted them (first of Feb), the fact that I wanted specific breeds, and that I wanted to be as sure as possible I only got pullets. I have had a GREAT experience. All my babies arrived happy, healthy, and chirping the day after their hatch. The breeds were the exact ones I wanted. Too early to be for sure w/ the sexing yet, but no signs of little roos yet.
I love the idea of supporting local businesses, but I don't have any feed stores close to me. I end up doing most of my business at TSC, which is about as "local" as Wal-Mart. My TSC did get their chicks in this week and I'm so glad I ordered my chicks. All they had was BSL pullets, RSL pullets, Cornish Rock Straight Run, and Straight Run Wyandottes. And ducks! The little ducklings were pretty tempting, but I manages to leave them be.

 

[amy2716]

If you go with feed store chicks, you're at the mercy of the salesperson to tell you the breeds, which is, IMO, a risky venture, not to mention that they probably won't be able to accurately sex them and you'll end up with lots of roos (which is fine if that's what you want). I have had success with hatchery orders, myself. Good luck whichever route you go!!

 

[mom2eight]

We usually buy our chickens from our local feed store, but they come from Cackle Hatchery, (so our feed store get them from the hatchery anyway) I just don't have to pay shipping costs that way, and the price is the same depending on what breed I am buying. The hatchery is good about answering questions though.

 

[saamladusi]

I got all of my chicks from Orchelns in Flippin and Mountain Home Arkansas. I knew nothing when starting out and ended up with mostly roosters because I chose from the "pan fryers" Flippin had listed. they also had Cornish and leghorn. None of them died until a raccoon got them. Then my sister went and got the rest from Orchelns in Mountain Home at the end of their season and they were all red sex link pullets. So I have 8 beautiful hens laying eggs and my bantem rooster that survived the raccoon attack and he is just as mean to me as can be. Good luck in your chicken adventure and hope this helps you choose.