Hatching vs. buying live chicks

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

With the breeds you have, I'd definitely hatch my own. You have some excellent egg layers and would get a nice variety of colors. There's always the intrigue of buying chicks from a breed that you don't already have, but why bother? If you want them for eggs and freezer camp, you can't go wrong hatching your own. And it's FUN! There will always be some that don't hatch, but the joy of seeing the ones that do far outweigh the negatives. GO FOR IT!!!

 

[Eagle2026]

If you have ever got day old chicks from the feed store, just picture all that stuff that you bought for those and put it to BETTER use, by hatching your own.
Now that was a good investment!!!

 

[rarebreedeggs4u]

I say both actually. You can hatch purchased eggs or eggs from your own birds. You can buy purebred chicks or rare ones you want. Both have benefits and drawbacks. I do both and will probably continue to do so

 

[Barry]

Quote:
That has never worked out very well for me, I mean mixing hatch dates. Perhaps you will have better luck.

 

[Chicky Tocks]

Hatching your own gives you a sense of pride that purchasing chicks can't bring you. When your hatchlings grow up to lay their first egg, you'll marvel at that egg which came from an egg that you incubated from it's beginning.

Cons of hatching, you get what you get. Six roos or none. Hatcheries can sell you sexed chicks.

 

[FortWorthChicks]

I ordered some laying pullets and meat birds as chicks, and am waiting on a hen to go broody to purchase some nice breed eggs for my one of my hens to hatch. We will see how that works out. I hear brahmas are pretty good brooders so I am hopefull!

Kind Regards!!

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

Also, you can get better birds from hatching your own, because you don't get as they say 'Hatchery Quality' from the hatchery, you get a breeder's product whose idea is to make the breed better.

But, I do hear you about sexing, but just buy double the eggs! That's what I do, I just don't get rid of the extras!

 

[bigstack]

My major concern with hatching my own, is that they won't be vaccinated. Chicks can be for a nominal fee. I am getting ready to start my first try ay chickens my self. I am seting up every thing in the coop and run now. After joining BYC ( and Boy am I glad I did) I have decided to re-design my coop. I also am adding a few things I picked up here aswell. I want my flock to be happy, healthy, safe, and productive. I will be purchasing my first run of Jersey Giants in February. I wish you luck either way you decide.

Thanks and God Bless!

 

[PandoraTaylor]

well there are many pros & cons to each...
Vaccination is one of the big ones -
but you can purchase the vaccines and do them yourself.....so either way works.

I want to see what my light Brahmas will look like..so I am hatching a few of those. Depending on how they look will decide whether I continue to breed them, or have to order & Start over.

 

[PaintedPony]

I recently went through this same issue so I'll share my thoughts and maybe they will help

1) Why do you want the new chickens?

a) If you have to have laying hens by May/June strictly for the eggs then a hatchery is the most secure option.
b) If you are just adding to the flock because you have the chicken bug and want more then I'd say incubate some of your own eggs out of your own chickens. You'll learn so much about incubating thus learn more about fowl and their care. If you only hatch once a year you'll still pay for the incubator buy not paying for new chicks and their shipping in 1-2 hatches. By hatching your own eggs you reduce your costs while learning about incubating. You can always sell or give away the extra chicks you hatch or get rid of all of them if you don't want mixed breed chicks in your flock. If you find you hate the whole process you can sell the incubator for close to what you paid for it.
c) If you want more chickens to add another breed then hatching your own eggs isn't an option but you could practice on your own eggs and once you have good hatches spend the money to buy eggs from a quality breeder and hatch those out. Practicing on your own eggs only costs the time and electricity to run the incubator. If none hatch then you toss it all and start over.
d) If you just want a few more chicks but don't want to invest a lot of time in the whole thing then I'd say buy day olds from a hatchery or a breeder.

You can buy the meds to vaccinate your own chicks and it isn't that costly.

I hope this helps you decide. In the end I decided to hatch some of my own eggs and some from other breeders. I enjoy learning more about the fowl I own, I enjoy my DS learning about hatching, it's a fun way to spend a month of free time (one week selecting the eggs I want to hatch and three weeks incubating), and I have more control over the quality of chicks I add to my flock.