How many chicks to get??

[Judy]

Since they are coming from a breeder, and not being shipped, I would probably not get any extras.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sounds like you have a reasonable plan. I don't know how good that breeder is about sexing chicks. Vent sexing is the only way with the Buff Orps and the RIR. It is not easy and the hatcheries only guarantee being correct 90% of the time. With the Barred Rocks it is possible to get a pretty good indication of sex if BR are the only ones in the brooder. The males are a lighter shade than the females, due to having two barred genes instead of the females having only one copy of that gene. So try to pick the darker of the BR and you will greatly improve your odds. It is not a guarantee but it is certainly the way I would go.

Picking unsexed chicks is just playing the odds. Each chick has an equal chance of being male or female. I once ordered seven straight run Buff Orps from Cackle and got seven females. It could have just as easily been seven males. I'm sure somewhere someone got seven males and is still bad-mouthing Cackle about it. In a recent hatch of 15 chicks, I had 10 females and 5 males. That hatch was mainly for meat so I wish the results had been the opposite. I can't tell you how many of each to get, just that you will very likely not get exactly what you want unless the breeder is very good at sexing.

 

[Redley]

My 'chicken breeder' is actually Fulenwilder Farms, Eric Fulenwilder is president of the Colorado Poultry Association.
I have heard incredible things about him and his farm.

 

[Lil_Miss_Farmer_Chick]

I always order extra, that way in the fall I can keep the cream of the crop (at least in my opinion), then I sell the pullets and post the roosters on freecycle.

Listen to what your gut is telling you and you can't go wrong, what's the worst that can happen, you have extra to sell or process or you buy more later. Either way it's a win-win.

Good Luck!

 

[MustLoveHens]

I always order more then I need for my target number. I (try!) take into account for roo's that I don't want and atrition via illness, injury, preditors or needing to cull . Since it appears that you are going to be breeding the Buff's(?) I'd get more Buff's. This will give you a broader group to sellect your breeding stock from. Then cull the ones that don't make the grade- so to speak. The pullets are good to sell and the cockerels can be processed if need be.