INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[ChickCrazed]

I'm after egg layers, so common breeds are fine. I've heard that it's a crap shoot as far as what breeds you end up with, as well as the chicks not being sexed.

But, compared to the 20 dollar shipping from the hatcheries, I think it might be worth doing.

Hopefully someone will know what kind of selection is available on the west side of Indy. Up near me (carmel/westfield/zionsville) they had the white cornish, barred rocks, buff orpingtons or white leghorn (I think i remember one or both), EE and Red Star (called RIR but not actually). So really not much of a selection.

The reasons I probably wouldn't do it is that I fear they are getting them from hatcheries that are sexing and selling the females elsewhere, and the mix could easily skew more male. The $20 in shipping is worth it if you bring home 3/4 males that you pay for in the feed store.

There is also a major biosecurity risk from so many people hovering and touching them in the store and I have heard horror stories about them tending to be more sickly (they are usually not well cared for in the feed stores).

 

[hoosiercheetah]

What are the per-chick prices at the feed stores, typically?

 

[bradselig]

What are the per-chick prices at the feed stores, typically?

Around here they range from $2.50-$5 depending on breed and sex.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I will say of all the feed stores (locally that would be TSC, Orschlein and Rural King) I have been most impressed with the selection and overall health of birds, atmosphere/setup for the birds, knowledge of staff, etc at RK (three different RK locations visited last chick season, two TSC and two Orschleins).

 

[birdman55]

well two of the chicks are piping ....so got the brooder all set just waiting...

 

[ellymayRans]

Mid to late March if I am remembering correctly.

I swear I saw Rural King here in Martinsville sign up already for their chicks but can't remember if it was Jan or Feb. I know I thought it was early!

 

[Zionsville]

I'm not new to BYC, but I am new to this forum.

I want to try this again. I'm posting in this forum specifically to try to meet Central Indiana chicken folks who live relatively close to me for potential future meet-ups. I live in Zionsville, not far from Indianapolis. When I last posted in this Indiana forum, I got some odd messages from people out-of-state who were trying to tell me how to behave on the forum when all I had done was said where I live. It was a bit strange. I did receive some lovely messages greeting me and welcoming me to the forum, with some really helpful links.
I ordered my first five chicks yesterday, we are starting small as this is the first time we'll have had chickens.

I ordered:
Buckeye (Go Bucks!)
Silver Cuckoo Marans
Buff Orpington
Lavender Orpington
Barred Plymouth Rock

Hope you're all staying warm and have great success this year with your flocks!
Diana
Zionsville, IN

 

[ChickCrazed]

I'm not new to BYC, but I am new to this forum.

I want to try this again. I'm posting in this forum specifically to try to meet Central Indiana chicken folks who live relatively close to me for potential future meet-ups. I live in Zionsville, not far from Indianapolis. When I last posted in this Indiana forum, I got some odd messages from people out-of-state who were trying to tell me how to behave on the forum when all I had done was said where I live. It was a bit strange. I did receive some lovely messages greeting me and welcoming me to the forum, with some really helpful links.
I ordered my first five chicks yesterday, we are starting small as this is the first time we'll have had chickens.

I ordered:
Buckeye (Go Bucks!)
Silver Cuckoo Marans
Buff Orpington
Lavender Orpington
Barred Plymouth Rock

Hope you're all staying warm and have great success this year with your flocks!
Diana
Zionsville, IN

Hi and welcome! There are a few of us in the Zionsville/Carmel area and a bunch from the greater Indianapolis area. I think getting a mix of breeds is the best way to go until you figure out what personalities you like. I got caught up in having a colorful egg carton (which is really fun if you share eggs with family and friends since they don't seem to realize eggs come in colors other than light brown and white!). I now have the Marans for dark brown eggs, blue eggs, green eggs and your normal shades of brown. I've also figured out which personality I like in my birds and will be shopping smarter in the future!

Get ready for chicken math to hit!!!! I will be impressed if you manage to stay at five birds!!

 

[Faraday40]

I'm thinking about rolling the dice on it and getting my chicks there this spring. Thoughts?

We checked into to it last year. Our Farm & Fleet will special order your chicks. There was a minimum of 5 chicks, but you can mix & match what you want. Otherwise, they have bins of chicks during their "Chick days." Don't expect anyone to know what's in stock, what's arriving, or when the next shipment comes. It's completely random & there's even a chance of the bins being mislabeled. (Usually only 1 store employee knows about the chicks & he/she may not be working that day. LOL)

My daughter hatched a bunch of chicks, so we never ordered. I was very tempted to pick up a silver laced Wyandotte pullet out of the bin, but DH would not have appreciated adding chicks while we were still trying to sell the extras from my daughter's hatching experiments.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

We checked into to it last year. Our Farm & Fleet will special order your chicks. There was a minimum of 5 chicks, but you can mix & match what you want. Otherwise, they have bins of chicks during their "Chick days." Don't expect anyone to know what's in stock, what's arriving, or when the next shipment comes. It's completely random & there's even a chance of the bins being mislabeled. (Usually only 1 store employee knows about the chicks & he/she may not be working that day. LOL)

My daughter hatched a bunch of chicks, so we never ordered. I was very tempted to pick up a silver laced Wyandotte pullet out of the bin, but DH would not have appreciated adding chicks while we were still trying to sell the extras from my daughter's hatching experiments.

LOL - sounds like me last spring. I picked up 13 chicks on a Saturday but the order that was supposed to be coming in to our local Orchleins with the BOs I wanted (no one else had them that week) was delayed in the mail and came in a day late so I went to town that morning and picked up the three BO that I had wanted and planned to get all along. I thought for sure I could just slip them into the brooder and he'd be none the wiser - hadn't been home an hour when he came out and asked,"Where'd the extra birds come from?" -- who knew he counted them the day before????