Is this going to be an epic fail?

[laverne]

So I went to the Oregon poultry fair on Saturday totally intending to get a couple of sensible chickens who are good layers.

I came home with 2 silkies.

So now I've discovered that actually I have to have MORE silkies. LOTS MORE. I've sent out emails to everyone I've seen on craigslist locally that has had silkies up for sale in the last couple months and they all basically wrote back saying that it's too late in the season and they don't know anyone else who has birds or eggs, either. The only hatchery I could find in Oregon said they're booked out on chicks until 2012.

Then the thought hit me that maybe I could just get some eggs and hatch them! I see that eBay has some auctions and so does this website, the chicks I don't keep could go to my grandfather because he's ALWAYS wanted to keep silkies...

So:
1. What are my chances of getting ANY chicks from shipped eggs in a homemade incubator (still to be constructed lol) with no hatching experience?
2. Is there a reason other than the fact that most chickens don't lay in super cold weather that everyone's response to me asking about hatching chicks was "LOL, IN LATE OCTOBERER??" If I keep these cuties in an incubator in the house and I don't ship them from somewhere super cold like Buffalo NY will the season matter?

Tips or tricks on how to pull this off/end up with the most and bestest cutest babies ever?

 

[Chicken Charlotte]

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[vebyrd36]

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Oh how a can relate. addiction......

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

You can buy chicks from other hatcheries that aren't in Oregon, Ideal, McMurry, Meyers... they might have silkies.

 

[laverne]

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Um, yeah, the incubator... working on that. I'm thinking I'll grab some styrofoam and wires and make my bf whip something up. Then I'm guessing it'd be best (to make him) calibrate the temp/humidity thing I buy and see if I can get the incubator to be stable at temp/humidity I want for like 48 hours. Once that's accomplished I figured I'd probably be on the right track and then I could order eggs. Guessing it'd be at least 1-2 weeks until I've got the bator up and running.

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I kind of looked into this but McMurry it looks like is out of silkies, and Myers' shipping rates are $40+ before counting the cost of the chicks. I think I could probably save money from buying from Ideal as opposed to hatching my own but then I'm looking at some of these auctions where it's like 12 eggs for $45 total and I'm thinking, well probably at best I'd only get like 4-5 chicks but then they'd have that huge pouf on their head and they wouldn't be able to see properly and they'd probably run into doors and stuff. I've heard some of the hatchery birds are scraggly and foul-looking. So it's kind of a trade off between more chicks who might be hideous vs chicks who can't see and entertain me perpetually by running into walls. Le sigh. It's a tough choice, for sure...

Does anyone have experience with the hatchery birds? Do they really look that different? Do they ever run into objects because they can't see past their poufs?

 

[emmalynn]

If you were closer I would gift you with some.

 

[silkiechicken]

As a first time hatcher, I would practice incubating with cheap local eggs, and not use shipped eggs of what you want first, or you'll just set yourself up for disapointment. Not saying it won't go right, but it is best to work things out before you get what you want. Kelar has beautiful show silkies and is in southern washington near portland. Less travel for eggs = generally better chances.

ETA: Figure if you buy hatching eggs, shipping alone before the eggs is going to be 15-20. If you only want a few and are not intersted in culling out things you don't like... I say finding started chicks or juveniles would be ideal.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

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Hatchery birds vs. show birds do look a bit different, hatchery birds aren't as fluffy. However, since they don't have such a huge crest they can see better and will forage a lot better then a show bird. Since I'm not a breeder I prefere hatchery birds over show birds because they can take better care of themselves.

 

[quibs]

I recently tried my first shipped eggs and since my incubators were all full I made a styrofoam incubator real quick and set them in. Out of a dozen eggs I hatched 7 birds

 

[Melissa Rose]

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Check out CJ's auction here or Bargins - Nancy's. They sell high quality eggs and pack them so incredibly well that you will get a good hatch rate even though shipped!!!