Looking for Hatchery with No/Low Minimum

[chickie fam]

Quote:
I never even thought of that!

Chickie Fam - did you receive them? How are they?

I haven't gotten them yet, they are set to ship on the 22nd (and I'm super excited!!

) I asked around about MPC and heres the link to what people said about the chicks they got from them:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=446757

Look around, theres a few pictures in there and people said how their chicks were.

 

[sheila3935]

why not order 25 and sell the ones you dont want to keep. That how I got some of my chickens. A guy near me ordered 25 from mcmurray and sold the ones he didnt want to keep. I paid 3 dollar a chick so if he ordered a special he made a little on it.

 

[debid]

The 3-bird minimum at MPC requires that you live within a certain distance of the airport in a major city. So yes, some people can get 3 but others cannot. There is a place on their website to enter your zip code and it will figure the minimum number of birds you can order -- mine is 5LF/7 bantam/6 mixed and I'm 30 minutes from the Nashville airport.

And the reason not to get 25, for me, was that I would have to plan to house and feed the chicks until I found them homes AND I'd probably get attached AND I really don't want a bunch of people visiting who own birds and might introduce a disease to my unvaxed chicks... I also tried to do a "split a hatchery order with me" ad on Craigslist and had two responses -- both of them seemed more curious than serious and vanished after a few exchanges. But, you might have better luck than I, it's worth a shot.

I ended up going with a local breeder.

 

[jerseygirl1]

Ideal sells for only a $25 minimum, not bird minimum

 

[chickie fam]

Quote:
I hear their shipping is cheaper than MPC. If I do another hatchery again I think I'll try Ideal instead of MPC

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
I never even thought of that!

Chickie Fam - did you receive them? How are they?

I haven't gotten them yet, they are set to ship on the 22nd (and I'm super excited!!

) I asked around about MPC and heres the link to what people said about the chicks they got from them:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=446757

Look around, theres a few pictures in there and people said how their chicks were.

MINE TOO!!! (due to ship 22nd)

And yes, OP, it will depend on where you live as to whether you'll be able to do the 3 minimum. My minimum for standard chicks was five when I ordered from them last time, because I was a little too far from the city. This time I ordered bantams, so I had to order more (found someone to go in on an order with me

) I don't mind the shipping costs. I would pay more than I'm paying now if they'd overnight them - which I'd prefer. The longer they're in the mail, the more worried I become.

 

[chickie fam]

Its really hard for me to wait! I don't know about you but I'm getting a little impatient! I got 10 of the Delaware pullets. Super excited!!

 

[gotweim]

Just placed my order (I'm with you on ordering the 25...I get too attached!!)

Mine are due to ship on the 22nd as well! We are super excited over here!!

We ordered 1 Blue Silkie, 1 White Silkie, 1 Barred Rock, & 2 Silver Cuckoo Marans; all hens. I'm so excited for the Silkies! I've wanted one for a long, long time! With our zip code I had to order either 5 mixed (large and bantams), 4 large, or 6 bantams.

This is probably going to open a whole, huge can of worms but what are your guys thoughts on the vaccinating??

 

[chickie fam]

I think the silkies are pretty looking. I'd really like to get a sumatra roo and let him be free range. I just love the way the feathers look!!I would've gotten the 25 but my DH would've had a heart attack if he found out how many got shipped to us (I would've loved it til they outgrew their brooder)

We don't have a big flock so we decided not to get the vaccine. Whats your opinion?

 

[debid]

I'm not vaxing because 1) the breeder doesn't offer the service 2) I have a 20-acre chunk of dirt here that hasn't housed chickens in at least 10 years 3) we have crazy numbers of wild turkeys running through who are likely going to transmit the turkey version of Marek's which is what the vaccine does anyway!

I'm not anti-vax, I just did a ton of research and decided I was OK with not doing that one given my circumstances.