I definitely recommend farm pickup if you can -- Deer Run Farm in Maryland was just an hour away for me and it was a great experience. All my chicks seem far less stressed than the stories posted about mail order shipments.
My biggest problems is that the breed I want is rarer then most and I have only been able to find one Sebright breeder near me and she wont have breeding pairs available till fall, and even then I have to buy pairs, so if I just wanted one male and several females that would not work.
Well, I mean you can always get a few pairs and just move the extra males along....
yea, that is an option, just would need to find someone willing to buy males for 25-50 a piece, since the breeding pairs are (depending on what quality I want to buy from her) anywhere between $50-100, and that adds up. I might see if I can just get a breeding pair for now, or even go to one of the state fairs and see if anyone there is going to be selling any at the poultry shows.
either way though, I do agree, specially with how delicate this breed is it is better to find a locally sourced breeder to get them. Specially based on my experiences with having them shipped.
Yikes! I was expecting maybe 30 a pair! Must be nice birds
I would suggest trying ideal. They'll be st run, but I had good luck when I got 6 of the little buggers in May. Might have lost one, but not from shipping. Lots if my chicks decided to jump the brooder and freeze because they were hiding
they are very hard to breed, and lay only around 50 eggs a year.
the breeder I found wont have any pairs available till fall unfortunately.
