New Englanders! Much ado about New England!

[kittykorat]

Central MA here.
Brand new.
Haven't got chickens yet, but would love to get some... like 5-6 pullet chicks. We live in a neighborhood.
Any suggestions on a local place to get some chicks?
I've looked into breeds and I am mostly interested in:
Americana/Easter Egger
Austrolorpe
Orpington
and maybe sex links or Wyandottes

I know a local feed store gets chicks in the spring (Klems).. but I have no idea what they get.

 

[fhdogs]

kittykorat - I got my first from local feed stores. They are probably the only place to get young chicks locally. You can also try online hatcheries, but I started noticing that later in the summer (like the feed stores) many didn't have much available.

The other option is to find other people into BYCs that hatch out chicks. There are several people from Mass on here. Maybe they have chicks avail. I just ordered my incubator, so if you are willing to wait about a month and a half hopefully I'll have babies!

Of course, being in a neighborhood roos may be an issue, and since most of us don't know how to, or are skilled enough to sex chicks, that may be another issue.

 

[kittykorat]

waiting a month is no big deal.. we probably won't be getting chicks until the spring.
DH is clearing the area for the coop and run and plans to start building it soon. I am expecting a baby in 7 weeks... so would rather wait till next season anyway...

 

[fhdogs]

Quote:
If you wait to spring, make sure you get your order in with the feed store early. My order kept getting pushed back because of the high demand this year.

I had planned to order online, but since I waited so long I missed out on what I wanted.

Make sure you drop me a line when you are ready. My 'bator comes next week and I already know I'm addicted. It's a good thing I built my coop double the size of what I thought I was going to need.

 

[sianara]

Quote:
Are you in the Leominster/Fitchburg area? If yes, there's Farmer's Exchange in Townsend, MA 978-597-2652. They get chicks for several weeks in the early Spring. You can call in February and find out what breeds are coming and which week they will arrive and get on the list. There's no minimum # you must buy either. They always have several Easter Eggers that they call Aracaunas but they are actually EEs. If I remember correctly, they also order Austrolorp and Orpingtons. Call them anytime to get info

They get their chicks from Mt. Healthy.


Congrats on the new baby. Your first?

 

[gotpoodle]

I was recently told that The Gardener's Spot on Granite Street in Leominster will be enlarging their chicken supply department and getting chicks in the spring as well.

 

[kittykorat]

Quote:
Are you in the Leominster/Fitchburg area? If yes, there's Farmer's Exchange in Townsend, MA 978-597-2652. They get chicks for several weeks in the early Spring. You can call in February and find out what breeds are coming and which week they will arrive and get on the list. There's no minimum # you must buy either. They always have several Easter Eggers that they call Aracaunas but they are actually EEs. If I remember correctly, they also order Austrolorp and Orpingtons. Call them anytime to get info

They get their chicks from Mt. Healthy.


Congrats on the new baby. Your first?

Thanks for the info!
I am actually just outside of Worcester. (Paxton)
I have two boys- ages 3 and 6. They are very excited about the idea of getting chickens. The Ultrasound says new baby is a girl- due in 7 weeks!

 

[sianara]

Congrats on the girl! (and on the boys too of course

)

Paxton is about 40 minutes from Leominster right, but if you can't find anything closer it's worth the trip.

 

[sianara]

Quote:
Is The Gardner's Spot near Leominster HS?

 

[ChickensInTheNorthWoods]

For anyone in the North East corner of CT and the MA line from Springfield to Sturbridge looking for a nice family feed / farm supply store:

Valley View Farms
257 Orcuttville Road
Stafford Springs, CT 06076
(860) 681-1621

They sell Poulin Grain and due to the amount of business they do their inventory is always fresh! The owner/operator is Bruce. He and his wife are always friendly and helpful their prices are very reasonable and thier customer service is A+