NEW TO CHICKENS HELP NEEDED WITH LOTS OF BIG DECISIONS!!

[Ridgerunner]

Good information from both of you. I see Meyer has changed since I ordered from them, but that’s been several years.

Rachel, are you talking about at Tractor Supply? I thought that was a company-wide policy mainly to reduce the occurrence of people buying one chick as a gift at Easter and giving it to a kid that wasn’t prepared to raise it. Forcing them to buy six at a time is supposed to reduce that. I’ve obviously been wrong before.

Some states do have that limit, but that is a state law thing, all of them can be different. I’m surprised the left coast wasn’t the leader on that.

 

[donrae]

LOL on the left coast

I don't have any TSC locally. I'm not sure there are any in Oregon, come to think of it. We have local chains, and I love the local Grange Co-op.

I could see that policy, I guess. But I'd think 3 would be more appropriate, since a lot of towns have a 4 hen limit.

 

[lazy gardener]

Unfortunately the 6 chick "law" does not take common sense into account. What is the urban flock keeper to do when required to buy 6, but only allowed to have 3??? And what of the person who has a hatch of chicks at home, but wants to pick up a couple of a different breed to round out the flock? Or how bout the person who lost a few chicks, and simply wants to replace those? No common sense in this policy.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That 6-chick rule isn’t pointed at responsible people. It’s an attempt to cover people without enough experience to have a clue what they are doing and how much suffering they are causing those chicks. I remember a few years back where the feed stores were being bashed on this forum for selling individual chicks like that. I sometimes wonder if comments on this forum wasn’t part of the reason those rules came into being. You can’t regulate common sense and no matter what they do, they are going to upset someone.

So what is a responsible chicken purchaser to do with the world as it is? The same thing we often recommend on these threads, find someone to split an order or buy from an individual so that rule doesn’t apply.

 

[lazy gardener]

True, that.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Obviously the "6 at a time" policy for a feed store is going to vary by store. My feed store has no issues selling 1 chick at a time, though they will always ask if you have other birds approximately the same age. They also mark which breeds are sexed and which are straight run but the breeds offered do vary as they order in multiple batches, so it's tricky at times to mix and match breeds if they're restocking several weeks apart.

Since the OP specifically said they wanted their chickens to be pets, I do think starting with chicks is the way to go. And even if you're dead set on just 2, I would also suggest going with 3, as there is a chance that one won't make it. If all 3 survive to adulthood, well that's still 2 chickens according to chicken math.

 

[dekel18042]

That 6-chick rule isn’t pointed at responsible people. It’s an attempt to cover people without enough experience to have a clue what they are doing and how much suffering they are causing those chicks. I remember a few years back where the feed stores were being bashed on this forum for selling individual chicks like that. I sometimes wonder if comments on this forum wasn’t part of the reason those rules came into being. You can’t regulate common sense and no matter what they do, they are going to upset someone.

So what is a responsible chicken purchaser to do with the world as it is? The same thing we often recommend on these threads, find someone to split an order or buy from an individual so that rule doesn’t apply.

Some feed stores while having no minimum do encourage you to take at least two or three. Even in stores with the 6 chick minimum, you can purchase 2 ducks so go figure.
Several years ago I had a singleton hatch from someone else's eggs. In that case if I could have found any young ones I would have gotten at least two or even one if that is what someone let me have so he wouldn't be raised alone. But I had plenty of adult chickens so really didn't need more at the time.

 

[3riverschick]

well the original poster has left. I wish they wouldn't do that. Also, tell us where you live. It makes a huge difference in which advice you need.
Best,
Karen

 

[Coturnix Quail]

Thank you everyone for helping me! Seems most of you have pointed to Easter Eggers? Interesting, I looked them up and they do seem pretty cute.. May or may not be a possibility. I live in New York, so during winter it does get pretty cold out here. Right now my quail are handling garage temperatures, so shouldn't chickens be fine? I mean it is only the beggining of January, so it will get colder.. Foxes are quite a problem for me. It squeezed my quail through veryyyy thin bars and ate 5

Speaking of which I can order 5 chickens if thats really necessary.. Will it be bad if i get a rooster?? I don't know if I'd want to raise them again or not.. The coldest it can probbably get around here is -60? Thats just a guess. Thanks for all the hatchery suggestions, I'll look into them. I'll look through them right now! Thanks!

 

[lazy gardener]

With such a small flock, I'd definitely NOT get a roo, especially if you want your birds to be pets. IMO hens w/o a roo are friendlier.