Obtaining Fuzzy Butts...

[nobodyherebutuschickens]

We're pretty new at raising chickens. Our first 8 just turned 1! We enjoy them so much, this year we wanted -specifically- a couple of silver laced wyandotte pullet chicks. We would normally have just gotten them from Murdoch's, but it has been one disappointing week.

As soon as new babies come in, they just fly off the shelves. After several wasted trips, we decided that it is humanly impossible to get our girls from there. Now, I hear that My Pet Chicken will ship as few as 3 chicks at a time, but I'm a little hesitant to do that. It seems awfully rude to stick the little ones in a box for three (!!!) days while being shunted across the country. Plus, I do NOT trust our post office to take care of them. Is there any way that we can find a few silver laced wyandotte chicks somewhere else near us? Would it be a good investment to hatch them ourselves? The girls haven't gone broody and incubators are expensive for the amount of chicks we need. Is the good ol' US Mail service the only good way?

 

[nobodyherebutuschickens]

I'm also not feeling so great about getting them from hatcheries because of the way they're being treated...

When they sex the chicks, they treat them so roughly! They're being flung about all over the place! Gaaaah.

 

[AlienChick]

You could try searching and posting ads in CraigsList as well as your local "penny saver" magazines.

There might be chicken owners/breeders who are closer to you that you can pick up your chicks.

Also, check out the Chicks 1 Day to 8 Weeks Old - For Sale thread here on this forum for chicks available in your area.

With a little persistence, I'm sure you'll find exactly what you want.

 

[nobodyherebutuschickens]

Thank you!

 

[catchthewind]

I really want a Silkie chick but had no luck finding anyone in my area, even asking around to some breeders. So I posted a wanted ad in our Craig's List and now have three different leads on potential chicks. One of them should be hatching tomorrow! So definitely try that. Not everyone advertises the breeds they have I guess.

 

[I-Have-Happy-Hens]

I love MPC we orderd 4 little girs (3 EEs and a Ba) what they do is when they hatch they get them dry and stick them in a Box with a heat pad that you would like crack and put on pains then they get put on an airplane and when they land in your state they have a truck that will drive it to your post Office and then they call you and you pick them up we got 4 and they were all healthy and perfect and still are to this day. They said they hatched on sunday shipped on Monday and they got here on Tuesday And we are in NC the are hatched in Connecticut.

 

[bentmtnhen]

My flock of 13 was ordered from MPC, but the shipping label said McMurray.

These are my first chicks, & have been with me for 4 wks now. Only had 1 chick with any problem (pasted up), & that might not have gotten so bad if I hadn't come down with the creeping crud the day after chicks came (made it kinda hard to enjoy time w/ my birdies). She recovered very well, though.
Seen lots of info from more experienced folks about bantams having a hard time with cool weather shipping. Definitely worth the site-search to see what's posted!