Ordering baby chicks, reluctantly

[shandea]

Has anyone ordered baby chicks from mypetchicken.com? I am having a really hard time finding what I need locally and it seems like I will have no choice. My only option locally is looking like 25 or more, and a straight run. Since I'm in a subdivision, there's no way I can handle more than 3 or 4, and I CAN'T have a rooster. Plus, I really want Wyandottes... at least one anyway. Picky huh?

I'm just really apprehensive about putting the little buggers through this! Isn't there a pretty good chance that they don't make it? I would just freak out if I opened the box and found one dead... plus I couldn't sleep the whole time they were in transit. I'm a wuss like that!

I do have one last hope. I live in Raleigh, but I'm going to the western part of the state (Boone) this weekend to visit my mom, and I could stop by Winston or Greensboro, or anywhere along the way and pick them up on Sunday, if anyone knows of someone who can help me out.

 

[pegbo]

I think I would look around for a supplier who will do just a few chicks. Sometimes in the feed stores people will post extra chicks or maybe you could find a few people who would split an order with you? Good luck and I hope this helped!

 

[LICHICK]

How about eggbid.com ? Do you have any sort of feed store near you? Where were you going to get food for them? Post what you are looking for there. It was hard for me too. I found someone at an old time 1800's fair that was showing his animals & introduced myself to him. Go to anything that has the slightest chance of having animals(spring fairs, fruit stands ) Good luck

 

[shandea]

YEY! I got the hook-up from someone on the NC forum. I'm getting exactly what I want - 3 or 4 silver laced wyandottes. They're about 2 weeks old and are sexed females. I was totally about to think I wouldn't get what I really wanted. It's across the state, but I'll be in that direction anyway, and it'll be worth the extra driving.

I love that I found these forums. What the heck did people do before the internet?

Thanks to Pat if you're on this board.

 

[Llysse]

I ordered chickens from My Pet Chicken, but I ended up canceling my order. Customer service was very nice over the phone, but the impression they give you on the site is that you can get the chicks shipped in one or two weeks. But after I placed my order, I was told they didn't have Welsumers after all. i changed my order to Ameraucanas, Faverolles and Speckled Sussex, and they told me my ship date would be in two months, because the Salmon Faverolles would take too long to get. So I changed AGAIN to just Ameraucanas and Sussex, and it was still more than a month.

As I said, I canceled at that point. This process of changing orders took about a week in itself, because they apparently had to check around to see what delivery dates could be with the hatcheries they work with. I decided that I could buy eggs and hatch them faster than I could get chickens from them. And considering that the surcharge for shipping less than 25 chicks is substantial, I was saving money to buy an incubator and hatch my own eggs. Not to mention the fact that I could get what I wanted, and the chicks would be less stressed from not having to go through the mail.

That was my experience. I'll say again that they were really nice at My Pet Chicken; my only complaint was that their site suggested the chicks would be delivered on the second Monday after you order, and that is clearly not the case, at least with the less common breeds. You might be able to get RIRs or Orps pretty quick. I also don't know how well their shipping method works with few chicks--if it works, it's nice to have that option to order just a few, though.