Please help me understand.

[Cammo77]

Not as good as one would think. Since most people can't have males, they want sexed chicks or older pullets. Most private people can't sex chicks outside of specific sexlinks, and raising older pullets costs more than most are willing to pay, at least here. Plus not everyone wants the same breeds. As I mention on other threads, what I want isn't what my neighbors or other chicken people near us want typically

Sounds like the perfect opportunity for big corporations to exploit a market. People sell POL here for between $50+ (this morning I saw leghorn, wyandotte. and Barnie POL going for nearly $90), sexed chicks $40 for heritage breeds and a bag of feed is roughly $25. Which is roughly $30/15US just to give you an idea on margins.

 

[Penpal]

If we want only a few, say one to five, we just run to Tractor Supply, or other similar store that sells chicks. But, if you wanted a large batch, say 25, you would probably order directly from the hatchery. I have done both. From either the local farm store or a hatchery, you are not getting the best of the best, but close enough to know if they are big or small, active or docile, etc. If you want to breed your own you would buy a hen and rooster from someone who shows their birds and is careful to breed to the SOP (standard of perfection).

 

[Cammo77]

Yup. There are a lot of breeds available and we are spoiled with having stores/hatcheries to have a good selection. 100 years ago, we would have just been happy to have some mixed-breed/barnyard-mix chickens. Now we can be a lot more picky, so it can be hard to find what you want from a breeder locally.

Also, many just don't want to deal with the males. About 50% of the chicken listings I see on Craigslist are people trying to give away roosters.

We wouldn't have the same amount of breeds as our animal import laws are extremely strict and being a big island it's hard to smuggle animals into the country, which I am happy about though as we're still dealing with morons importing destructive non-native species 200yrs ago.
We do have the same issues with unwanted roosters but there's plenty of people who will take them and also the hatcheries I've looked at offer a take back guarantee for roosters.

 

[Cammo77]

If we want only a few, say one to five, we just run to Tractor Supply, or other similar store that sells chicks. But, if you wanted a large batch, say 25, you would probably order directly from the hatchery. I have done both. From either the local farm store or a hatchery, you are not getting the best of the best, but close enough to know if they are big or small, active or docile, etc. If you want to breed your own you would buy a hen and rooster from someone who shows their birds and is careful to breed to the SOP (standard of perfection).

So would be more of a social media trend that everyone seems to post themselves buying from there? And there definitely is other smaller local places and people just aren't aware?

 

[TooCheep]

So would be more of a social media trend that everyone seems to post themselves buying from there? And there definitely is other smaller local places and people just aren't aware?

They sell a lot of chicks. Even a small percentage of problems leads to a lot of reports.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The various farm or feed stores that sell chicks get them from commercial hatcheries that cater to that market or sell directly to the public. A lot of chicks are mailed directly to purchasers, some are trucked. One of these hatcheries may hatch around 80,00 to 100,000 chicks a week in season. I don't know how many of these hatcheries there are, but a lot. These are not the hatcheries that hatch the commercial egg layers or meat birds. One of those hatcheries might hatch 1,000,000 chicks a week year around. Again, there are several of those hatcheries. Many of these hatcheries are small family owned businesses, often second or third generation.

There have been many disappointing posts about poor quality of chicks plus inaccurate breed ID.

The hatcheries we use are for the mass market. They may have 20 roosters in a flock with 200 hens so mating is random. You are not going to get show quality birds from them. Breeders breeding for show put one specific rooster with specific hens carefully chosen as most likely to produce a show quality chicken. Even with the breeders carefully selecting who gets to breed with whom the vast majority of those chicks are not show quality. Some breeders say they can get one out of five chicks as show quality but others say they do well to get one out of 10 chicks to be show quality.

The birds we buy typically look like the breed they are supposed to be but they also typically have "flaws" that would get them disqualified in a show. They are typically productive, often laying ore eggs than the breed is supposed to.

Reading through the comments I see people saying to buy from local hatcheries and then people responding that they have no local breeders which I find hard to understand.

There are local breeders. Each state has poultry shows and crown champions. You may not be able to find your breed and some of these breeding for show quality don't want to sell their chickens. They don't want the competition at the shows. Some will sell them, even choosing breeding trios for you, but the costs you pay a show quality breeder are tremendously higher than a hatchery chick.

Are there strict laws on breeding chickens yourself so you don't need to rely on big corporate stores?

Absolutely not. Many people on this forum breed their own chickens. Not all are breeding for show quality, many of us breed for better egg production or for meat. Some if us do it just for fun.

 

[BDutch]

In case you like to know more about selling chicks in other countries too:
In The Netherlands / Europe we have no hatcheries who sell (sexed) chicks by mail. It forbidden by law to do so.

People who want to hatch and haven’t got a rooster or want another breed buy hatchery eggs. Most people pick them up, some are send by post (with poorer results).

There are lots of associations for people who like to involve in breeding to the standard. I got addresses of a nearby breeder through such an association a couple of times. People who are less picky often buy eggs from people they know who have a barnyard flock or through a kind of Craigslist.

It’s also forbidden to expose chicks in a shop like TSC does. There are a couple of places/hatcheries where they sell different kind of chicks /breeds you can choose what you like or make a reservation. People need to pick them up personally.

Some prefer to buy pullets or small mixed groups (pullets with a cockerel). In my country only hatcheries, specialised shops and hobbyist sell chickens. In other countries like Belgium there are markets where people can buy chickens too.

 

[Cammo77]

They sell a lot of chicks. Even a small percentage of problems leads to a lot of reports.

Great point

 

[Cammo77]

In case you like to know more about selling chicks in other countries too:
In The Netherlands / Europe we have no hatcheries who sell (sexed) chicks by mail. It forbidden by law to do so.

People who want to hatch and haven’t got a rooster or want another breed buy hatchery eggs. Most people pick them up, some are send by post (with poorer results).

There are lots of associations for people who like to involve in breeding to the standard. I got addresses of a nearby breeder through such an association a couple of times. People who are less picky often buy eggs from people they know who have a barnyard flock or through a kind of Craigslist.

It’s also forbidden to expose chicks in a shop like TSC does. There are a couple of places/hatcheries where they sell different kind of chicks /breeds you can choose what you like or make a reservation. People need to pick them up personally.

Some prefer to buy pullets or small mixed groups (pullets with a cockerel). In my country only hatcheries, specialised shops and hobbyist sell chickens. In other countries like Belgium there are markets where people can buy chickens too.

Thank you. Sounds like some pretty good laws there in regards to chicks. We have a mix of everything here. Backyard breeders, show breeders, markets and small hatcheries. You can also order hybrid commercial egg layers as well but usually as pullets. I wish I could import some Barnevelders from you guys as our genetics over here for them is limited.

 

[Cammo77]

The various farm or feed stores that sell chicks get them from commercial hatcheries that cater to that market or sell directly to the public. A lot of chicks are mailed directly to purchasers, some are trucked. One of these hatcheries may hatch around 80,00 to 100,000 chicks a week in season. I don't know how many of these hatcheries there are, but a lot. These are not the hatcheries that hatch the commercial egg layers or meat birds. One of those hatcheries might hatch 1,000,000 chicks a week year around. Again, there are several of those hatcheries. Many of these hatcheries are small family owned businesses, often second or third generation.


The hatcheries we use are for the mass market. They may have 20 roosters in a flock with 200 hens so mating is random. You are not going to get show quality birds from them. Breeders breeding for show put one specific rooster with specific hens carefully chosen as most likely to produce a show quality chicken. Even with the breeders carefully selecting who gets to breed with whom the vast majority of those chicks are not show quality. Some breeders say they can get one out of five chicks as show quality but others say they do well to get one out of 10 chicks to be show quality.

The birds we buy typically look like the breed they are supposed to be but they also typically have "flaws" that would get them disqualified in a show. They are typically productive, often laying ore eggs than the breed is supposed to.


There are local breeders. Each state has poultry shows and crown champions. You may not be able to find your breed and some of these breeding for show quality don't want to sell their chickens. They don't want the competition at the shows. Some will sell them, even choosing breeding trios for you, but the costs you pay a show quality breeder are tremendously higher than a hatchery chick.


Absolutely not. Many people on this forum breed their own chickens. Not all are breeding for show quality, many of us breed for better egg production or for meat. Some if us do it just for fun.

So it's sounding more like it's a social media trend more then anything that I'm seeing.