Pros and cons of hatching your own chicks versus just buying them?

[Cest La Vie]

I have generally bought chicks but this year did have three bantam hens that hatched 18 chicks and miraculously 12 are pullets. And there is nothing I enjoy more than watching a momma hen with diddles.

Oh gosh! If that isn't winning the chicken lottery then I don't know what is!! Congrats!

 

[Cest La Vie]

The biggest thing for me is dealing with surplus Roos. I can buy or order just pullets and that usually leaves me with a rare, occasional Roo. When I raise my own I average 50 to 70% males. I have hatched out 10 and only had 2 females. Males are hard to get rid of and you spend just as much time/effort and feed bills raising up a roo as a hen. It's a pain processing them, it's very hard to find homes and having a bunch of roos around makes my big roo ornery.

This is my fear.. I only want 3 hens. I'd be so sad if they all turned out to be Roo's as I do end up getting attached to my chickens. Just thinking about it is heartbreaking. The lady I was got the eggs from also only does straight run though. Is the process at least "fun" ?! I plan on having these babies as pets.

Also, do crow collars work?

 

[Cest La Vie]

I intend to hatch what I need. I don't trust the stores to keep the stock labeled correctly or do I want to do a minimum order/small order fee. I imagine in time I will need fresh genes tho.

How often you do hatch eggs and in your experience, what has been the ratio of pullets to cockerels? I know it's about 50:50 but I always love hearing from others

 

[Brooks_]

How often you do hatch eggs and in your experience, what has been the ratio of pullets to cockerels? I know it's about 50:50 but I always love hearing from others

I'm setting my first hatch Friday from eggs collected today, tomorrow, and Friday. I expect at least 50% male. Extra pullets and cockerels will be Craiglisted before becoming dinner.

 

[WallyG74]

My last hatch in April was real close to 50/50.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I let my broody hens hatch home-grown Easter Egger chicks, then add feed store/hatchery chicks of pure breeds in with the home-hatchees. (Meaning all chicks are broody-raised.) By choosing eggs i want the broodies to hatch, i can select for largest egg sizes and prettiest colors, & can also select for feather colors. After several years and generations of hatching, egg sizes usually reach xlarge by the end of a pullet's first summer of laying. And from my older easter egger hens, i get many blue and green jumbo eggs. (When i bought my original easter eggers, their lay rate was excellent, but egg size was too small for my liking. Plus most were the typical partridge color.) By selecting my own hatching eggs, i can also choose the freshest, most perfectly formed eggs, which leads to a 90-100% hatch rate.

Having to cull excess cockerels that had the bad luck to be born male is a definite downside to hatching at home. As far as ratio of pullets to cockerels, i'd say the overall long-term ratio is about 50%. But some instances do stand out. I remember one broody hatched 6 chicks, & 5 were cockerels. One month, 2 broodys hatched 16 chicks combined, & 11 were cockerels. But this past october 2020, 5 broodies hatched 33 chicks, & 27 were pullets!

 

[Xouie]

Also, do crow collars work?

Crow collars work to quiet, not eliminate, crowing sound. It can be tricky to get a proper fit — reducing sound without bothering the bird — and there is always the concern that the collar won’t break away properly if the rooster gets caught on something.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

What about chicks that I can pick up locally? My main reason for hatching the chicks is because I wanted to experience the process.. but after receiving my eggs yesterday, am feeling a bit down. I was only able to get 4, with one being a bit mishapen. Of the 4, only one of them weighs 52 grams with the rest weighing less. I'm afraid they won't hatch ):

picked up chicks will be healthier than shipped chicks usually, so long as they aren't actively shipped.

 

[Cest La Vie]

I'm setting my first hatch Friday from eggs collected today, tomorrow, and Friday. I expect at least 50% male. Extra pullets and cockerels will be Craiglisted before becoming dinner.

Quick question! Do you find it hard to rehome cockerels?! The lady I got my eggs from said she had a really hard time.. even if they were free. ):

I really, really don't want to hurt these babies so I'm a bit worried.

 

[Cest La Vie]

I let my broody hens hatch home-grown Easter Egger chicks, then add feed store/hatchery chicks of pure breeds in with the home-hatchees. (Meaning all chicks are broody-raised.) By choosing eggs i want the broodies to hatch, i can select for largest egg sizes and prettiest colors, & can also select for feather colors. After several years and generations of hatching, egg sizes usually reach xlarge by the end of a pullet's first summer of laying. And from my older easter egger hens, i get many blue and green jumbo eggs. (When i bought my original easter eggers, their lay rate was excellent, but egg size was too small for my liking. Plus most were the typical partridge color.) By selecting my own hatching eggs, i can also choose the freshest, most perfectly formed eggs, which leads to a 90-100% hatch rate.

Having to cull excess cockerels that had the bad luck to be born male is a definite downside to hatching at home. As far as ratio of pullets to cockerels, i'd say the overall long-term ratio is about 50%. But some instances do stand out. I remember one broody hatched 6 chicks, & 5 were cockerels. One month, 2 broodys hatched 16 chicks combined, & 11 were cockerels. But this past october 2020, 5 broodies hatched 33 chicks, & 27 were pullets!

This is such an amazing answer! I love this so much and completely forgot that you can select certain traits you'd like! Let's say I had an Easter Egger that was laying small eggs, would I then breed it with a Minorca rooster or another breed that lays jumbo eggs? I'm not at this level yet but this is good to know for the future!

Also, I'm sorry to ask and I understand if you don't want to answer but as I am learning, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask you how you cull for cockerels? What is the best and most efficient way? Just in case my hatch ends up 100% cockerels and I have absolutely no one that would want them (I live in the suburbs of Los Angeles so chickens aren't common).

Thank you so much for your thorough answer!