Should I buy an assortment of chickens, or specify which breed I want.

afre13

Chirping
7 Years
Mar 9, 2013
37
1
89
I am conflicting with this issue. I would like to start a small, egg laying flock. I would like to specify which breeds I want because of their productivity, and my over all interest in the breed and breeding projects,

On the other hand, some assortments from Ideal, and McMurry do carry some of the breeds I like, but also consist of breeds I am not interested in (cochins, brahmas, RIR). I like the idea of an assortments. Trying breeds you never thought to have, seeign which works best in your area, and the over all suprise you get when you get chicks and not knowing which is what, and the antisipation to find out.
Also assortments are cheaper than some of the chicks I would like.
 
Hatcheries do let you pick your own assortment to meet a minimum shipment number.

As for breed choice, it depends on your objective. My objective is hobby, so I have a mix of leghorn, RIR, white rock, barred rock, EE, SLW. I have has BA, silkie, polish. I plan to add buff orpington and delaware this year. Egg production is secondary.

Love the silkies but they are very handicapped and easy prey for predators. Not a fan of polish.

I also stagger my flock to get a more even egg production.
 
We had to meet the order limit of 25 with Mcmurray so I ordered 10 specific chickens and 15 brown layer assortment. This works really well for us so far (they sent 27 and all are alive and thriving. No poopy butts, even.) So I highly recommend that! Our assortment consisted of Buff Orpingtons (6), Black Giants (2), Light Bramas (2), RIR (1), White Giant (1), White Rock (1) and Partridge Rocks (3).
 
We plan on selling a few as pullets. In our area they sell for about $20-25 dollars. You could do that if you got some you weren't interested in. I wan't really interested in the "giant" breeds, but the black giants are some of the sweetest we have. Same with the partridge rocks.
 
Some hatcheries will let you pick a limited number of an assortment. For instance, with Ideal, I wanted specific breeds but also bought 10 of their d'Uccle assortment. I liked the surprise instead of picking out individual colors, but I was also able to buy the specific breeds I wanted.
 
Thanks for the great answers! I was also wondering, if I buy a flock of pullets from a hatchery, is there a high chance of a rooster being in there?
 
There's always a chance of a roo, but buying sexed pullets is your safest bet. Straight run is far riskier.
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