stupid question - flock development

[kathleengp]

I have a dumb question - I am new to chickens with 2 RIR crosses only so far. I see in people's sig lines that they have 1 of this and 1 of that etc etc and I am wondering how you do that??

McMurray Hatchery will only ship 25 chicks, Mypetchicken will ship 8 (to rural areas - 3 to major cities), but I only want to add 1 or 2 - so how do you do that???

I was thinking that maybe in the spring I would post here and see if I could find anyone local by me to go in on a mypetchicken.com order of 8. I found RIR and Leghorns as juveniles, but nothing else.

Any tips on developing a varied (but very small) flock??

Thank you all ye oracles of wisdom - lol!!

Kathleen in Central NY

 

[Lollipop]

You can look on the bullitin board at the feed store and even post a wanted note there. Also, Craigs list has a chicken page......Pop

 

[emys]

Order the rainbow layers or hatchery choice pullets! You'll get different types.

 

[PunkinPeep]

The feed stores in my area (when they have chicks) will let you buy whatever odd number you want.

 

[emys]

Oops, didn't catch the rest of that. Go in with a few friends or better yet, start searching Craig's list for people "downsizing" for the winter. I've seen lots of different breeds offered.

 

[rmc85]

http://gainesville.craigslist.org/grd/1400958217.html

 

[mandelyn]

You just kind of stumble across a couple here or there if you keep your eyes open! Careful though, last time I had chickens I ended up with 53 before I was like.. "Maybe that's too many..."

I got a pair from a swap meet, and a hen and her pullet off CL, and it was insanely convenient... I was headed out to TSC, before leaving I saw the add, googled the location, saw it was just past where I was going, so the girl brought them to TSC. How's that for one-stop shopping?

Previously I was getting them from flea markets... the internet wasn't as popular then for it. But I too never wanted to ordered 25 at once from a hatchery. There's a hatchery not 20 minutes away, and they won't sell less than 25 even if you're local and want to pick them up!

If you're not finding the breeds you want, you can post an add on CL looking for people who want the other 20 or so from an order, and they can order whatever breed they want, so long as the total is 25.

 

[bdp7150]

find a poultry swap meet in your area and pickup what birds you are looking for.

 

[kathleengp]

Thank you so much everyone! I had no idea that the feed store does chicks but I called and sure enough - they said they order chicks in the spring and will have a list of what I can order in February,

I also checked craigslist (whoda thouht!!) and found 4-5 different breeds that were offered for sale in the last month. It seems on craigslist too that the chickens go quick - one person posted about how much response they had to their ad. So if there's something I want, I feel better about ordering 8 or 25 chicks - seems it will be no problem to sell the extras to nice homes.

Thank you!!

Kathleen

 

[possumqueen]

Quote:
The authorities closed down the swap meet in our neighborhood (NC) because someone brought in a disease and we have a lot of big poultry growers here.

Swap meets are a LOT of fun, and you can find ALL kinds of stuff there, but be cautious. Whatever shoes you wear to a meet, don't wear them out to your chicken yard. Change your clothes and WASH YOUR HANDS before you go out to your chicken yard. And if you bring home any new birds, quarantine them before you add them to your flock.

Not sure how long quarantine should be. Any BYCers know better?