Support your local breeder buy local

[hugojim]

Yep I'm for the small man

 

[steelersfan43]

I agree. Plus you get a better quality a lot of times too.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Sounds all well and good except when there are no "local breeders". Many people do not care to deal with roosters either and most "breeders" sell chicks straight run. Easy to say to support the local guy.

 

[Ole rooster]

Yep, I would is I could find Astralorps. And so many rooster and so few pullets.

 

[missydcpc]

I'm trying my best, and have several of my breeds on order locally, but am still looking for wyandottes and orpingtons of all things!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Maybe better quality, maybe not. Depends on what you want. I breed birds myself so I definitely am in favor of buying locally when one can, but it depends on what you want and if they are available locally. The bulk of my layer flock are commercially bred sex-links and Leghorns. Not something that can be accomplished on the small-scale. The turkeys on the other hand...

 

[Lady Chickadee]

I would agree with buying local chicks but you could risk buying unhealthy chicks, bad quality chicks, or plenty of roosters. Usually local farmers sell straight run and you don't know if they're good quality or not unless you saw their adult birds that they breed. Another thing is if you're looking for a certain breed and maybe a local person does not have that breed.

On the other hand they could be a better quality depending on who you're buying from, they could also have the breed that your looking for. They also could raise very healthy birds. It all really depends on the local person and their birds.

 

[mohillbilly]

I usually will sex mine for someone as long as they are not just buying 1 or 2 as it is too time consuming for that small of orders.

 

[FlockHappy]

I like to buy locally just cuz it's cheaper. But if ever I can't find the breed I want, I'd probably order it from a hatchery.
I just got 15 australorp chicks from a local person. She was selling them, along with many other breeds, for only $1 a piece. I expected that she had tons of chickens with how many chicks she had and how many different breeds. When I got there, she lived in a trailer and had one little shed where the chicks were. Come to find out, she orders big batches of chicks from a hatchery then sells them all. It worked for me. I got 15 chicks for $15. Pretty good.

 

[Bullitt]

Is there a breeder association website or something where a list of chicken breeders can be found?