Um, why . . . ?

[Pony Trotsky]

Okay. Totally noob question:

Why are there so many threads asking what breed a chicken is? I would've thought that people would order their chickens from hatcheries by breed, and therefor pretty much know what they've got.

What am I missing here?

 

[chickenbuttsowhat]

i dont get my chickens from breed sites just go to a chicken sell every saturday here in town some ppl dont know what type of chicken they r so i get them anyways cuz the a super cute and good layers but every once in a while i would like to know what breed they r cuz im still new to chickens and dont know much about the breeds other then cochins silkies and orpington lol

 

[Pinky]

Sometimes people may get chicks from a store that doesn't separate the breeds.

 

[klf73]

I know you can order a brown egg layer special and white layer specials

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Not to mention sometimes hatcheries throw in their "free" birds

 

[DKM]

Some people buy from individuals and they don't know what they are either.

Others are given chickens and told they are one thing and they're not. I bought a buff orpington from a feed store and it turned out to be an easter egger and I knew that because I have some EEs. Otherwise I might not have known. It is buff colored after all.

 

[CacklingCarolyn]

I did not order from a hatchery and I'm pretty new to this as well but as I understand it sometimes when ordering they will give you some unspecified chicks as a bonus. Please someone correct me if I am wrong. Also, from personal experience I was told I was getting one thing (Aruacanas) when in fact what I got was EEs. I would not have known being a newbie except for what I have learned from BYC members.

 

[GothChick]

Many hatcheries sell Assortments. It can come with any number of male, female, or a mix of both and the hatchery randomly picks what breeds to include in the assortment. Most hatcheries have hundreds of breeds and unless you know every detail about every single breed chances are you are going to end up getting some chicks that you can't figure out. Also many chicks look a lot alike when they are hatched and then you can tell them apart when they are older.

 

[ranchhand]

I hatch my own usually, from shipped eggs. They get all mixed up in the incubator and it's harder to identify chicks than adults.

 

[GothChick]

I just ordered an assortment of 50 female chicks. Out of the ones I got there are 40 different looking chicks included. Assortments are fun because you get a surprise when the chicks arrive and you get to guess what they will be. Also I buy assortments and then sell the chicks I don't want to keep to local town people that can only have a few chicks. This way they can pick out 2-5 different chicks and get 2-5 different breeds if they want for a cheaper price then ordering through a hatchery and paying a ton of money to ship a small order.