I can't add much. Threads pop up on BYC all the time with photos of cracked open eggs and people asking, "Is this egg fertile?" They have to ask to just to know. I know about the yuck factor! Took me a while to get past it myself, and then every so often an egg with a meat (or blood) spot would turn up and I'd be back to yucking for a while. <sigh> Know what? Those spots aren't because the egg was fertile - heck, I didn't even have any roosters! They just happen when a tiny bit of tissue breaks off with the egg yolk, or sometimes in the white of the egg from basically the same thing. So to repeat what others have said, there is absolutely NO difference between a fertile egg and an infertile one. Period.
The advantage to buying chicks in the spring that no one has mentioned is the variety. Say you buy all of one breed, and fill those generous coops with them. What happens if you end up not liking them? Oh, it happens. I've had a few varieties that I'll never ever buy again. But with 2 flocks of them and not wanting to process, you're kinda sorta, well, stuck. Yeah. And it's hard to tell them apart, too! You can band the legs, but when they're on the run it's hard to see the bands, they don't always stay on, and sometimes they can even get hung up on stuff. Not worth it, in my opinion, unless you are marking a specific individual chicken for a specific purpose, such as watching a suspicious health issue or laying issue.
Buying chicks means you can get a wonderful variety and see which ones you like the best. I'll never be without Easter Eggers in my flock, but if I'd started with all Buff Orpingtons, how would I know that? Oh, many people have one or maybe two varieties in their flocks and have done wonders promoting that breed and improving on it where they could, but for most of them it was a case of having a few different ones first and then deciding which they liked best. I've had several different kinds of chickens at the same time...sounds silly but I like looking out there and saying, "Ken, Agatha is in the flower bed again...." because we know exactly which one is the culprit! I was able to let the grandkids pick a favorite chick, name it, and then watch it grow. They can immediately identify "their chicken" when they come over, which gives them some "skin in the game" when it comes time to work in the coop/run. And if there's anything prettier on a chicken place in the summer than a multi-colored flock of chickens against the green grass, I don't know what it would be!
Buying a few different kinds of chickens also lets you see and learn first hand which ones will do well in your area and in your setup and climate. I wanted Brahmas in the worst way, so I got Buff Brahmas and Light Brahmas. They were docile, friendly, extremely pretty, weathered our Wyoming winters just great, and laid very well. BUT they are also very heavy bodied, especially if your nests are geared more to average sized chickens. Oops. They'd get in there and lots of times eggs previously laid by other hens were smashed beyond recognition. They have heavily feathered legs...everything they walk through gets dragged into the nests, making for dirty eggs. And don't forget that the same feathered legs that brought stuff into the nests brought stuff out - like egg yolk and bits of eggshell. That guck dried on those leg feathers, and to keep them healthy that had to be cleaned. I have better things to do than clean leg feathers on a bird that weighs as much as VW bus. And they also don't fare well in hot, dry summers. Again, how would I know if I didn't have them? I still like them very much, but now I know that to raise them happily I need to rethink my set up for them. The jury is still out on whether or not it's worth the effort.....there are lots of other kinds to choose from yet!
Those are additional advantages to starting small and replenishing as you want to. Starting with too many chickens can be overwhelming anyway, so why not pick some that you think you'll like, learn all you can about taking care of them, see what works and what doesn't and THEN make a decision on whether you are up to the extra worry of breeding them? If you do decided to breed, barnyard mutts can be extremely rewarding to raise as well....and some of them leave fancier breeds in the dust when it comes to egg production and personality!
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
The advantage to buying chicks in the spring that no one has mentioned is the variety. Say you buy all of one breed, and fill those generous coops with them. What happens if you end up not liking them? Oh, it happens. I've had a few varieties that I'll never ever buy again. But with 2 flocks of them and not wanting to process, you're kinda sorta, well, stuck. Yeah. And it's hard to tell them apart, too! You can band the legs, but when they're on the run it's hard to see the bands, they don't always stay on, and sometimes they can even get hung up on stuff. Not worth it, in my opinion, unless you are marking a specific individual chicken for a specific purpose, such as watching a suspicious health issue or laying issue.
Buying chicks means you can get a wonderful variety and see which ones you like the best. I'll never be without Easter Eggers in my flock, but if I'd started with all Buff Orpingtons, how would I know that? Oh, many people have one or maybe two varieties in their flocks and have done wonders promoting that breed and improving on it where they could, but for most of them it was a case of having a few different ones first and then deciding which they liked best. I've had several different kinds of chickens at the same time...sounds silly but I like looking out there and saying, "Ken, Agatha is in the flower bed again...." because we know exactly which one is the culprit! I was able to let the grandkids pick a favorite chick, name it, and then watch it grow. They can immediately identify "their chicken" when they come over, which gives them some "skin in the game" when it comes time to work in the coop/run. And if there's anything prettier on a chicken place in the summer than a multi-colored flock of chickens against the green grass, I don't know what it would be!
Buying a few different kinds of chickens also lets you see and learn first hand which ones will do well in your area and in your setup and climate. I wanted Brahmas in the worst way, so I got Buff Brahmas and Light Brahmas. They were docile, friendly, extremely pretty, weathered our Wyoming winters just great, and laid very well. BUT they are also very heavy bodied, especially if your nests are geared more to average sized chickens. Oops. They'd get in there and lots of times eggs previously laid by other hens were smashed beyond recognition. They have heavily feathered legs...everything they walk through gets dragged into the nests, making for dirty eggs. And don't forget that the same feathered legs that brought stuff into the nests brought stuff out - like egg yolk and bits of eggshell. That guck dried on those leg feathers, and to keep them healthy that had to be cleaned. I have better things to do than clean leg feathers on a bird that weighs as much as VW bus. And they also don't fare well in hot, dry summers. Again, how would I know if I didn't have them? I still like them very much, but now I know that to raise them happily I need to rethink my set up for them. The jury is still out on whether or not it's worth the effort.....there are lots of other kinds to choose from yet!
Those are additional advantages to starting small and replenishing as you want to. Starting with too many chickens can be overwhelming anyway, so why not pick some that you think you'll like, learn all you can about taking care of them, see what works and what doesn't and THEN make a decision on whether you are up to the extra worry of breeding them? If you do decided to breed, barnyard mutts can be extremely rewarding to raise as well....and some of them leave fancier breeds in the dust when it comes to egg production and personality!
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Last edited:
