What to look for when buying local chickens?

[Mattsculpt]

I'm new to chickens and I am thinking about buying from a local breeder. What should I look for when buying chickens locally from a breeder? What questions should I ask. How can I tell if I'm getting good healthy chickens? What should I watch out for?
Thanks

 

[hdowden]

watch for mites when inspecting a chicken, i've seen plenty of chickens on here people have gotten with leg mites. a healthy chicken should be very active and interrested and courious. watch for argession towards other chickens and people. if you have any chickens now new ones need qurinted for a month before intro into existing flock. pick the chicken up and see if you feel ribs or if it seems oddly light for its size (theres something wrong if it doesnt have enough weight such as other chickens keeping it away from food to some desiese or parasite).

i'm sure others can better help you though. and sorry for the bad spelling it was never my strongest point for some reason

 

[Mattsculpt]

Good info so far. Don't worry about spelling. I'm constantly getting mine corrected by elementary school kids. Thank goodness I teach art, not writin'.

 

[sunnyllama]

I have been looking for local chickens also, my area is very sparse for chicken farming though. Thanks for your post, I am also curious as to how to search for possible sellers in the area.