Where do you get specific breeds?

[magoobi]

I am new to raising chickens. I got mine as chicks at a local feed store last year. They didn't have them labeled as any specific breed. I didn't even know what gender they were. I am amazed at how all of you know exactly what you have! Are you all ordering from a catalog or website??

 

[Chris09]

Welcome..
You can order them online from a hatchery or get them from breeders...
What breed are you looking for maybe some one on here can help point you in the right direction... The other thing is are you wanting the for a pet or are you going to show them?

Chris

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
If you want to post pics, people here might be able to help you out with what breed or gender they are...

 

[fordmommy]

from Wisconsin.

 

[magoobi]

fordmommy
Thanks for welcoming me!

Chirs09
I don't know enough about breeds to look for a specific kind. We just wand them as pets and for the eggs. Thanks for the welcome!

HEChicken
Thanks for the welcome. I charged my camera yesterday and will try to get pics of the girls today.

 

[Egg_newton]

People with lots of chicken experience can tell you a breed just like experienced dog people can identify different dog breeds. If you look at the different hatchery websites they list different breed characteristics. So, you can pick one that fits what you are specifically looking for. ie meat, eggs, exibition, or a combination.

There is this great website Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart that gives all kinds of great info. I used it a lot when I was first deciding what kind(s) I wanted. I wanted a good dual purpose bird that was fairly friendly and cold hardy. Indiana winters can sometimes be harsh. Hope this helps.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

I bought our chicks from the local feed store (2 different stores in Glendale, AZ), but the breeds were listed, so we knew what we were getting. My feed store only sells pullets (90% accuracy rate), so that was helpful too. My first two trips - all were pullets - 3rd time, I ended up with 2 cockerels.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

One of the problems with purchasing from a feed store is that sometimes the chicks get put into a different bin than the one they belong in, or several breeds are in the same bin. Most feed store employees know very little about chickens and chicks. Try asking one based upon the appearance as a chick what it will look like as an adult--you can get some really "astute" answers that have no bearing on reality (ones with stripes on the back will grow up to be striped, for example). And occasionally a hatchery puts a wrong chick in the box, or the store purchases a group of "hatchery choice."

I'm not knocking purchase from a feed store. It is a very economical means of purchasing a few birds for pets or eggs or even meat (although meat birds are rarely sold here). I am just saying take the breed identification with a grain of salt, and expect that they might end up being something else. Years ago I purchased "araucanas" from one of the local feed stores. One was an EE who laid a light brown egg, the other was actually a light brown leghorn, who laid a white egg.

 

[DTchickens]

http://feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html Another good site for learning about breeds....

 

[muell112]

You can read about the different breeds online and order different breeds through various hatcheries, e.g. McMurrays or Estes. Here's a good website to get started with what different breeds are like: http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/which-breed-is-right-for-me.aspx. This is my first year with chickens and I read about the different breeds and picked a bunch of different "docile" breeds that are winter hardy. You can see some of them on my page. I got them at Estes. http://www.esteshatchery.com/ which I'm assuming will have chicks available in the spring.