Where do you get your baby chicks?

[~cochinlover~]

I get my birds from Murray McMurrays.... the birds there are beautiful!!
Thus is blue... I got her from Murray McMurrays

 

[Shorty22366]

I get my birds from Murray McMurrays.... the birds there are beautiful!!
Thus is blue... I got her from Murray McMurrays View attachment 1480801

Beautiful

 

[Mrs. K]

You have gotten a lot of ideas on where and how to get them. I would address another part of your wish list.

Personally, I agree with Art, chickens are generally not real long lived.Some people do have some very old chickens, but many of us don’t.

Instead of keeping hens, keep a flock. If you have room for 6 birds, do not fill it the first year. Add a few each year, and some will subtract each year. It is sad to have them go, but then you can get chicks, and start the circle of life.

I like a multi-generational flock, I think socially it is healthier, and it keeps the hobby interesting.

I have made so many chicken plans, only real life gets in the way.

Good luck, my advice, enjoy the flock, if you loose a bird, and you do, well know that she had a good life and try something new. Don’t feel guilty, move on.

Mrs k

 

[paintedChix]

There ya go then!
Tho I could not stand to have chicks in the house that long, 2 weeks here is too long.

Agree with AART, there. I've tried to get chicks out of the house pretty early and nope, can't imagine having them in my spare BR for a month (or more)...

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O boy - just reread this. It's one of my infamous books...

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I have a somewhat different opinion on shipping/handling birds. 2018 has brought a fun & demanding chicken "explosion" at our small farm. I've gotten birds from a several different "breeders" AND from hatcheries (thru different feed stores, not direct, as I can't get to the PO when they come in). After purchasing older stock - both pullets/cockerels < 1yr and mature birds 1-4yrs old, I have found that any type of transport is stress full - no matter if they are transported in your vehicle cab (w/ air or heat) or in the back seat of van or suv or in the bed of a truck. Doesn't seem to matter if it's hot or cool. Doesn't seem to matter if it's a box or solid bottomed crate or a dog kennel. It's all stressful. Part of quarantine, IMO, is to watch not only for "normal" chicken diseases but to see if the "normal" stress of transport triggers anything else. And with several breeds I've started investing in, I've found that anything over a few days of age doesn't do well (& I got lines from different breeders) with transport "shock" or stress at all - developing regular issues of pasty butt, egg binging, EYP and ?? - just not thriving in general with the change in their living situation. I've surprised breeders as well - totally asking what feed they use (if different then mine, I either get some from them or stop and get some on the way home), how they do water/whether it's from a well or city/county. Thankfully, so far, I've managed to purchase stock that hasn't had Mareks or anything else and I've purchased from all NPIP facilities. My own place is not yet NPIP, but w/i the next year, want to be.

Even after having a flock(s) for 7 years, I am still learning things daily about chickens & life with flocks.

My own first foray started w/ 15 mixed breed/variety bantams & then hatchery stock - Production Reds (WOW, did they lay early, consistently and large eggs), Cuckoo Marans (didn't lay nearly as well & eggs were a paler brown, not real dark like it's said they could be), EEs (some really beautiful & large eggs- varying shades of blue/green) & some others that I don't remember(started w/ 6 & got 6 more). Of the original 15 bantams - the white silkie types were the first to disappear to predators after starting to free range. Then we of course had the natural order of things and had another increase in stock - have no idea how many chicks. Working hours were crazy when I was home, was on the road out of state with pony showing/promoting in Shetland and Draft Horse events and several family issues as well. We often found that the hens didn't lay in provided nest boxes - finding other spots to lay in - the bad thing about not having an official coop/run, but they did free ranging (& we had fewer bugs than ever before) & feed costs were amazingly "light".

So we built our first coop, instead of just allowing them to roost free in the large barn. Many birds NOT happy, and getting them to "come back to their new home" simply didn't go well. 1 yr later, I was still "arguing" w/ some - we caught birds at night 16' in the rafters of the barn when we moved. (it's a lucky thing none of us humans got hurt, should have, LOL). These birds moved 2x. First in late Oct to a friend's place, not allowed to free range, but stay in the temp hoop coops we had (3 of them) and then again in January to our new property. W/I just 60 days, after the 2nd move, we lost most of our stock. The hardy few that survived, stopped laying completely for many months (the oldest birds at the time were 4 bantam girls from the original mixed stock) and 3 PRs, 1 CM, 3 EEs... We had several roosters that also survived - 1 "purebred" breeder purchased Blue Ameraucana & 5 mixed bantam/Ameraucanas.

In each of the years since we moved to this property in January 2015, we've had different issues with young birds. Some has been my own steep learning curve - I have dealt not only with typical predators (possum, coon, hawks, ??), but also with domestic dogs that dug under our 7 acre perimeter fence & wiped out my whole flock of BrahmaXs the day before the roos (12) were to be processed, during the day when I was at work (our own dogs are in a chainlink pen/yard behind our house). The 2 pullets that survived the original "attack"(of 12) that had just started laying were so stressed that w/o a mark on them, they both died. A couple of times, I've had ponies dig out the corners of a coop (before I put HC skirting on all of the hoop coops) - releasing birds that then just disappeared... I've had ponies use the flexible cattle panel hoop coops & hooped runs as "butt scratchers" - but then the both chicken wire and HC has popped loose and again chickens that weren't free ranging were loose and either gotten by hawks or truly think a few just flew off (then gotten by predators when they were into the trees surrounding our open areas).

***

So back to some other observations in 2018. I've now invested in a total of 4 Auto Sexing breeds - meaning you can tell at hatch by markings/colors who is male/female - that lay different colored eggs (brown,tan, blue/green, white). I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE 3 of them (CLBs, Bielefelders, RBs - they are unique & FRIENDLY), and as they mature and become less idiotic/flighty, I'm really liking the 55 Flowery Hens (the roos are much less flighty than the hens). I have a lot of birds. Yet, I don't think I have enough to make a real serious observation yet on breed/personality traits - especially since all of our birds are young and the 1st 3 are just now starting to lay (OMG, I truly never realized how much difference there is between 4 months and 8 months when reach POL). I have managed to purchase lines from different breeders of some of the breeds BUT understand that all of these breeds originated from one farm/importer, so all DO go back to original imported stock w/i the last 3-4 generations. Some have breed standards here in the US (or starting to), some have breed standards from country of origin, some have none. Personally, I want to follow just HOMESTEADING style of breeding - in which I will track which of the birds are best for laying &/or meat and only those will be kept for breeding forward. This means TIME (years in the future, pretty sure) and $$ to hatch enough birds to make decisions about... Right now, I can already tell you one thing - both the CLBs and RBs take FOREVER to start laying... The oldest 3 CLBs are almost 8 months old (starting to get eggs now - not in anyway consistent, all very small, good shell quality, poor color for their breed - more green than robin's egg blue I was expecting); the oldest 4 RBs are 7 months old & no impending signs of being at POL. These are the production line of CLBs... Then I have the Jill Rees line of CLBs from another breeder - these birds are getting there - hatched May 4th - from different parents, but not separated when I purchased them, so not sure if all interrelated or not. This line, pullets & cockerels, are not nearly as friendly as the "production line" of CLBs, we shall see how this goes, too.

55 Flowery Hens - 8 pullets, 4 cockerels. All from same breeder, but from from different breeding pens (again, not separated, so not sure who/what is interrelated). These birds were flighty/scared when purchased at approx 3months of age. They hatched in Feb. No signs from any of the pullets of POL... The cockerels are crowing & are wanting to mate, most of the pullets not interested yet. Figure I want to cull 2 of the cockerels, retain 2. Not sure if retaining all pullets to start or culling some of them right from the beginning.

Bielefelders - developing into very pretty and friendly birds. 2 quads hatched beginning of March (4 almost 5 months). 2 of the hens will be only for egg production as they have different size pelvic bones and I wonder if this will create issues in the future w/ laying/production. OR may go ahead and hatch eggs from them and track to see what happens in the future? 1 quad hatched 6/10 (about 5 weeks old). All 3 quads are from a breeder who had only 1 rooster & 4 hens.

Then I have breeders stock of Ameraucana (both BBS & Lavender) - these birds are NOTHING like previous breeder stock I had from different lines. These birds literally try to kill themselves any time you go into their coops or runs. They throw themselves against the wire and tear each other up w/ claws while climbing on top of each other. The oldest hatched on 3/12 - so they are 4-1/2 months old. These BBS - must have gotten too few (only 8). If I'm right, I have 6 cockerels and 2 pullets to choose from - not completely positive on that one yet. The Lavenders (have 7), are even worse as far as being cockerel/pullet rate (think I MIGHT have 1 pullet?). 2 were hatched on 3/29 & 5 were hatched on 4/12. So they are 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 months old as well. The Ameraucana I bought in 2014 were a more even mix of 5 roos & 3 pullets. The girls did start laying between 4-5 months of age... But I'm so disappointed in how "crazy" these birds are (both varieties). They have had a lot of handling and are fed & watered daily - doesn't seem to matter. Makes me very sad...

I have 2 other breeds...hatchery stock Blue Australorps ordered from Privett Hatchery thru my local feed store (hatched 5/15 - 10w old). These were originally 5 cockerels & 14 pullets. On a day when we had no storms and for no apparent reason, I suddenly had a dead pullet in the brooder cage that had 10 in it. Then 2 days later, same cage, had been moved to new grass in front yard that had had no chickens on it - 4 passed - 2 pullets & 2 cockerels. All were moved to a brand new cage - out of the box - while their brooder cage was taken apart and disinfected w/ bleach and white vinegar. No other problems. 2 weeks later, I combined the 2 groups into 1 larger cage and a "play pen" & 1 week after that was able to catch a bantam X pullet that was free ranging around their pen and added her to their group & away from her sire who was starting to pin her down (way to early, IMO).

and breeder purchased Lavender Orpingtons (1st set hatched 4/5 - 2cockerels/1pullet. 2nd set - 3 hatched 6/10 & 6 hatched 6/16. Again, think have just 3 pullets (MAYBE) from total of 9. These aren't appearing to thrive at all. I'm jumping thru hoops (separating and giving special care) to some of them. Some have been put back into brooders under lights & while doing better, not sure where going with this. Have no desire to breed/raise chicks that are defective. Heartbreaking and expensive. Bought the trio of parents of these youngsters - lost one hen a week later - thinking she was egg bound but general treatment after researching BYC didn't seem to make a difference. Didn't catch that the breeder told me she'd lost 2 other hens from same group 3 weeks before I purchased mine - until I called to ask some ?s and what to try next... testing shows no diseases? Time will tell. Already thinking, since I've reached the conclusion that this is way too many birds to do justice with, that these will all eventually make it to freezer camp. They just don't make me happy...

**********

Then my question is what constitutes a breeder? The breeders I purchased chicks from that aren't keeping any chicks to grow out - but selling everything that hatches (& how is that different from a larger hatchery)? The breeder who is doing what I'm doing and keeps quite a few - culling as he goes - to use for breeding forward his stock - but he still couldn't tell me any traits to look/cull for in 2 specific breeds I purchased?

Long before breeding any of these breeds, I'm looking for consistency in egg laying. I still have to build some trap nests as I want to know which birds are laying consistently - in order to track that in the future.

I'm in a unique situation. We have 21 acres total about 9-10 of which are cleared. Our youngest daughter has moved back in with us. Our other 2 daughters are both married but live w/i 40 miles. 5 grandchildren. Between 2 households - 7 dogs ranging from #15 to #80. We are switching over to all meat diets (slowly) for the dogs and cats (7 between 3 households) and want to eventually support ALL poultry eating thru our set up (chicken, duck, turkey- thinking about quail, too). Heading that way now - we will be processing our first actual cockerels soon (6 CLBs that were given to me when I purchased 14 - day old chicks - they are now 6m old). It won't be with big, meaty meat bird types but will be the culls from our program. Should still be good, HEALTHY eating with plenty of meat. The feed/meat ratio a bit longer/higher than with true CornishXs, but that's ok as we are also using these birds for DLM (creating compost), and pasturing behind the ponies in both tractors and electrified poultry netting - so breaking the parasite cycles for both and fertilizing less then optimal pastures.

SO, when we had smaller numbers of chickens, we had quite a bit of loss - especially when we hit the 3 yr mark on the production birds that we got from hatcheries. We have had a lot friendlier birds this year, BUT I've also been here daily and they have all gotten handled more than original birds were. Still have quite a number that are "crazy", flighty and willing to hurt themselves to avoid human contact.

A lot of our birds are now named AND I can pick those out in the individual groups/flocks - both cockerels and pullets.

Said a lot & probably didn't even answer the OPs original ?s, LOL.

 

[jreardon1918]

Got our first batch from MPC. Ordered 16. One was weak when they arrived. Lost 4 in the first week. I think that was my inexperience. The brooder was too small and probably too hot. Kept 7 and gave 5 to a friend. Next spring I will get a few (3?) from my local feed store. Of course our 4x8 coop needs an addition before we add to the flock.

 

[B0N]

I live in the city, and as an uneducated idiot, bought all my three chicks for $10 from a Sunday market pet corner around March, and have no idea where they came from before that :,). Lost two of them to predators because I didn't take that into account and ended up with a roo. Love him, but might have to rehome him soon. None of mine ended up with diseases(...from what i know), so I'm lucky in that way.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! We all have to start somewhere! Our first chickens came from a neighbor, who said they would be fine roosting in our pole barn. Not so. After many losses to predators at night, we wised up and redid our 'garden shed' back into the chicken coop it was originally.
This site is very helpful, but wasn't here back then.
Mary

 

[RodNTN]

I prefer to buy my chickens from Tractor Supply or My Pet Chicken

 

[lilmillefleur]

I bought 6 female bantam chicks from MPC, they are only 4 weeks old right now. The porcelain d'Uccle died within 24 hours after arriving. One polish looks to have pretty bad cross beak and is half the size of the other. The other polish is still too young to sex but I always thought of him as a him, he's bigger and bolder. My dad doesn't allow roosters. The porcelain and polish were the ones I was looking forward to the most this year. My luck, I guess.
Besides that, all five living chicks seem happy and healthy so far, we will keep an eye on the crossbeak. I imagine we were just incredibly unlucky and if you order I'd doubt you'd get the same experience.

 

[Shezadandy]

We started with mypetchicken - did some breeding based on laying abilities and working on blue egg layers. This year we've had a lot of broodies hatch a lot of eggs - got sick of dealing with the inevitable roosters, as did the hens - we do our best to rehome, but if they start to pester the girls and nobody shows interest, I sell them for meat -- and so ordered more from MPC.

The other reason I ordered chicks is the gene pool was shrinking - no issues with the chicks from father/daughter matings, but at the end of the day I decided to buy an outcross for his daughters and to buy a new pool of breeds for the main guy- so I have a Lavender Ameraucana currently growing up for them.

Of the 30+ chicks ordered over 3 years from mypetchicken --- only 1 was an "oops" roo (though 7 are still too young to tell at the moment), all arrived happy and healthy, no deaths (knock on wood) as chicks- no crossbeaks or anything. I've stayed with them because I have had good luck getting the babies the next day- they ship on Mondays and arrive on Tuesdays from Ohio to Oregon- and I never want more than 6 or 7 at a time. Some hatcheries will send you that number and charge you a "small order fee" -- or they put cockerels in as packing peanuts, which defies the purpose for me anyway!