Where to get chicks?

[BrockportChick]

View attachment 2022367
Meyer Chicken Hatchery recommendation here too!
Got 8 chicks because everyone told me they can die during shipping or soon after.
They were all healthy, still all healthy- 8 weeks later.
The company year has live online chat too for questions which I really liked being a first time chicken owner.View attachment 2022365

They're only 8 weeks old? They're huge!!! And growing into lovely birds. Are you having a ton of fun with them? Which breeds did you get?

 

[Blooie]

Just for a little clarification, My Pet Chicken does have their own breeding stock and hatches, and has a shipping partnership with Meyer. They sometimes use other hatcheries to fill orders for birds when they don’t have enough to fill orders, and vice versa. This comes up every so often, and Alex from MPC addressed it when she was here.

 

[Folly's place]

Some advice for that first time chick order, and apologies if you know this already:
Visit your local post office tomorrow morning, in person, and give them your phone numbers, and ask to be called IMMEDIATELY at any hour when the chicks arrive. Then leap out of bed and drive to get them! Have your brooder all set up beforehand, water in waterer, feed there, heat lamp or brooder plate up and running. Pictures here?
Buying feed, it's very important to check the mill date on each bag, and only buy within one month of milling, and use it up within another month. DO NOT buy older feed and expect it to be fine!
Have a hardware cloth cover for your brooder, to keep pets out, and chicks in. They will clear 24" in no time!
Post pictures! We all like to drool over baby chicks!
Mary

 

[Blooie]

Amen!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Some advice for that first time chick order, and apologies if you know this already:
Visit your local post office tomorrow morning, in person, and give them your phone numbers, and ask to be called IMMEDIATELY at any hour when the chicks arrive. Then leap out of bed and drive to get them! Have your brooder all set up beforehand, water in waterer, feed there, heat lamp or brooder plate up and running. Pictures here?
Buying feed, it's very important to check the mill date on each bag, and only buy within one month of milling, and use it up within another month. DO NOT buy older feed and expect it to be fine!
Have a hardware cloth cover for your brooder, to keep pets out, and chicks in. They will clear 24" in no time!
Post pictures! We all like to drool over baby chicks!
Mary

I second all that. I carried it a step further because they don't always call, messages get lost.
I go to the postmaster ahead of time, apprise them of the situation and get the direct phone number of the sorting room. It will be answered when the main number won't be answered till business hours. I would call between 5 and 6 AM. At my post office, priority and express mail is usually there by then. If the chicks are there, I head straight there with a camera, go around back and knock on the door next to the dock. Open the box an make sure most are alive.
I now maintain a closed flock so I don't receive shipped birds any more but the phone number is still on the side of one of my feed bins so I could call when I was out in the brooder house working on the finishing touches.
My local is a fairly large PO. My sister used to be postmaster in a tiny, rural, one person PO so if yours is like that, a different approach is probably in order.

 

[Fluffyflufffluff]

I'm only allowed to have 6 hens, but mail order chicks seem to require 15 chick minimum. I have a couple local chain stores that do "chick days," but I don't want to waste time or money on mixed-sex or unreliably-sexed chicks (or risk my kids getting attached to a bird we can't keep!). I also want a colorful mix of birds and eggs.
Any ideas?

Checked on the internet, I guess you're right, minimum of 15 to 20 chicks for delivery. I don't know about that... 1st of all... isn't it safe for the chicks to be delivered

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Checked on the internet, I guess you're right, minimum of 15 to 20 chicks for delivery. I don't know about that... 1st of all... isn't it safe for the chicks to be delivered

To be delivered where? To your home?
If ordering by mail, it is much better to pick them up at the post office.

 

[PhillyDelcoChix]

I actually couldn't wait (gotta work on impulse control!) and ordered 8 from Meyer yesterday afternoon! They'll be here in 2 weeks.
I know there's a risk that they might not all make it, but even if they do, I think I'll be ok. I've been asking around about the permits in my village, and apparently there's virtually no enforcement/interference from officials, and the coop in building is plenty big enough for 8, so if they all survive, great!
Thanks for sharing your experience with Meyer. I'm so excited!!!

Yay!
So excited for you!
Our chicks are 8 weeks old and pretty large and our kids are already asking when we can get more chicks! There’s nothing like loving and caring for those little puff balls!!

 

[PhillyDelcoChix]

To be delivered where? To your home?
If ordering by mail, it is much better to pick them up at the post office.

Mine, from Meyer, we’re hand delivered by a post office official, not the regular mailman.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Check out your local farm co-op to see if they carry chicks in the spring. That's where I got mine, plus some from Craigslist. Tractor Supply usually has them.