Where to purchase chicks from?

[Chipmunk Chicks]

I will do some more reading (I see from your signature that you are a fan!). I'm pretty basic myself, so I'm happy with basic chickens

For sure! I ended up with Australorps by happy accident, but I'm so glad it happened that way.

Another heritage breed I love are the Dominique chicken. They have a rose comb, which is less susceptible to frostbite, and Cackle carries a reputable line of them. Speckled Sussex are another great breed that must be having a moment right now, bc I think they tend to sell out as well lol but very friendly, very old breed of chicken, so you know it's hardy.

 

[LAYAM]

Hi all,

This will be my first year with chickens. Planning to have a mixed flock with 1 of each breed of chicken (just trying to narrow down which breeds I'm going to go with!) Lol

Just debating where I should get my chicks from.. my local feed/grain/farm/pet store will be having new chicks every 2-3 weeks, so I wouldn't be getting the chicks all at once. The plus side is that they will all be vaccinated for mareks prior to coming home with me. But I'm concerned about staggering bringing them home, especially if I'm only bringing home 1 chick at a time (sometimes it would be 1 chick sometimes 2, depending on the breeds they have available that weekend and what I'm looking for).

My other thought was to order through My Pet Chicken or Murray McMurray, where it might be easier to have them sent at the same time, I just worry about how the chicks will fare in transport.

Open to other recommendations as well. Im located on Cape Cod, MA if that helps.

Thanks for any feedback!

Ask the clerk at your local feed store where they get their chicks from and whether you could order chicks from that hatchery via your local feed store ... our local feed store charges a small fee on top of the price the hatchery charges - worth a try

 

[ShaunJ421]

Our Blue (BBS) Ameraucana rooster is very friendly so far, and doesn't mind being held at all. He's 16 weeks and just started crowing. The Blue (BBS) Ameraucana hen can be a little skittish at times. She's not a big fan of being picked up. But once she's in your arms, she'll just sit there and enjoys being pet.

I've been very lucky with all the chickens so far. They all get along with no bullying. I try to handle them all on a regular basis to get them used to it. But some just aren't having it. The Fibro Easter Eggers are the most skittish of all the breeds I have. They're always the last ones I can wrangle up, when transporting outside.

My friendliest chicken I have, by far, would be the Buff Orpington. She loves being held, she loves attention, and will practically jump in your arms. I wish I would have gotten 2 of them.

 

[IVRN]

Hi! Great questions.

1. I would definitely NOT bring them home a couple at a time.

Reasons:

-the flock bonds and they start to establish pecking order very young. Continuously adding new chicks is very stressful to the flock even at a young age.

-they keep each other warm as they are brooding . 1-2 together isn’t enough and you risk one or both drying.

(Also for future reference NEVER introduce one single pullet or hen at a time. If you add to your flock later always add in twos so they have each other. “safety in numbers” is true for chickens. One single hen will get rejected and possibly killed by the others.)

-chicks grow fast. Bringing home a baby chick and putting it in the same brooder as a three week old risks the life of the baby due to size difference. The older chicks have established a pecking order already and they may reject or pick on the younger one-and they are big enough at that age to hurt or kill a new chick.

-the younger ones can’t fight for food against a larger chick. The older chick will always win and sometimes run the younger ones off and the chick could fail to thrive or die. Yes, chickens become territorial at a very young age and will compete for food and water amongst themselves. They don’t always play nice.

2. If you want a huge variety of types probably using a local feed store or Murray McMurrey is a good idea for the reason you stated. I started my flock with a feed store in the spring and they had a dozen varieties from which to choose.
Another idea is to look on Facebook under local chicken groups and join and find out if you have local breeders. You may be able to obtain a variety from around town if you are willing to drive to various places. But they need to be within a week of being hatched all at the same time.

3. If you want some specialty eggs, like dark marans eggs or blue eggs and the feed stores don’t have them, I have in the past found a local breeder who carries the breed I want and planned to go to the feed store when the breeder has their new chicks available. Then I just pick them up the within a day or so of each other.

4. Be sure to read about each breed and think about what you are trying to accomplish:

-If you want pretty eggs, get those types of chicks (like a Welsummer, Marans, Blue egg layers) now as it’s easier than adding pullets later.

-read ahead about what types do well in the cold as I see you are in the northeast. Not all breeds are suited for how cold it gets there. Small combed birds do better in terms of avoiding comb frostbite. A quick google search will inform you.

-some lay in winter and some breeds don’t- just a thing to think about. do you care if you don’t have eggs all winter? Certain breeds are famous for laying in the winter. Do you want daily eggs? Some only lay a couple a week and some are bred for production.

5. Think about predators if it’s going to be an issue. Some birds are definitely considered more predator savvy. If you don’t have a rooster you may but want a bunch of chickens who aren’t as good at predator alertness.

Lastly, there are typically more dominant breeds and more docile breeds. It’s nice to think of having just one n of each kind but docile breeds can be picked on mercilessly by the more assertive types. My neighbor had a Barred Rock completely scalped between breakfast and lunch by the more aggressive Rhode Island Reds in her flock. Examples of docile breeds are Easter eggers, Barred Rock and Orpingtons. Whereas Rhode Island Reds are very assertive. I got around that by making sure I had at least two of the docile breeds. They hang out together and always have each other. It’s true to some extent with chickens “birds of a feather flock together”. When you read about each breed they will often say if it is a docile breed that tends to get picked on. The hatchery may not say so but do a chick google search and you can find it.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Sorry, I don't remember if I've responded to this thread or not. We've ordered chicks from Cackle Hatchery, Mt. Healthy and Meyer, and have had good success with all of them. My feeling is this. This is a competitive business, and if any hatchery does not meet an acceptable level of service, it will quickly go out of business. So they have to provide their customers with healthy chicks of the breed and gender requested; if live, healthy chicks do not arrive for some reason, they need to make reasonable accommodation. This may be in the form of refund or replacement. Failure to do so means they will lose both customers and credibility, and eventually go out of business. So, IMO, you should be able to safely order from any reputable hatchery with confidence. After all, this is their business.

 

[nuthatched]

This is true - for example, I have three Barred Rocks - one is a lap chicken, one only likes my daughter, and one would prefer to never be looked directly at or touched. All three came from the same hatchery in the same shipment and were raised the same.

However I think there are breeds where you're more likely to have friendly individuals (Buff Orpingtons, anyone?), which is why they're so often recommended.

I'm not sure I agree about avoiding mixing breeds to prevent bullying, but my current flock is made up of "friendlier" breeds and in the non-hatchery birds, lines selected for temperament - so I'm no expert there.

Good point! I haven't had a pure bred flock in a long, long time, I've never had a bullying problem. I think its more of an environmental trigger that sets already bossy birds off. And some birds a just jerks.

 

[Egg Finder]

I was looking at ordering from Ideal or My Pet Chicken for a small order. But the local feed store was able to add my order to his and this worked out better. He could give them water for me when they came in and I didn't have to take a day off work to be there when they arrived at the post office. He ordered from Privett.

 

[wisecane]

Feeling bummed. Put my order in a couple weeks ago for 15 chicks.

They were supposed to ship Tuesday for a Thursday/Friday delivery this week.

No notification of shipment Tuesday so I reached out. They said there was a delay and they would ship Wednesday no problem for a Friday delivery.

According to USPS, they've sat in Atlanta for a day and I just got an update saying late Monday now.

I don't they will be strong enough once I get them.

The hatchery says if they don't live, they will replace them, but man I hate it for the chicks.

 

[3KillerBs]

Feeling bummed. Put my order in a couple weeks ago for 15 chicks.

They were supposed to ship Tuesday for a Thursday/Friday delivery this week.

No notification of shipment Tuesday so I reached out. They said there was a delay and they would ship Wednesday no problem for a Friday delivery.

According to USPS, they've sat in Atlanta for a day and I just got an update saying late Monday now.

I don't they will be strong enough once I get them.

The hatchery says if they don't live, they will replace them, but man I hate it for the chicks.

The good news here is that the tracking info is often wrong about chick shipments.

Live animals are given top priority -- though with adverse weather bad things can happen.

 

[reaganFF]

I got chicks in Sepember last year and it actually worked really well. They were in the coop before it got too cold.

Are you specifically looking for Buff Orps? If so, Tractor Supply often has those in stock so you may want to check. And if not, and you're just looking to start a flock with any breed, call Meyer on a hatch day (Monday I think) and ask if they have bin chicks. They throw all the week-old extra chicks from the previous hatch date in a bin and you can buy them at a discount rate. I did this last year since I also live within an hour or Meyer. The bin was nearly full. Only downside is, they do not have breed identification for these chicks.

Good idea - we won't have the coop ready until summer (the kit is being shipped and won't arrive until June), so I may just wait until later to see if their hatch dates change.

Also, hi, neighbor!