Where to purchase chicks from?

[nuthatched]

I highly recommend My Pet Chicken. They will be fine in the mail. Be sure to look at which breeds are aggressive and those that are "friendlier." Don't mix them or their will be bullying. The stores like Tractor Supply often will give you the wrong sex and you will end up with roosters. Also, chicks grow so fast that if you don't get them at the same time, you will end up with big ones that pick on the newborns. Good luck!

My Pet Chicken gets most of their birds from Meyer's, and other local hatcheries. only a few breeds do they hatch themselves.
Birds are individuals so you can't often blanket and say 'friendly breeds' or 'aggressive breeds'. :]

 

[dreamofwinter]

Birds are individuals so you can't often blanket and say 'friendly breeds' or 'aggressive breeds'

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.

 

[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.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I have gone to a feed store, (with a small heat packet since I am 1 hr away,) I have gotten just one or 2 chicks, They would mention they wanted me to buy more, but when I say I have chicks at home the same age, just wanted more, they will still sell them, in the low numbers.

 

[gimmie birdies]

This year I am ordering eggs. I ordered some in Nov. for Dec. chicks (ID and one day shipping away from me.) and I have some coming in a couple weeks or so Meyer's. I ordered 2 of each egg. (some 3 of each) for a total of 24 eggs. I ordered eggs because I enjoy hatching, and some breeds were not available at the same time as chicks. 2 each or more incase I get roosters. I like roosters though.

I was going to say 1 ea is fine, unless you lose a chick. If you have a very special chick, buy 2.
I bought the other year a Bluebelle egger, but only one because the feedstore prices were expensive. But I hatched out her chick now I have 2 (the dad was an EE) Blue bell eggers are just a glorified EE but the eggs are blue.

 

[Iluveggers]

This year I am ordering eggs. I ordered some in Nov. for Dec. chicks (ID and one day shipping away from me.) and I have some coming in a couple weeks or so Meyer's. I ordered 2 of each egg. (some 3 of each) for a total of 24 eggs. I ordered eggs because I enjoy hatching, and some breeds were not available at the same time as chicks. 2 each or more incase I get roosters. I like roosters though.

I was going to say 1 ea is fine, unless you lose a chick. If you have a very special chick, buy 2.
I bought the other year a Bluebelle egger, but only one because the feedstore prices were expensive. But I hatched out her chick now I have 2 (the dad was an EE) Blue bell eggers are just a glorified EE but the eggs are blue.

Ooh! What eggs did you order?

 

[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]

I am getting mine from Hoover's, primarily because the supply TSC and I have one local.

Other reason is I really wanted Calico Princesses and they had them lol.

I re-establishing my flock (coyote predation) but once I get going again, I'll augment from local sources.

 

[jreardon1918]

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!

Hi,
I just saw this and you may have already ordered. Where you live on the Cape, I highly recommend Ventura Grain in Taunton, MA. They are knowledgeable, and get a good variety of breeds. They publish a calendar on their website. https://www.venturagraininc.com/poultry-small-animal-feed/

They also had a preorder which we did this year. You pay in advance and they call you when they come in. We also buy our feed from them.

 

[reaganFF]

We put off starting our flock until this year, and now I'm regretting it - there are hardly any hatch dates available for Meyer for Buff Orps until July. I live 35 min from them, so I'm going to pick up. Looks like we won't be getting chicks until late summer.