Where to purchase chicks from?

[Percheron chick]

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.

Might be worth a call to see if they have chicks that they could not ship out due to the weather.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

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.

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.

 

[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!

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

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.

I hope your chicks are okay! Hopefully with this cold snap the postal workers will give them a little extra TLC.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

I know this is an old post, just chiming in to say that we got our first chicks from TSC (Hoover's) and they have been great! They were the last five in the pullet bin, and we got all 5/5 females! So the horror stories about people getting all roosters or whatever are not necessarily always the case. You can actually get what you came for.

Also, here, we can call them during chick days and an employee will usually go and tell us what's in, so even if you "have to" get the minimum four, they might still have four different birds that you want. I have seen such pretty ones in there and specialty chicks, too, you might just need to call around the different stores to see what they have and/or be patient. We also started them on premium feed, so I can't say whether that helped, but they have grown into very healthy, shiny, pretty birds.

We then ordered chicks from Cackle that did great! They were two weeks older but I kept them in separate brooders until they were big enough to integrate, and it went well. But I wouldn't advise bringing different age chicks and put them in the same brooder.

Honestly, if I didn't mind the legwork, I'm sure if I were to call around any given chick day, I know I could go to a couple different ones and get a great little assortment of 6-8 total, and if you told them you were going to hit up the other location that same day, they would mind less fudging the minimum. But I agree that for your sake, all the same age together is 100% preferable. It's for sure much cheaper to go that route for your first chickens, otherwise you will have to pay $$$ shipping. But it does take the guess work out of it if you place an order online, so there's no shame in doing that either, and it will probably be fine.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

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.

Why Buff Orpingtons?

 

[reaganFF]

Why Buff Orpingtons?

I'm in NE Ohio with cold winters and hot summers. From what I've read, Buffs are tolerant to both, larger breed, human-friendly (dependent on individual personality, of course), and dual-purpose. Mainly, it's because we see a lot of people keeping Buffs in our area, which tells me they survive well around here. I'm unashamedly stacking the deck in my favor!

 

[BeetaLiK]

I got my chicks from tractor supply, and there doing great, and are amazing egg layers they haven't even stoped for the winter! but look out for pasty butt on them.