Why buy chicks?

[GrannyHeeney]

Need to have a talk with Mollie. I expect "straight run" from, oh, Cackle Hatchery, but my own darn hen? Pffft, what a little hag. I've decided to give this new one a boy name (neighbor suggested George ROFL) since we seem to always get it wrong...trying to curse it into being a "she"

 

[Chickncrzylady]

I prefer to buy chicks from hatcheries for a couple of reasons. One is I can get several breeds at once that would be a hard thing to do locally. I like having many different breeds. Another reason is when I bought birds from breeders I ended up with diseases I never had. I bought gorgeous Silkies from a show breeder and got mareks for the first time. I lost 7 of 10 to it. They were a group of 10- 12 week olds when I bought them. A year or so later I bought a group of 3 Ameraucana pullets and a rooster from a known breeder. They broke out with a respiratory disease right after I got them. The breeder was honest enough to tell me he had it happen to some other people he sold to and thought it was cured in his flock. He did refund my money but now I had that go through some of my birds in spite of my keeping them separate . That made me afraid to buy birds from breeders. Most of my original flock was resistant to both illnesses thankfully so I didn't lose a lot. It was hard to deal with though . I moved after my original flock died out . Since then I have only had hatchery chicks. They have been strong and healthy. I have not had any illnesses in them in 10 plus years. I would like to buy older breeder birds again but I'm too afraid. I can have roosters so I'm not worried about getting one or two in a pullet order. I order roos on purpose sometimes. Any I don't want will be a meal for us or rehomed if someone wants one. I enjoy raising baby chicks too so prefer that to buying older pullets from a hatchery. I always buy the day olds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I keep seeing threads/posts where people say they bought chicks and so many of them turned out to be cockerels and then they say they can't have them and then try to re- home them.

Now if your hen lays eggs and you let them hatch well that is different I'm more on about buying chicks, I knew I didn't want a cockerel because I couldn't have one where I live so I bought young pullets.
I'm curious as why more don't buy just pullets knowing they are pullets and not gambling that none are going to be a cockerel.

I know it's your choice and I'm not have a go at you I'm just curious.

As you've probably noticed different people have different reasons. For biosecurity reasons I don't bring in started chickens, the only way I bring new blood into my flock is by getting hatching eggs or get chicks mailed from a Hatchery. Our system for mailing chicks is probably different from yours in the UK.

When I first started my flock I ordered different breeds straight run so I could decide what I wanted to breed. I actually want cockerels as I eat them but I also wanted enough pullets to choose the best layers to keep. One of those breeds was Buff Orpington. I got seven straight run and got seven pullets. The odds of that are 124 to 1, pretty low odds but as many as they ship it's probably not that unusual. Out of six Speckled Sussex I had four cockerels to choose from, my rooster came from them.

My experience with those Buff Orps and from hatching my own eggs (about as straight run as you can get) taught me you don't get half and half sexes with straight run. When I hatch I typically get 2/3 or even 3/4 of one sex or the other, it varies by hatch. I hardly ever get 50-50. After that if I wanted pullets I ordered pullets, if I wanted cockerels I ordered cockerels. Most were what they were supposed to be.

So why do I order chicks instead of started chickens? I get the breeds I want, I get mostly the sex I want, and I trust the hatchery biosecurity a lot more than a breeder.

 

[ShannonR]

I keep seeing threads/posts where people say they bought chicks and so many of them turned out to be cockerels and then they say they can't have them and then try to re- home them.

Now if your hen lays eggs and you let them hatch well that is different I'm more on about buying chicks, I knew I didn't want a cockerel because I couldn't have one where I live so I bought young pullets.
I'm curious as why more don't buy just pullets knowing they are pullets and not gambling that none are going to be a cockerel.

I know it's your choice and I'm not have a go at you I'm just curious.

Quality. Sexed chicks from a hatchery generally aren't winning any poultry shows.

I will also add: by the time they are old enough for a typical breeder to sex them, the highest quality ones have already been picked through by the breeder. So, straight run chicks or hatching eggs from outstanding parent stock.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I drive and pick out sexed chicks.
When I first got chickens a friend came over with a tote full of chicks he said “you pick” so...I got All roosters and one hen!
He got 9 hens and two roosters. Hum....
I learned a lot. I don’t keep roosters I have zero need for them.
It’s so worth the drive to pick out the chick I want!
Having them already sexed or a sexlinked breed is my preference. I keep birds for eggs I look for the temperament traits I want.
I’m pretty simple