Why buy chicks?

[rosemarythyme]

I get sexed chicks (and yes that means 10% fail rate on sexing) because my chickens are pets as well as layers, so I want to be able to handle them from the start and acclimate them to us and our routine. Also since I get my chicks from a local feed store, they simply don't order enough chicks to have more "rare" breeds available past the first few days, so any started pullets they carry tend to be leftovers of whatever didn't sell well.

I've gotten started pullets before and they can become friendly as well but they took longer to warm up to us.

 

[Amer]

Because chicks are cute. And they are great. The first five times.
Now I only have chicks
1. Because they are more available than adults in the particular breeds of my choice
2. They are smaller so you can ship more.
3. Because I hatch my own for breeding and I don't have a magical growth formula that turns them to adults overnight.

I would get adults though if I could. (I've noticed I always get more males than females )

 

[Mrs. K]

I will buy chicks, when a clutch failed and the hen is still broody, or when I want to order meat birds, so may as well get layers too. Sometimes I have had great luck hatching eggs, and sometimes not good luck at all. One can get chicks easily in the spring here, but not other times. So sometimes it is "worth a bird in the hand, vs a two birds in the bush" haha!

 

[Compost King]

I prefer buying adults but if I want a specific breed I gotta order chicks... and after I receive chicks the breed I want is all over craigslist in my area for well below the expected price! And if I sit and wait for a breed to come up on Craigslist it won't come up, or the person selling it is selling a mixed chicken that isn't even close to the breed they claimed... or someone else bought it 5 minutes before I enquired about it.

 

[Summerbirds]

I got chicks cuz there so cute! When raising them from babies there so much more friendly then when you get them as ready to lay hens. All my hens come waiting at the door when I come home. It's also my luck is great only one boy from every hatch so far...
Although it is sometimes a long wait until eggs when you get chicks.

 

[Bamabexchicks]

I'm a first time chicken mom, so wanted them for eggs and to be pets. Wanted to imprint them so they would be super friendly to us. Also wanted the Mareks vaccine for all my babies.

 

[Kasilofchrisn]

For me I don't mind the occasional rooster.
I just butcher them and can them up in a jar as soup with some of my garden veggies.
Older hens are rarely offered in my area .
Plus I'm not really wanting someone elsese cast off birds that they didn't want.
You just never know why they're getting rid of them.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I often wonder why people buy the straight run chicks. The price difference isn't that much. Do they like surprises and living on the edge? As well, when you buy chicks that are shipped to you, you might get an extra few "packing peanuts" for heat which usually means cockerels. Although sexing chicks has a 10% failure rate, I would take my chances if I ordered chicks vs straight run which is guaranteed to have a cockerel or several... Also, "if" I happened to get a cockerel that I wasn't supposed to get, I would keep him regardless because I just couldn't part with him and then I would most likely end up with a few extra headaches.
So far, I've only gotten older birds. The idea of brooding chicks doesn't appeal to me as I'm a worrier and there is enough worrying with an older bird.
I guess it's all in the goals and wants of the person getting the birds.

 

[Compost King]

I often wonder why people buy the straight run chicks. The price difference isn't that much. Do they like surprises and living on the edge? As well, when you buy chicks that are shipped to you, you might get an extra few "packing peanuts" for heat which usually means cockerels. Although sexing chicks has a 10% failure rate, I would take my chances if I ordered chicks vs straight run which is guaranteed to have a cockerel or several... Also, "if" I happened to get a cockerel that I wasn't supposed to get, I would keep him regardless because I just couldn't part with him and then I would most likely end up with a few extra headaches.
So far, I've only gotten older birds. The idea of brooding chicks doesn't appeal to me as I'm a worrier and there is enough worrying with an older bird.
I guess it's all in the goals and wants of the person getting the birds.

I can see straight run for those who want to eat half of them and get eggs from the other half. I only get straight run when its the only option. Usually I prefer to 1 rooster and 3 hens... sometimes just 2 hens and sometimes 5, depends on how fast I want to start producing offspring.

 

[GrannyHeeney]

Because chicks are cute. And they are great. The first five times.

Hubby says it's great aside from the peepin' and the poopin' LOL