Why do people pay more for eggs to incubate than day old chicks?

[lucky123]

I have been curious to why people will pay the same or even more money for eggs than they will chicks? I bought 25 br's a few weeks ago and checked the price for their eggs and the eggs was 10.00 more for one dozen compared to 25 pullet chicks! I can understand getting some good stock from a local but why buy eggs from a hatchery when you can get the chicks cheaper?

 

[Sissy]

To me its a cleaner way of reproducing.
Live chxs could be carrying some form of a virus
and Should be kept seperate from your flock,
for at least 3 weeks..

 

[goldielocks]

Because they get a high from it.

Because they can also get some of the breeds not offered by hatcherys.

Because they have an incubator and it needs to be used or they wasted their money on it.

Because its fun.

Because it feeds into that desperate need of being a momma.

 

[HBuehler]

Hatcheries are only NPIP you can bring in who knows what for diseases with them
Also they are not the same quality usually as breeders have and we want to improve our breeding flock.Shipping them is often an only option as rare breeds are hard to find and chances are it's not going to be local for you.
Not all breeds are as cheap to buy from hatcheries as the more common breeds.MPC only offered real common breeds in that 25 pullet pack other than the rainbow pack .Try ordering 25 pullets of a rare exotic breed and see what that would cost you

Now,some of my egg only layers are from a hatchery and they are fine..just depends on what your goals are-eggs or eggs and improving and keeping a breed alive and or showing.
That said my babies are hatching as I type.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

There is no reason for hatcheries to have inferior stock...but they do. They could easily purchase quality birds or eggs and offer better specimens.

I would MUCH rather purchase chicks but just can't get SQ potential birds from hatcheries and many breeders of exhibition birds won't sell them.

 

[HippieChick2009]

The last time I bought chicks they seemed fine, but 4 ended up dying for no apparent reason, one has a twisted beak, and another a twisted neck! They were supposed to be purebred, and I suppose they are. Maybe they are inbred! Anyway, I like to incubate different breeds to add new blood to my flock! And it's a lot of fun!

 

[Ridgerunner]

For all the reasons stated by others.

Different hatcheries are different, but in geneal, hatchery stock is from chickens that are bred to lay eggs so they can hatch more chicks. They make a profit by hatching lots of chicks, not by feeding broody hens that are not laying. You wind up with chickens that may not be as broody as breeder raised birds.

They do not make a profit from severely culling their birds to try to get them to conform to standard. I think the breeders will tell you that all their chicks do not completely, perfectly conform to standards. It is a lot of hard work to get a few that conform and they have to constantly work on that. I do think some hatcheries are better about this than others.

Since they are motivated by something different than the breeders, they don't necessarily cull as hard for certain defects. And they are not as careful about mixing in new blood, so they can introduce defects. Again, some hatcheries are better than others about this.

There is no such thing as a purebred chicken. You cannot tell by DNA what breed a chicken is. All the breeds were developed from crosses or sports (mutations). It takes constant work to keep a breed conforming to standard as much as possible.

With all that said, the hatchery chicks are probably going to be good layers, at least for their breed. They will generally conform to standards but will not be anywhere near the show birds you would get from a breeder. They will generally have the characterists and personality of the breed. They normally make great pets. And not all breeders are of the same quality. You don't always get birds that are better than the hatchery birds, but your odds are better.

 

[lauralou]

Quote:
You are asking about buying eggs from the same hatchery that you bought chicks from, right?

That being the case, I can't really understand why someone would buy eggs from a regular hatchery. When you could get sexed pullets cheaper. Hmmm. I'm just not sure about that one.

 

[kagedgoddess]

i thought this was silly at first too, but i ordered showgirl eggs cuz i cant go pick up day olds anywhere near me. i m not driving 5 hrs for some chickens. others i guess to do it for quality, hatcherys dont have the best. still, i think for some, like say black copper marans, i d just drive even 10hrs to get some live ones vs eggs that might not hatch!

 

[SallyF]

Quote:
Re: statement #5. At last it's out in the open! Chicks are our faux babies! And they don't talk back when they're teen-agers.