Advice on Buying First Chicks

[North_FL_Coops]

Many places have minimums above three. So find your state chat thread in the "Where am I? Where are you!" section of this forum and chat with your neighbors. Try to find someone willing to split an order. Or see what they have on hand.

Do you have to have baby chicks? They can be really hard to sex. You could try to find POL pullets. Point Of Lay pullets will cost a lot more but you don't have to buy feed to get them to POL and you can avoid some brooder and brooding costs. Since you only want 3 it might not be that bad of a way to go. Your neighbors may have some. With POL pullets you should know that they are pullets. With most sexed pullets from a hatchery there is about a 90% chance they will be sexed correctly.

No matter what you try someone can tell you of something that might go wrong. I'm thinking specifically of the comment on Tractor Supply but mistakes can be made at any feed store, shipping from any hatchery, or from your neighbors. That's just the nature of human beings, mistakes can be made. If I could find what I wanted at Tractor Supply or any other feed store I'd be willing to go that route. It does help if you know what you are looking for.

Is there a Facebook or other local chat group dealing with chickens you can join and chat with them? There are some around.

If you can get over the feed store taboo chat with someone there and see if they have a bulletin board where you can post a notice. You might ask if someone is willing to split an order if the feed store has a minimum purchase limit.

You might call your local extension office and chat with them. Tell them what you want and see if they can offer help. Like everything else some are better than others but I think it is worth a call.

Good luck!

What a thoughtful response! Thanks so much. I’m realizing there’s a lot more to consider.

 

[Gezellige_Poes]

We’re planning on getting three chicks to start our feathered family and was wondering which avenue would be best for starting out. I’ve read I can get sexed chicks at Tractor Supply for a reasonable price, but I was curious if buying from online/local hatcheries would be better.

The one thing I’ve noticed is that buying sexed chicks from local/online hatcheries seems to be fairly expensive. Also, some of the online places require a minimum purchase of five or ten chicks.

We’re wanting to start small and really only have limited coop space (picked up an Omlet for “cheap” and don’t want to overcrowd).

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

Edit: I'm in North Florida, if that matters.

Try My Pet Chicken, online. Their min is 3. Their inventory is updated and changes frequently as peeps are born, and you can be auto-notified if you are interested in a specific breed.

 

[North_FL_Coops]

Try My Pet Chicken, online. Their min is 3. Their inventory is updated and changes frequently as peeps are born, and you can be auto-notified if you are interested in a specific breed.

Thank you!

 

[Gezellige_Poes]

Thank you!

Also, their customer service is outstanding! Very caring folks who love chickens for the awesome, sentient beings they are! They care very much about all the chickens they have, and are committed to happy, healthy peeps! I just ordered 3 hens from them after much research and deliberation, as my space is limited. I paid 24.99 per hen, added the Merck vaccine, which from what I've read, is really only effective in newborn chicks, another extensive research project. I tried to find some locally, and they were sold out and I experienced great anxiety at the mere thought of competing with the hoards. Plus, finding chicks locally is rather a crap shoot and then all the time spent vetting them and worrying whether their chickens are properly maintained, whether they are carrying anything, are they dewormed and on and on. I've seen pictures on ads where my only response was Ewww at how the chickens are kept!

They also have great products available, the feed is way more expensive than, say, Tractor Supply, and some treats you can find cheaper on Amazon, but I do know that they stand behind their products. And I've decided to try some of their organic feeds.

I guess, bottom line, I'd rather pay more and know I'm getting happy, healthy peeps and quality products.

One thing to know, which I actually found to be true across the many, many online hatcheries I researched, that inventory is very unstable. I can speculate about that all day long, from bird flu panic, to egg prices and availability,... So, for My Pet Chicken, I stayed very tuned in to their website, put in auto-notifications, and my persistence paid off.

 

[North_FL_Coops]

Also, their customer service is outstanding! Very caring folks who love chickens for the awesome, sentient beings they are! They care very much about all the chickens they have, and are committed to happy, healthy peeps! I just ordered 3 hens from them after much research and deliberation, as my space is limited. I paid 24.99 per hen, added the Merck vaccine, which from what I've read, is really only effective in newborn chicks, another extensive research project. I tried to find some locally, and they were sold out and I experienced great anxiety at the mere thought of competing with the hoards. Plus, finding chicks locally is rather a crap shoot and then all the time spent vetting them and worrying whether their chickens are properly maintained, whether they are carrying anything, are they dewormed and on and on. I've seen pictures on ads where my only response was Ewww at how the chickens are kept!

They also have great products available, the feed is way more expensive than, say, Tractor Supply, and some treats you can find cheaper on Amazon, but I do know that they stand behind their products. And I've decided to try some of their organic feeds.

I guess, bottom line, I'd rather pay more and know I'm getting happy, healthy peeps and quality products.

One thing to know, which I actually found to be true across the many, many online hatcheries I researched, that inventory is very unstable. I can speculate about that all day long, from bird flu panic, to egg prices and availability,... So, for My Pet Chicken, I stayed very tuned in to their website, put in auto-notifications, and my persistence paid off.

Good to know! Many thanks!

 

[Iluveggers]

I love Meyer, but the 8 chicks I ordered for this week had shipping costs of $65 not $15. Don't know any place that is only $15. I hadn't ordered online for a few years & ended up canceling as I got what I wanted from my local feed store.

McMurray USPS fee is $15 when you order 15 or more chicks (shipping is free but the USPS has a new fee). I always place a big order to keep shipping down, and find it easy in my area to sell extra pullet chicks I don’t want to keep. Especially this year, I have a waiting list of 5 people and someone paid ahead just to make sure they get some of my extras (I only charge what the chicks cost and divide the $15 ship fee & taxes into it).

 

[North_FL_Coops]

McMurray USPS fee is $15 when you order 15 or more chicks (shipping is free but the USPS has a new fee). I always place a big order to keep shipping down, and find it easy in my area to sell extra pullet chicks I don’t want to keep. Especially this year, I have a waiting list of 5 people and someone paid ahead just to make sure they get some of my extras (I only charge what the chicks cost and divide the $15 ship fee & taxes into it).

Wow, it’s amazing that so many people are trying to get chicks. I don’t have the space for that many, unfortunately.

 

[Iluveggers]

Wow, it’s amazing that so many people are trying to get chicks. I don’t have the space for that many, unfortunately.

That’s why I sell the extras. First dibs on the ones I want to keep and then sell the rest. If you did that this year I’m guessing you’d have no problem offloading the extras…every farm store around here is sold out of newly arrived within 2 hours!

 

[No Coop No Problem]

I was curious if buying from online/local hatcheries would be better.

Buying from local breeders is nearly always superior to buying from a hatchery. Hatcheries have peculiar conditions that create odd behaviors in chickens that a local breeder typically would have solved, such as aggression. In a hatchery environment the most violent roosters breed most often. Whereas most backyard chicken keepers wouldn't keep aggressive roosters at all

As someone else pointed out, it would probably be best to buy point-of-lay pullets from someone local

We’re wanting to start small and really only have limited coop space (picked up an Omlet for “cheap” and don’t want to overcrowd).

The Omelet chicken thing is extremely small IIRC. I would definitely keep a minimal number of chickens in there, with an attached run of some kind

 

[Growley Monster]

Shipping is the riskiest part of a baby chick's life, or so it appears. If they make it to you in fine health after being subjected to the uncaring treatment of USPS, then you are probably getting pretty good chicks from established and reputable hatcheries. First time I ever ordered peeps online dilivered by mail, I received my order 8 days ago and got 17 out of 17 cheepers in perfect condition. BUT, my post office is in a very small town, a few hundred residents, one girl working the post office by herself and she always remembers me. Have them shipped to a major metropolitan area post office and you won't get the same customized/personal service. Long transit times can subject the babies to rough handling and dangerously high or low temperatures for a full day or two, easily. The first week or two of a chick's life is very temperature critical. After that, you have a bit more wiggle room and after 3 or 4 weeks for most breeds it is not the big deal that many people make it out to be. The thing is, the shipping is the most dangerous part of their little lives, and with day-old peeps that is also exactly when they are most vulnerable.

So, depending on your location, locally bought poultry, even at a premium price, might be the way to go, especially if you only want a handful of peepers. If you intend to never eat them, then you probably will want to sort of bond with them like pets, so picking them out in person can be a real event. THAT ONE, the one with the funny little waggly walk, and THAT one, the one that likes to jump! THIS one, she came right up to my hand to check me out! Sort of like adopting a new dog from the shelter or buying a pup at the pet shop.

Sexing them is an art and you can be wrong even after watching every single youtube posted in the last 10 years. But the feed & seed can be wrong, and the hatchery can be wrong, Old McDonald and Mr. GreenJeans can be wrong, too. And if you just want two or three, raised pullets honestly are not THAT expensive, and you don't have to worry about caponizing or harvesting or re-homing a noisy rooster if your neighbors make a stink.

I will say that capons can be very friendly and live a long time, even if you don't want them for roasting. Hard to find a vet that will do it, though, and DIY is risky, for that first attempt, so not a great idea if you won't be operating on chicks on-going. No DIY surgeon wants to be 0 for 1. 9 for 10 or 99 for 100 is a bit easier to live with. First attempts can of course be successful and usually they are, but the risk is there, because there is no teacher like experience, and you don't have any of that yet.

There are anti-crow neck bands, too, but if not applied properly they are uncomfortable or even hazardous to your rooster, or else the rooster can still crow loud enough to set off car alarms.

Re-homing the boys can be difficult in a city or a densely populated suburb. For the same reasons you don't want them, your neighbors won't want them, either. Some breeds can be released into the wild and do fairly well, some breeds definitely not. In New Orleans, where we used to live, backyard chickens are a thing, and especially since Katrina, there are several flocks of feral chickens right there in town, roosting in the oaks, scratching and foraging on vacant lots. But roosters released into the wild probably not live long and happy lives without human care. If they are young, it may simply be more humane to harvest them as fryers, however you might feel about it.

Buying raised pullets ready or nearly ready to lay, is a nearly foolproof way to get laying hens without any roosters. If you are buying a dozen, then the economics of grown or nearly grown pullets don't make much sense, and you probably want babies, even if that maybe gives you unwanted roosters.

With a tiny mini-coop, you might consider getting a second one, and then go ahead and get 4 or maybe 6 sexed pullet chicks. That will pretty nearly keep a couple or a small family in eggs or nearly in eggs, when the hens hit their stride. With that small a number, you can give each one plenty of bonding and personal attention if you are into that, or if you have kids.