Advice on Buying First Chicks

[North_FL_Coops]

We happen to be in Central Florida, and my dad and I started raising a new batch of chicks this past February. We waited in line for about two hrs at a local animal feed store, since Tractor Supply kept selling out before we got there. Saw about 100 chicks arrive via USPS in a box, and there was a label on the box saying it came from a hatchery in Missouri, that sells them wholesale. They were about $6 each. So I think hatchery or retail store are both good options, since they all come from hatcheries anyway.

One notable difference is that, if purchasing from local farms instead, sometimes farms don't vaccinate their chicks. The places that vaccinate are often NPIP certified.

After this recent experience with the difficulty with getting chicks (I probably called Tractor Supply and the store I went to about 20 times before finally being able to buy some), I went and made a web app for fun called chickenmap.com that maps all the places to buy chicks from, nationwide. Have been slowly adding new states each week, and thinking about improvements (like maybe filtering by more detailed breeds). Would like to grow this into something that helps people since backyard chickens seems to be getting more popular every year, and people ask about where to buy chickens all the time.

So glad we started with 10 (because originally we were thinking about 20), and maaan do they eat a lot when they're no longer little fluff balls. 3 Sounds like a good start, wishing you good luck!

Well, that’s a creative solution! Cheers!

 

[andread]

Good to know that about TS. Thanks for the advice!

check with locals on your specific TSC as they vary wildly in knowledge and reliability. near me the tsc staff is awesome and if you buy sexed sex link or auto sexing chicks, roosters are rare. straight run is always a guess

 

[Vicker]

Pros and cons with any option. Personally I don't want to deal with the possibility of opening up a box of dead chicks, so I'd rather pay the feed store to deal with that knowing they'll mark up the price a bit to cover shipping costs. Can the wrong chicks end up in the wrong bin? Sure (best counter to that would be to know what the breeds you are interested in look like as chicks, to minimize misidentification). The hatchery can also accidentally mail you the wrong chicks too. But having the chicks right in front of you gives you an opportunity to see them first hand and refuse any that seem off for any reason.

Absolutely! Know how to identify breeds and if they're sex-linked, know the male v female traits. I've had Tractor Supply workers not realize there were male barred rock chicks mixed with the pullets.

 

[MSRider]

Read all the posts in this thread. Found them interesting and informative. I never had any chicks shipped in because I didn't want to chance getting some in the shipment that were deceased.

I started my life with chickens with chicks purchased from local TSC and continued to buy chicks from TSC and feed stores through the years. I had very good luck buying both sex link and straight run chicks. Yes, a few times a straight run chick has turned out to be a roo but I hooked up with a couple of 4-H Chicken Project members and they would check the sex of the chicks at the store (stores were fine with letting us do that). That helped to keep me from ending up with roo chicks when I was buying the straight run chicks.

In 2021 I moved my chickens, livestock and self to Douglas County, Oregon. It's chick Nirvana! Not only do the local TSC, Farmer's Coop and feed stores have chicks but there are also several farmers and private individuals who have chicks in season and sell to the public. Also, with the private breeders there is quite a wide variety of breeds available including some of the more exotic breeds of chickens.
I actually connected with some breeders through Craig's list and was able to visit their property to see the chicks and chickens they had. The prices were a little less than I paid for chicks at the local Farmer's Co-op.

Best of luck with your chicken endeavors!

 

[Wild Chickens]

All of mine came from Ideal Poultry in Cameron TX Minimum order is 5 birds. Never had a problem.