swedish flower hens

[my beautiful girls]

i am interested in swedish flower hens. I live in california. I have never had chicks shipped, it really makes me nervous. I would like to find some in california so I could drive and pick them up.

Any recommendations for chicks in california? I had google searched and not much I could find.

how do they sex the chicks?

Do majority of private sales vs commerical sales vaccinate for marek's? I need vaccinated chicks.

I have a very small flock and cannot afford more than one rooster, if any.

Does anyone know of more, docile, landrace breeds? I was looking at barred plymouth rock hens and buckeye hens as well. they seem to be more of established, disease resistant breed from what I have read.

thank you to anyone who has some recommendations.

 

[Amer]

Local breeders typically sell straight run, unvaccinated chicks. If you are worried about Mareks and getting female birds, maybe you should consider started pullets rather than chicks.

 

[Amer]

Buckeye hens are a good choice as a docile heritage breed. I can personally vouch for them. (They are not landrace, landrace means a nonstandard breed. Heritage means an older breed.)

 

[Amer]

You can choose to order the vaccine and do the vaccination yourself, however, if you do order chicks and the breeder doesn't do vaccination.

 

[CraziChknLady]

I purchased mine from Bresse Farms last year. Received them Sept 2024. It was a straight run and all of them made it through the mail no problem. You might be able to search to see if any local, smaller farms are closer to you.