In addition to hatcheries in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States, we provide day-old chicks, custom hatching, and international transport of chicks to the eastern providences of Canada, including Ontario and Quebec. Egg laying operations depend on us for their supply of ready to lay pullets. Our brown egg layers are floor raised, fully vaccinated, and tested for Avian Influenza and Salmonella Enteriditis. At 16 weeks, the birds are ready to transition to conventional housing or into pastured egg production.
Whether you are reselling day-old chicks or ready to lay pullets, we can offer dealer pricing. We are proud to partner with you to provide quality, affordable chicks and ready to lay pullets to your customers.
When weather extremes are expected, the postal service may not accept chicks for shipment until the weather improves.
They do not require water or feed up to 3 or 4 days. It is important, however, to pick up chicks as soon as they arrive so they can get water and feed. The breed of chicken is important depending on the purpose of the birds. These birds lay brown shelled eggs and are considered a dual-purpose breed, good for eggs and meat. These breeds or strains have been selected for increased egg production.
The production reds lay brown shelled eggs while the Leghorns lay eggs with white shells. Production hens can be expected to produce about eggs per year, compared to the dual purpose types that lay about to eggs. If chickens will be grown primarily for meat, Cornish Cross, or the slower growing "Red Broilers" are the best choice.
While all chickens can be used for meat, the Cornish Cross are the most efficient in terms of weight gain and feed usage than all other breeds or crosses. These birds should be ready for processing at about 6 to 7 weeks of age. Slow growing broilers can reach the larger weights but will take several weeks longer and significantly more feed.
Fancy breeds are pretty to look at but generally make poor production birds. These should not be used if production efficiency is desired. Finally, bantams are simply small birds that produce small eggs due to their size. Again, they are pretty to look at but not very productive.
Finally, when purchasing chicks it is important to purchase vaccinated birds, if available. There is a small increased cost for these birds but it well worth the extra cost. For those who raise organic birds, the vaccine does not affect their organic status. Young chicks should be fed a chick starter diet until they are about 6 weeks old. Chickens grown for meat should be fed a starter formulated for meat chickens. Other starters will not support the rapid growth of the Cornish Cross breed.
If organic production is desired, organic feeds are available at most feed outlets. Is that enough eggs for your family? How many do you eat per week? Will you eat more if you have them out in your backyard? And if you do have too many, can you sell them or give them away easily? Never purchase more chicks than will fit in your run and coop — this can cause a whole host of health problems. And remember, this may sound obvious, but many people often forget it — adult chickens are going to take up a lot more space than baby chicks!
A general rule of thumb is about 10 square feet per chicken in the run you can get away with slightly less in the coop.
Finally, remember that baby chicks are shipped incredibly young, and as a result, not all will live through the journey. There may be some deaths during shipment, so you should order a few extra to accommodate for those losses. Just remember that chickens are social animals and should be kept in a group.
Do not get any fewer than three chickens, as they will not thrive in groups smaller than that. Luckily, most of the hatcheries that we mentioned above have easily accessible websites — many of them also have blogs where you can read more about their shipping policies and how to handle newborn or freshly shipped! With practice comes perfection. Ordering new baby chicks online is one of the best ways to begin building a healthy, happy, and productive backyard flock.
To be fair, there are many alternatives to buying birds online — but the benefits of online hatcheries typically outweigh other options. Buying chicks from your local feed store is the second-best option to buying them from an online hatchery.
When you purchase from a local feed store, the chicks are still shipped, but you can support a local business with your purchase. You can get exactly as many birds as you want, too, with no minimum number required in most cases. Another benefit of ordering chicks from the local feed store is that, in most cases, you can return a rooster if you accidentally receive one.
You eliminate the need for your chicks to be shipped, which can reduce the likelihood of deaths due to stress during shipment.
This is also a good way to find some local breeders. You can purchase chicks directly through these stores. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Not sure where to look? Here are some of the best places to buy chicks and chickens! Here are some of the best place to buy chickens and chicks online. This company sells a variety of unique breeds, including White Bantam Silkies. You do, however, have to order at least 25 birds per shipment.
Murray McMurray Hatchery The name might be funny to say, but Murray McMurray Hatchery is really no joke — this company sells all kinds of poultry but is best known for its chicks. The company is one of the largest American hatcheries and is headquartered in Iowa.
Cackle Hatchery Cackle Hatchery is located in Missouri and is one of the largest online sellers of baby chicks. Freedom Ranger Hatchery A family-owned hatchery in the center of the Pennsylvania Dutch country, Freedom Ranger Hatchery specializes in sales of slow-growing broiler chickens for small farms as well as organic, free-range, and pastured poultry operations.
Most orders come with a minimum of 15 birds. My Pet Chicken My Pet Chicken is one of the best places to go if you are looking for information about how to raise chickens, but this company also sells chicks online.
A minimum order of 25 chicks is required. Purely Poultry Purely Poultry sells all kinds of chickens along with waterfowl, peafowl, turkeys, quail, and more. Townline Hatchery Townline Hatchery has been around for well over years. They have a great customer service team that can answer any questions you might have.
They offer free shipping on day-old poultry for most breeds, too. Ridgeway Hatchery Ridgeway Hatchery has a 96 year reputation of providing high-quality mail-order chicks. So, determine your production purpose first and choose the appropriate breed. White Leghorn , Hyland, Shaver etc. Silkie , Asil , Shamo etc. After selecting the breed, contact with your local poultry chick supplier and ask them for the desired breed.
Determine whether you want to have fertile eggs or want to purchase day old chicks.
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