Starting with fertile eggs

If you’re thinking of starting your chicken-raising adventure with fertile eggs, you may want to reconsider. Each fertile egg has an embryo in suspended growth. Fertile eggs are difficult to store correctly and even more difficult to ship — they’re likely to break or become chilled or overheated. They must be packed so that they don’t experience too much jostling and shaking, because too much shaking kills the embryo. Catalogs and breeders that sell fertile eggs rarely guarantee that any will hatch. Fertile eggs usually cost nearly the same as chicks, too. Finally, incubation with even the best models of incubators can be a tricky process.

The only source for some rare or heritage breeds may be fertile eggs that you have to hatch yourself. If you’re faced with this situation, or if you insist on starting with fertile eggs, try to find a local source of eggs: Your chances of hatching the eggs will be better. If you plan to hatch eggs, get your incubator set up and adjusted before the eggs arrive and place them in it promptly upon arrival. Don’t expect more than about 50 percent to hatch.

Before buying expensive hatching eggs of rare breeds, you may want to practice hatching less expensive eggs of common breeds to get some experience.

Starting with chicks

Many people start with chicks because they fall in love with some at the farm store or someone gives their kids chicks for Easter. Beginning your chicken-raising experience with baby chicks is probably the most economical and practical way to start, for the following reasons:

• You can choose from a wide assortment of breeds.
• Chicks are less likely to carry disease and parasites than older birds, especially if you buy them from a well-run hatchery.
• You don’t have to guess how old the birds are.
• Most hatcheries will sex the chicks for you, so you don’t have to guess at sex.
• Chicks usually cost less than older birds.

Many mail-order hatcheries operate across the United States. You can order chicks by catalog or from online sites. Some have dozens of breeds available; others specialize in one or two breeds. Baby chicks survive the trip through the mail pretty well. In the “Mail-order hatcheries” section later in this chapter, we discuss the mail-order process.

When you mail-order baby chicks, you’re usually required to order at least a minimum number of chicks. Usually this is 25 chicks, which may be 20 more chicks than you need or want. If you live near a hatchery and can pick up the chicks, you may be able to purchase fewer. You may also have local chicken breeders in your area who will sell you just a few chicks. A local feed store may be able to tell you who sells chicks, too.

Chicks are cute, but for many people, they may not be the best way to begin keeping chickens. Baby chicks do have their drawbacks:

• They need TLC. All baby animals take extra time and effort to care for.
• They’re fragile. Small children and pets can easily damage or kill them.
• They require special brooding equipment. They need to be kept warm and protected.
• Their quality is hard to judge. Judging the quality of a chick is difficult, so if you want to show chickens, you need to keep a lot of chicks until they’re adults so you can then pick the best of the bunch.
• They need time to mature. If you want chickens for eggs, know that pullet (female) chicks need at least 5 months to mature and begin to lay eggs. Some breeds need several months longer.
• Their sex is hard to determine. While hatcheries can do a pretty good job of sexing chicks, you may not end up with as many hens as you expect, and then you’ll have extra roosters to deal with, too. If you buy your chicks from a private breeder, his or her skills at sexing chicks may be poor, and you may not get any hens at all.
• They need extra protection. If you just want chickens for living lawn ornaments, it’s going to be several months before they can be allowed to roam safely. You may want to consider adult birds if you’re the impatient type.

To learn more about what it takes to raise baby chicks, turn to Chapter 14.

Instead of newly hatched chicks, a few hatcheries and some local breeders offer what are called started birds, or older chicks. The exact definition of started chicks varies: In some cases, it means chicks that are a few weeks; other times, it means birds that are nearly grown. Started chicks are easier to sex, and you may have a better idea of their show quality. They take less time to reach productive age, a plus if you’re buying layers. Meat chickens grow so fast that they’re seldom offered as started birds. However, the number of breeds you can purchase as started birds is less than the number of breeds available as baby chicks. The birds cost considerably more to ship because they’re heavier and require special handling. If you want started chicks, order them early in the season because the supply is usually limited.

Make sure you know what age the offered birds are, particularly if you’re interested in avoiding the use of a brooder.

Starting with adults

You may worry that baby chicks will be too hard to raise. Or maybe you want egg production right away, or you want to be able to assess the show qualities of the birds you buy. In these cases, your best bet is to start with adult birds.

Buying adult birds has both pros and cons. Following are some of the negatives:

• Many people find it impossible to tell how old a chicken is once it’s an adult.
• Older hens lay fewer or even no eggs.
• Old roosters may not be fertile.
• Some people have a hard time sexing adult birds, although with most breeds, a little experience soon helps with that.
• Adult birds may have been exposed to many diseases and are more likely to have parasites than chicks. You’ll need to examine the birds carefully before you buy.

On the plus side:

• You can quickly assess the quality and color of an adult bird.
• Adult birds require less fussing to get them established in their new home.
• Young adult layers will quickly start providing you with breakfast.

Mail-order hatcheries

A baby chick catalog is dangerous, with all its interesting breeds and those cute pictures! You can order chicks by catalog or from online sites from dozens of hatcheries across the United States. Most hatcheries have a list of ship dates. You choose the date for your chicks to be shipped that’s closest to the time you want them.

In most hatcheries, eggs are hatched according to demand, so when you order 25 Rhode Island Red chicks, the hatchery adds 25 or so Rhode Island Red eggs to the incubator, which hatch in about 21 days. This description is a simplification of the process, but it serves as a reminder that you need to allow some time between when you order chicks and when you want to receive them.

Don’t think that you need to order a lot of extras because many of the chicks will die. Mail-order hatcheries commonly add a free chick or two to shipments to cover shipping losses. If you take care of your chicks correctly, you shouldn’t lose many of them.

Baby chicks can be safely shipped by U.S. Mail at most times of the year. They’re shipped on the day after they hatch and normally take 24 hours to reach you. Baby chicks can survive well without food or water for 2 or 3 days after hatching. Remnants of the egg yolk are attached to them, and the chicks slowly absorb it all in the first few days after hatching, which makes eating and drinking unnecessary. The chicks are packed closely into boxes so that the combined body heat helps warm them — hatcheries maintain the usual 25-chick minimum order for this reason.

Chicks come in different colors. If you’re ordering chicks of multiple breeds but similar colors that may be difficult to tell apart, ask the hatchery if it can separate the breeds with a cardboard divider.

Even in groups of 25, baby chicks can become chilled or overheated during shipping. Order your chicks when the weather is mild in your area. It’s also a good idea to order from hatcheries that are within one shipping day of your home. Being in transit for longer than that stresses the chicks and causes more deaths.

Generally, when chicks are shipped to a post office, the office will call and ask you to pick up the chicks, so be prepared to do so. If the carrier knows someone will be home to accept the chicks, he or she may deliver them, too. Believe me, post offices are generally eager to get the chicks to you because the peeping from unhappy chicks, especially a lot of them, can get annoying.

When you pick up your chicks or get them delivered, immediately open the box and inspect them. Let your post office clerk or carrier know if you find a lot of dead chicks. Some hatcheries don’t guarantee safe arrival, but many do, and you must fill out a claim at the post office to get a refund or replacement. Count the chicks before you file a claim. Some hatcheries add extra chicks to the order to account for losses.

We’ve ordered chicks through the mail many, many times and have had a bad experience only one time. We had about 50 percent of the chicks arrive dead one time when the box was delayed an extra day because a big snowstorm late in the season delayed mail shipments.

To find reputable hatcheries in your area of the country, ask other chicken owners where they got their birds or visit an online site such as www.backyardchickens.com to see what the forum members recommend.

Local breeders

Local breeders have small hatcheries or use hens to hatch eggs, and you visit their establishments to pick out chicks. We’re not talking about the guy at the flea market with a box of chicks for sale.

When you visit a local breeder, you can see how the chickens are kept and whether they look healthy and happy. You’ll probably be able to purchase just a few chicks and maybe chicks that are already off to a good start. You will have the help and advice of someone experienced with raising chickens.

The disadvantages of purchasing locally are that the breeds you want may not be available and the times of the year when chicks are available may be limited. Some breeders have chicks available most of the time; others want to incubate eggs only when you request chicks, so you may need to plan ahead.

Many breeders aren’t able to vaccinate chicks for several diseases the way large hatcheries can, and some may not know how to sex chicks — chick sexing is a specialized skill.

Oh, that guy with the box of chicks at the flea market? You don’t want to buy chicks from him because you don’t know how they were hatched, you have to take his word for what breed and sex they are, and you’re likely to end up with diseased or sickly chicks.

Farm stores

Many farm stores have chicks for sale in the spring. Some take orders for chicks, and others bring in batches of popular breeds to sell. The stores don’t make a lot of money off the chicks, but they’re hoping you’ll purchase starter feed, brooder lamps, water holders, and so on.

Some farm stores take preorders. You look at a list or catalog, decide what chicks you want, and order them at the store. Often you don’t have to order the 25-chick minimum, which can be helpful. Several orders are combined to make the shipping minimum. You generally prepay, and a few weeks pass between the day you place your order and the day you pick up the chicks.

The store can care for your babies if you aren’t available during post office hours to pick them up, although you shouldn’t expect it to care for them longer than a day.

With large, combined orders, customers’ individual orders are generally separated by cardboard barriers in the shipping box. Sometimes chicks manage to breach these barriers, and if the different breeds shipped look alike as chicks, some people may find they got the wrong breed or sex as the chicks get older.

Some farm stores also carry chicks for sale to impulse buyers. Check to see whether anyone knows what breed and sex the chicks are. If the store just bought a batch of cute, cheap, mixed chicks, they’re probably mostly roosters, and not the type that make good meat birds. You’ll want to avoid them.

If the farm stores can tell you that the chicks are broiler chicks or pullets from a laying strain of bird, you’ll be able to judge whether they suit your needs. Even if they’re a mix of laying breed pullets, for example, they may be a good buy. Look for lively chicks and make sure they’re being kept in a warm, clean environment, protected from too much handling. And remember how many you decided you needed — don’t overbuy because of the cuteness factor or because they’re on sale!

Chick color

When you’re looking in a catalog, you certainly can’t judge the health of a chick. You have to depend on the seller to send you good, healthy chicks. But you can check to see whether the catalog description tells you the color of the chick. Not all baby chicks are yellow. Some are brown, brown striped, gray, black, or reddish. Even if you’re going to pick chicks from a local breeder, you may want to check out some chick catalogs or websites so you have an idea of what the chicks should look like.

If you don’t know what color the chicks are supposed to be, you can generally assume that dark adult birds come from black, brown, or gray chicks. The chicks of chickens with variegated feathers, such as a partridge color, generally have faint dark stripes on a yellow or brown background. White, red, and buff chickens usually have chicks of various shades of yellow. But the color of chicks can vary from breed to breed and even among chicks from the same breed.

When you get your chicks, the color may tell you whether the company sent the right chicks. If the color seems off, check to see whether the hatchery reserved the right to substitute breeds if the breed you wanted wasn’t available. Usually you’ll be notified if you receive a substitute. If you have questions, call the hatchery. If you’re buying locally, you can ask the seller about the chicks’ color.

Chick sex

Unless the chicks are from a sex-linked line, it’s impossible to tell the sex of newly hatched chicks simply by looking at them — so don’t let people tell you that they can. Sex-linked chicks are hybrids of two breeds. The male chicks are one color and the females another, which makes sexing quite easy.

Some people are pretty good at picking out the sex of chicks as they grow by observing their combs and some of the feathers they’re growing. If the chicks you’re going to buy from a breeder are a few weeks old, the breeder may have a pretty good idea of the sex, but do expect some surprises.

The combs of cockerels generally grow a little faster than the combs of pullets. Cockerel tail feathers may also look different than those of pullets. As they get their adult feathers, sexing young birds becomes much easier.

It’s possible to tell the sex of chicks even at a few days of age by looking inside the vent area, but it isn’t easy. You have to look inside the cloaca with a strong light, sharp eyes, and some training. Most people, even breeders, have trouble doing it without harming the chick. Hatcheries employ experienced people to sex chicks if they offer sexed chicks other than sex-linked breeds. That’s why sexed chicks cost more.

If you’re picking the chicks from a group, you pretty much have to take your chances on whether you get males or females.

Type of comb and other breed characteristics

The comb of chicks is small but visible. When you examine the head of a baby chick, you should be able to tell whether the comb will be single, rose, or some other comb formation. You can’t tell whether the size and placement are proper until the bird is older.

Chicks of breeds with crests and topknots should have a puffy bump on the head or even a tiny topknot right from hatching. Sometimes this looks like a whorled area on the top of the head. You may also see the beginnings of muffs and beards on chicks from breeds with those traits. Of course, you won’t be able to judge their quality until the chicks are grown.

Feather-footed breeds are a bit more difficult to spot as chicks. Some have fluff growing down their legs, but in others, the difference from regular chicks is hard to spot.

If the breed you’re looking for is supposed to have five toes, look for the fifth toe on the back of the leg. Don’t confuse it with the bump that will become the spur; it should look much like the front toes. The color of a chick’s legs should match the breed’s characteristic color.

Health

Healthy chicks are active but not too noisy. Of course, they do sleep more than adults, like all baby animals, but if disturbed, they quickly get up and move away.

If a chick is sitting off by itself looking droopy, it may not be healthy. If a chick is touched and it responds very little, it probably isn’t healthy. If it’s lying on its back with its legs in the air, it’s definitely unhealthy!

Chicks that are noisy are unhappy and stressed, from being either cold or hungry and thirsty. When the chicks arrive in a shipping box, the stress is evident from the shrill cheeps. But if you place them in the right temperature with food and water, they should quickly calm down.

If you look at a content group of chicks in a proper brooder, some will be under the heat lamp or near it sleeping peacefully, while others will be eating or drinking or walking around. They will be quiet except for an occasional peep.

Chicks that are panting, with their beaks open, are either too warm or sick. If they appear normal after being cooled down, they should be fine. If the chicks are as far from the heat source as possible, it’s probably too hot. If they’re piled on each other near the heat source and peeping loudly, it’s probably too cold. If chicks are noisy but they aren’t obviously hot or cold and food and water are available, something else is wrong. While you can fix the temperature or hunger problem, avoid purchasing chicks if you can’t tell what’s wrong.

Baby chicks should have two bright, clear eyes, and their rear ends, or vent area, should be clean and not pasted up with feces. Their beaks should be straight, not twisted to one side. Some hatcheries trim the end of the beak to prevent chicks from picking at each other, so don’t be alarmed if the beak tip is missing. Their toes should be straight, not bent — or, worse, missing.

Newly hatched chicks have a slight lump on the belly where the egg yolk was, and that’s okay. But the belly area should not look sore and red. The chicks shouldn’t have any wounds or bloody areas.

Whether you buy chicks, hatch eggs, or adopt adult birds, having a healthy flock begins with choosing healthy birds. Healthy baby chicks will be noisy and active when they arrive in the mail. If many chicks are dead or appear weak and drowsy, contact the shipper right away.

Checking health

If you’re choosing your birds from a seller, look for active, alert birds in clean surroundings. Sick birds may look fluffed up and listless. Nasal discharge and runny eyes are other signs of illness. Unless it’s very hot where the chickens are, the birds shouldn’t be breathing with open beaks.

The birds shouldn’t have wounds, sores, or large bare patches. Hens that have been with a rooster may have a small bare area at the back of the neck and on the back from mating. This area doesn’t mean the birds aren’t healthy.

Most chickens molt in the fall, so fall isn’t a great time to pick chickens because they may look a bit scruffy. When a chicken molts, it loses its feathers and replaces them. This process can take as long as 7 weeks. Although birds that are molting aren’t exactly sick, molting puts them under stress, and if that stress is compounded by a change of environment or shipping, the chickens become more susceptible to illness. You can’t get a good idea of the birds’ feather color and quality, either.

Handle the chicken you intend to buy to see how the flesh feels under the feathers. Birds that are too thin or overly fat can have problems. Check the vent (under the tail) to make sure the feathers aren’t caked with diarrhea. Look to see whether all the toes are there, and check the comb for damage. Look through the feathers for parasites.

You may want to check a rooster’s temperament if you’re buying the bird on his home turf. Enter a coop with him and see whether he acts aggressively toward you. Aggressive roosters are a pain to work with and can even harm small children.

Healthy adult chickens should look like this:

• They have bright, clear eyes.
• They have clean nostrils, with no discharge.
• They breathe with their beaks shut, unless they’ve just been chased to be caught or it’s very hot.
• The comb and wattles are plump and glossy. In roosters, large blackened areas of the comb indicate frostbite, which may cause temporary infertility.
• They don’t have any swellings or lumps on the body. Don’t mistake a full crop on the neck for a lump.
• Their legs are smooth, with shiny skin. They have four or five toes, depending on the breed. They don’t have any swellings or lumps on the bottom of the feet.
• The feathers look smooth, and there are no large patches of bare skin. Look carefully through the feathers for lice.
• They’re alert and active.

Determining sex

The feathers and coloring in male and female chickens generally differ greatly. In only a few breeds are the coloration and feathering similar. Breeds that are all white or all black may be slightly harder to sex, but they still have color differences, even if they’re subtle.

Roosters generally have longer, arched tail feathers. The hackle feathers on the neck are pointed rather than rounded. Birds that show iridescence in the feathers of the neck and tail are most likely roosters, and you can see this iridescence in solid-color birds if you examine them closely.

A rooster’s comb and wattles are larger than those of a hen. Only roosters crow, and you can often get a rooster to crow by crowing at him.

Determining age

Figuring out an adult chicken’s age is hard. Hens continue to lay well for about 3 years, and roosters are fertile for about the same amount of time. After that, there’s only a slight chance that the birds will be able to reproduce. Some hens lay sporadically for many years. A chicken’s average life span is about 8 years, so you may be buying unproductive birds if you aren’t careful. You may be okay with that if you’re looking for only yard birds, but the birds should be priced lower than younger chickens.

Aged chickens have thick, scaly skin on the legs. The spur is long and wicked-looking on roosters. When a hen quits laying, she may develop a big spur, too.

Hens that are laying have deep-red, glossy, moist-looking combs and wattles. They have widely spaced pubic bones and a moist, large cloaca (the area where waste and eggs are passed). When hens are old or not laying, their combs and wattles look dull and dry. Their pubic bones seem close together, and the cloaca looks small and shriveled. Roosters also tend to have duller combs and wattles as they age.

Purchasing chickens for show

If you want good show birds, you need to get a book that describes the proper qualifications for chicken breeds and study it before purchasing birds. The American Poultry Association publishes a large book every few years that details breed standards. Attending some poultry shows and looking carefully at the winning birds also helps. Clubs operate for almost every breed of chicken, and they publish information on show qualifications for that breed.

No matter what you do, you will make some mistakes choosing show birds at first. Picking winning show chickens takes experience and some luck. Good, honest breeders try to get newcomers the best birds possible, so listen to their advice when picking birds.