The very first time we ever had chickens we got just two from a local farm store. They only offered a few breeds and we chose Araucana chicks (which I now know were more likely Americanas or Easter Eggers). Pure breed Araucanas are expensive and fairly rare. While Easter Eggers or any of the clever spellings of Americaunas, Americanas etc are more of a mixed breed. They all lay colored eggs though and that's a lot of fun if you have children or like a colorful egg basket. We had those two chickens for a few years but they were more like pets than farm animals. The next two times we bought chicks we chose hatcheries that would deliver a box of chicks in the mail to us. For this year we're mixing it up and using both a feed store and a breeder in our state we'll also be hatching out a few eggs of our own. Below I'll list the pros and cons of each method of acquiring chicks.
FARM OR FEED STORE. The pros usually include low price, most feed store chicks will only cost between $2-$4 the feed store covers the shipping cost. Another pro is that the feed store will only set out the chicks that are healthy after shipping, if there are some that have shipping stress they will likely deal with those chicks behind the scenes to try and help them thrive. If the worst has happened and some chicks didn't make it through shipping you will never know since the feed store will have taken the appropriate steps. Another big pro is that feed store chicks are usually sorted into all pullets (females) so you do not have to worry about excess roosters. The cons for feed store chicks include limited selection in many cases and limited choice on when your chicks will arrive. Most feed stores will have just a handful of breeds available, usually the more popular or common breeds and just a few different dates to choose from for their arrival. Also most feed stores will not offer older birds that are at the point of laying. There are exceptions to everything though and I do know of a farm store in our state that has many breeds of chicks from February-late fall and limited breeds over the winter and they also offer started pullets that are ready to lay all through the year.
HATCHERIES. Hatcheries can ship day old baby chicks to you because baby chicks are born with enough food and liquid from their yolk to make it up to three days without food or water. This is natures way to protect the chicks because with a mama chicken hatching a clutch the chicks won't all hatch on the same day and mama won't leave the nest to take her chicks for food and water until she knows that all her viable eggs have hatched. Hatcheries will offer you more choices than you might have thought possible! I had no idea there were so many breeds of chickens until I looked over some hatchery websites. You will find chickens that lay many colors of eggs to choose from, white egg layers, brown egg layers, blue, green, pink, cream or even chocolate eggers. Most hatcheries will sell everything from common chicks at $2 each up to extremely rare chicks which can cost $15, $20 or even upwards of $50 a piece! The pros include the wide selection, almost unlimited dates in which you can have your chicks shipped to you and usually a choice of ordering just a few chicks or many hundreds, you can order 50 Buff Orpingtons or 50 chicks each one a different breed. You can order just a few and select exactly what you want. Another big pro is that you can choose female chicks or pullets only, a mix which is called straight run or maybe add just one young male called a cockerel to your order. One major con is the shipping price, especially if you're choosing to order just a few. the minimum order for my area is 7 chicks but I will need to pay more than double the shipping cost for 7 than if I order over 15. This is so that the chicks can be packaged safely when you order smaller amounts of chicks they need more packing materials and sometimes heat packs to stay warm enough on their journey. Another con is that shipping stress happens and when you pick up your box of chicks from the post office, usually first thing in the morning, you may have chicks that need special attention to thrive. You may even have some that don't make it. You will need to be ready with knowledge and supplements in case you open that box and find some are struggling. We had one chick shipment that did include quite a few chicks that needed an extra boost on arrival and we had another shipment where all were fine, bright and bubbly. You just never know. As for older birds many hatcheries do offer started pullets but at a price and the shipping may be high, those older birds need to travel quickly and safely to get to you. If you want to go the hatchery route some of the most popular hatcheries for those in the USA include www.mypetchicken.com, www.meyer.com, www.cacklehatchery.com, www.mcmurrayhatchery.com and www.idealpoultry.com.
LOCAL CHICKEN BREEDERS. Some of the pros here include healthy chicks hatched in a place where they are well cared for. Most breeders really care about their birds and strive to produce high quality chicks. they are always working to improve the breeds that they offer. There really is a difference between hatchery stock and breeder stock with the breeder stock usually being higher quality and true to the breed standard. This is important if you want to become a breeder yourself or show birds in poultry shows. The cons include often higher prices which are usually merited due to the higher quality birds and the biggest con for many, STRAIGHT RUN. This means that you will be likely to receive about 50% female chicks and 50% male chicks. Almost all breeders will only sell straight run chicks to you. This means that down the road you have to figure out what to do with all those roosters. Having said that, some, usually not a lot but some breeders will sell older birds that have grown enough to tell gender. I was able to order some fancy Frizzled Cochins for this year from such a breeder. Places to find local breeders include online sources, word of mouth from other chicken keepers or craigslist.
Those are the three most common ways to acquire your baby chicks or older birds. There is one more option but it's probably best reserved for the more experienced chicken keeper or those wishing to do some research. You can buy HATCHING EGGS from many hatcheries and many local breeders. This means you will receive fertile eggs that you will need to incubate for around 21 days if they're chicken eggs (other fowl have different incubation lengths). The pros would include choosing eggs from the breeds you want and a fun and educational experience. Cons include... yes there it is again STRAIGHT RUN. You get what you get with hatching eggs, it's random and usually around 50/50 cockerels to pullets. Also you will need to purchase an incubator (or a broody hen). Incubators can be expensive and broody hens aren't best suited for the novice chicken keeper.
As for which chick breeds to choose this is a very individual choice. Some people like a flock of all one breed, they feel comfortable knowing they have a breed they know well and can depend on. Others, like me, prefer a mixed flock. Some of my birds are excellent layers and some only so-so. I enjoy my diverse flock and can put up with the mixed rates of lay. To find breeds you might enjoy look around the hatchery websites or on the popular website www.backyardchickens.com . To compare some of the more popular chicken breeds check out this handy chart: Henderson's chicken chart, http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html.
Those are the basics for acquiring your first baby chicks or started birds. If anyone would like to add further information feel free to do so in the comments. Next time I will tackle brooding your chicks. What types of brooders can you use and things you need to know for the first few weeks.
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