I'm going to give mail order a try myself this spring. I'd like to buy young pullets but can't seem to locate any to purchase. McMurray Hatchery has Red started pullets for $8.00 that are 17 weeks old but I'm wanting something other than the Reds so I guess I'll have to go with the chicks again. Chicks are such needy little beggers, it's a lot easier when the hen goes broody and does all of the work for me. I thought about slipping baby chicks under her after she has set for a while but she can't take care of 25 and that's a minimum order through the mail. Maybe with your post we'll find the best mail order supplier. Or better for me I'll find someone who has pullets for sale!

Try QC Supply of Schuyler, NE PO Box 581 zip 68661. They sell chicks of several breeds and ship by mail Their website is at www.qcsupply.com. Good luck

Here's what mine looked like when I opened the box

{{gwi:34870}}

They all arrived fine, mine were also delivered in May.

If you can believe it there are 16 in that little box of peeps :)

-Sheila

ps. I ordered from Ideal

Shipping started and adult poultry can be quite expensive. Day olds are routinly shipped by hatcheries and the cost is reasonable.
I ship adults & started bantams; cost rundown:: 1 pair birds 25-50$+$10 for approved box+$25-$35 postage+$1per pound surcharge= approximate cost for 2 adult/started bantams is in the neighborhood of $75-$100. Large fowl would be more costly.
There are some hatcheries which will sell less # of chickes(15) but they add cockerels(free) for warmth during transit. These are usually egg laying type cockerels which do not have much dress out potential and will need to be "got rid of" eventually.
Some feed storres have chicks available in early spring.
Another option could be to purchase hatching eggs via mail and get an incubator or use a broody hen if available.
hatching eggs sell for $5-420 per doz+postage of about $8-10 per doz. I supply 3 breeds of hatching eggs $25 per doz. postage included. There is an poultry auction site(Egg Bid) which sells many types poultry and eggs, also they are at EBay.

Like fancifowl says, chicks are less expensive to ship than adult birds...but most hatcheries have a minumum order of 15 or 25 chicks, and they always toss in a few free chicks 'for warmth' (roos! *L*). You might ask around if someone will split a chick order with you locally, or enquire at the local feed store, if you don't want 25 birds.

You can try eggbid.com for eggs, chicks, adults and supplies, and might luck into finding a local breeder near you. Or check out feathersite.com, they have breed clubs and/or breeders listed under some breeds, they might be able to refer you to someone in your area.

I've never shipped hatching eggs myself, but I know people who do, and they say that the eggs must but placed somewhere undisturbed for a certain amount of time 'to settle' after shipping, and the hatch rate is not 100% due also to the shipping. But it's certainly a good alternative to shipping live birds, plus you get the fun of hatching the chicks! :)

If you do a search on this site for the subject of buying chicks via mail, you should come up with lots of posts, it's been discussed here several times.

Good luck and have fun!

Velvet ~:>

I've always gotten chickens by mail when we raised around 30 for meat. We never received any dead or injured ones and the shipper usually even threw in an extra chick or two for insurance. That was a long time ago and i dont remember the breeder. Recently we've just been buying a dozen or so layers from the feedstore every couple years. We usually wait and they'll order a bunch, then we'll take what everyone else doesnt want for cheaper.

Fancifowl says: "they add cockerels(free) for warmth during transit. These are usually egg laying type cockerels which do not have much dress out potential and will need to be "got rid of" eventually."

Fancifowl, I am just beginning to do research raising a few egg-laying chickens like Buffingtons. Just 4 or 6? Anyway, excuse my ignorance but this is the first I heard about throwing in cockerels (?) that need to be , uh, disposed of. How come, what are they? We want the chickens, as well, pets.
I don't really mind feeding some non-producers as every one in household is a whimp and softy.

Secondly , and this is for anybody out there, are there producers that would just send 6 and charge for the 25. I just don't need so many. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Beth - If you are interested in a choice of varieties, as you mentioned in your initial posting, Murray McMurray (as well as some other hatcheries) offer mixtures and specials made up of what was left from that week's hatches. You have your choice of several specials. Check their website. Also, as another poster mentioned, farm and feed stores often get in several different breeds that you can choose from.

Farkee,
The cockerels are male chicks that will grow into roosters that may or may not get along well together. They will also harass your hens. One rooster is plenty for the small flock you want. There is a minimum of 15-25 chicks because this is the minimum number to generate sufficient heat during transit. Maybe you can find someone else to go in on an order with you? Good luck.

David

I have ordered two years mail order chicks from McMurray Hatchery. I have really enjoyed getting the few-days old chicks. I am thinking of ordering from Sandhill Preservation now, tho because they do not cull their extras...not saying for sure that others are, altho it is a common practice, but Sandhill has a no-cull policy. Eventually, I will (hopefully) just raise my own, but for now mail order works for me. Also, in my experience,(which admittedly, isn't much) it has easier to raise the chicks in the fall, or at least in later spring...less worries keeping them warm. Good Luck!

They won't send just 6 chicks and charge you for the 25 (other people have thought of this before, you see!) because the chicks NEED the other 24 to keep them warm enough to survive the trip. If they tried to send you just 6 chicks, all 6 would die enroute from getting chilled. :( As you know, baby chicks MUST be kept warm by either a broody hen or by an artificial heat source, 24 hours a day, until they feather out and can keep themselves warm. Chilling and drafts are fatal to baby chicks.

The reference to the roos 'to be disposed of' is because most people who are out to order chickens for eggs and/or meat usually don't have much use for the extra roos the hatchery provides, since most are of the more ornamental breeds and not the meat breeds--so they don't dress out to any kind of weight. If you are happy with getting a few 'mystery birds' (which can be great fun if you are keeping them for pets, and they aren't all ALWAYS roos) in with your order, by all means do the hatchery order and see what you'll get. :)

Like I said, if you only want a few birds of a specific breed, advertise in you local paper or feed store to offer to split a chick order, or search around for a breeder.

By 'Buffingtons', do you mean Buff Orpingtons? I love those heavy, fluffy breeds... :)

Velvet ~:>

dunnic, why would you prefer to buy from a breeder who does not cull?? culling eliminates undesirable genetics, such as weaknesses, croked keelsor backs, wrong/poorly shaped combs. poor color and so on. If there is no culling the birds would be mostly worthless as a breed, eventually they would resemble dunghill barnyard fowl with little to no value. Advertising a no cull policy seems to be shooting oneself in the foot!

Velvet, thanks so much for the information. You are quite correct I meant Buff Orpingtons-did not look right when I typed it but could not remember what they were called. The descriptions and pictures of them make them sound nice and look very pretty.

Thanks for all the info and ideas. Sheila,love the photo of the chicks.can hardly wait to get my own.
Farkee, buff orpingtons are big beautiful birds. I saw them once at a state fair and had to find out what they were.I don't think they are very common anymore but should make nice big roasters

David, I forgot to thank you too. I thought cockerels might be roosters but fancifowl said they were egg-laying so I was perplexed. I guess I need to study up on chicken anatomy and reproduction otherwise I won't know what they are up to. :) Farkee

Fancifowl, I guess I should have clarified...if I get a chick with three legs or other undesirables, of course I would cull it. But killing extra chicks that didn't get sold just seems a waste, IMHO. As I understand it, Sandhill Preservation does not cull the extra chicks that get too old to be sold or shipped as "day old chicks" as some other hatcheries do. Instead, they try to plan their flock according to demand. I just appreciate their policies and am planning try them out next time I order chicks. I know many of gardenweb's members have ordered seeds from them...has anyone ordered chicks? Dannic

Farkee, when fanci fowl said the cockerals were egg-laying he/she meant an egg laying breed. Chicks are babies, pullets are young female, hens are female, usally a year or more old. Cockerals are young males (roosters) Roosters are males usally a year or more old. We have all kinds of breeds for fun and my kids show them at the local fair, we just got new ones too from Mcmurray, but we drove there to pick them up. But have gotten them in the mail too, and all has always been alive!! Have fun chicken people.
S.

One thing to keep in mind when ordering mail-order chicks... don't mix tiny/bantam chicks with larger/standard chicks. I ordered a flock of various breeds from Murray McMurray a couple of years back, and had three small bantam chicks in the batch. They obviously had a rougher journey than the bigger babies, probably because they were so very tiny. I had to nurse one back to health with sugar water, it almost died.