Ordering Chicks from a Chicken Hatchery? Take These Tips
Ordering chicks from a chicken hatchery is the easiest way to start a poultry, especially if you want to raise unusual chicken breeds, and you want to be accurate about the number of chicks that you want. Remember that old saying about not counting your chicks before the eggs are hatched? If you are looking for a reliable chicken hatchery, you can search the Internet for a list of hatcheries nearest you. But it is also important that you know your way around. Take the following helpful tips.
First, many hatcheries allow you to choose whether you want all males or cockerels, all females or pullets, or straight run, which refers to the natural ratio of males and females when the eggs hatch. Between fifty to sixty percent of eggs turn out to be cockerels at hatching. But even if you ordered all females, give a ten-percent allowance, owing to the difficulty of telling a male from a female.
Second, many hatcheries, especially the larger ones, hatch eggs and breed chickens as a factory would mass-produce its goods. As a result, the quality is typically good only for raising and selling. If you want high-quality chicks in terms of color and other standards, make sure to order from a chicken hatchery that breeds “show quality” chickens.
Finally, it is also advisable to order chickens that have been vaccinated against Marek’s disease. If you want to go organic, however, you can forego the vaccine but make sure to consult a vet about the probability of contacting Marek’s disease in your locality.
