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Chicken Help

We found 42 results for category 'Ordering chickens'

Q: When I am ordering baby chicks or juveniles, when am I charged for the order?

A: You pay for your order as soon as it is placed; that is what holds your reservation. We don't keep your payment information on file---this helps... read more

Q: Should I choose "no substitutions" and "no hatch day substitutions" when I place my order for chicks?

A: Well, the truth is that it simply depends on how you want us to handle any problems with your order. Some customers will wait many months for just... read more

Q: Will I be notified if my shipment has to be delayed for some reason? I don't want to ask for the wrong week off work!

A: Well, that's a more complex question than you may think. If there should be a problem on hatch day, of course we will contact you just as soon as we... read more

Q: Are sold out breeds ever included in a hatchery choice assortment?

A: Breeds that are not available individually may still be used to fulfill assortments, since the assortments consist of breeds that have hatched better... read more

Q: Which chicken breed has the quietest, tamest hens??

A: Hens of most breeds are rather quiet except for right before and right after they have laid an egg. Then they may make a loud "announcement" about it... read more

Q: What's the best way to order a breed that always seems to be sold out?

A: We're sorry the breed you want is currently sold out, but yes---there is hope if you're diligent!

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Q: If I have both bantam and large size hens, what size rooster should I get?

A: The answer to that question will depend on exactly how large the hens and roosters in question may be as well as what your personal preference is. No... read more

Q: Can I choose what breeds I get when I purchase an assortment?

A: No, we're sorry. If you want specific breeds or colors, you'll need to purchase each breed you want and construct your order that way.

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Q: If I order straight run bantams, will I get a 50-50 mix, or do you use your extra cockerels as straight run?

A: We do not use sexed birds as straight run.(No hatchery we know of does that--how dishonest would THAT be?!.) It does not pay us to sex all our baby... read more

Q: I want all my eggs to hatch, so is there any type of chicken breed that has a higher hatching rate for their eggs?

A: This is one of those questions where it's hard to tell what exactly you're asking, a question that tells us you're probably a beginner at incubation.... read more

Q: Do you send extra chicks with every order?

A: No, most of the time, we do not add extra chicks. Especially with small orders, we are careful not to add chicks (although it may happen... read more

Q: The website says the breed I want is available for a date I want, so why isn't that a choice when I'm checking out?

A: In most cases, that will be because you are ordering more chicks than are available for your preferred date. When you place virtual chicks in your... read more

Q: Do you ship eggs or chicks internationally?

A: No. If you want to purchase live birds or read more

Q: Can you safely ship chicks to Alaska or Hawaii?

A: We can safely ship chicks to Alaska and Hawaii. However, we can only safely ship to certain zip codes within those states. The post... read more

Q: What are frizzles, sizzles, and frazzles?

Frizzles and sizzles are not breeds of chickens so much as they are words describing three very showy feather types that chickens can exhibit.... read more

Q: How can I track my baby chick package? Do you provide a tracking number?

A: We will send you an email with the tracking number for your order when your chicks "fly the coop," and you can use that to follow their progress. We... read more

Q: How can you send chicks through the mail when they sometimes die? And if there is a risk that some chicks die on the way, then how can you justify staying in business?

A: Of course we hate it when chicks die along the way; every bird is an individual, and every loss is a tragedy. However, when it comes to shipping baby... read more

Q: Can I order chickens from an out-of-state hatchery like yours?

My Pet Chicken's breeders and hatcheries handle all the state-level permits required to get the chicks safe and sound to you. So when you order... read more

Q: What does your hatchery do with extra males and other chicks that are not adopted?

A: We do understand that other hatcheries may do things differently than we do--did you know that chickens are not protected by the Humane Slaughter Act... read more

Q: Are the color of a hen's eggs determined by the color of her earlobes?

A: Not exactly, although ear lobe color seems to be related to egg color most of the time. Breeds with white earlobes usually lay white eggs... except... read more

Q: Is it true that modern, purebred chickens can't hatch their own eggs?

A: No, that's not true.

First, broodiness is not tied to whether a chicken is purebred or not. Broodiness depends more on a chicken's breed,... read more

Q: What's the difference between Breeds, Designer Chicken Breeds, and Varieties of chicken?

Let's talk about Designer Chicken Breeds, Breeds, and Varieties, so you'll understand the differences in... read more

Q: Will the chicks I buy from you be related to each other? I want to breed my rooster with my hens, so I don't want them to be related.

A: Our breeding flocks are very large. We can't know which chicks hatch from which eggs. Even if we could, we don't keep track of which hen laid which... read more

Q: How many chickens should I get?

A: We'd like to answer this question, "dozens and hundreds!" because keeping chickens is so wonderful--but for the health and safety of the birds (and... read more

Q: What can I do if my minimum order is too high?

A: Because of our read more

Q: What if one of my chicks dies on the way to me?

A: Losses are rare (we see them happen about 1% of the time), but they do occur. For that reason, we recommend that if you have children, make sure they... read more

Q: Should I order extra chickens so enough survive into adulthood?

A: Normally you want to order the number of chickens you want to end up with---don't order extras with the expectation that some will die. But there are... read more

Q: How much does shipping cost?

A: You can check the exact shipping cost to your location by placing the items you want in your shopping basket and clicking the "calculate" link... read more

Q: Is wry neck a genetic weakness that I should be worried about seeing in my chickens' offspring?

A: If you have a hen with wry neck, it is probably not a genetic problem... but read on, because the problem with answering that question definitively... read more

Q: Can unvaccinated chickens get Marek's Disease from vaccinated chickens?

A: The Marek's Disease vaccination is attenuated, which means, in most cases, it's not even developed using the Marek's virus. Instead, it's developed... read more

Q: Are there special preparations I should make if I want to have a broody hen adopt and raise my shipped chicks?

A: There is little more beautiful than a mother hen sheltering chicks beneath her wings.

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Q: Your website ays the breed I want comes in a mix of bearded and unbearded chicks, but I only want bearded. Can I order them that way?

A: You're right that some breeds like Polish and silkies can come bearded or nonbearded, but there is no way to choose which because they are not sorted... read more

Q: How do I know if my chick died from Marek's disease?

A: You're not wrong to be upset at the loss of your pets, of course, but if you're upset at your hatchery for suggesting that deaths weren't related to... read more

Q: Are your flocks pasture raised?

Our breeding flocks are raised indoor birds for reasons of biosecurity. Large hatcheries and serious breeders are more or less required to raise... read more

Q: How do I figure out whether or not I'm allowed to keep chickens in my area?

A: We know you're dying to start keeping chickens--but you don't want to get a flock of beauties only to find out later that they're illegal and have to... read more

Q: I only want two chickens, but the minimum in my area is five. Can I pay for five, but have you only send two?

A: I'm afraid not. The minimums are based on how many chicks are safe to ship, not how many we would like to sell. You can't give us extra money to send... read more

Q: How do I decide between hatching fertile eggs and buying baby chicks?

A: In almost every case, starting a laying flock with baby chicks will be easier and less expensive than starting one by read more

Q: What is a "heritage" chicken breed?

A: The definition of "heritage" in relation to chicken breeds is a bit flexible, but when we use the word, we're referring to breeds that have been... read more

Q: Can I get Coronavirus (COVID-19) from my chickens?

A: Here's what the CDC says about COVID-19, as of November 2021:
The risk of animals spreading the virus to people is low; the... read more

Q: What is debeaking or "beak trimming"? Do you debeak your birds?

A: Debeaking or "beak trimming" is what it's called when a baby chick's beak is burnt or seared off. It is painful and cruel. Here we explain more about... read more

Q: Will all of my blue chicks actually be blue?

A: It's possible... but in general, no. The color blue just doesn't hatch true in chickens. The genes for "blue" are actually more like diluting genes.... read more

Q: I want to get a chick for Easter for my son's basket, and then find a farmer to adopt it when it has grown. How do I do that?

A: No, no, no... you don't want to do that. It's is a bad idea for many reasons.

First, one chicken raised alone will often die of... read more