Frequently Asked Questions

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 from My Pet Chicken, there is usually nothing you will need to do with regard to state permits. Most states in the US require baby chicks and juvenile birds that ship across state lines to originate from clean hatcheries like ours, hatcheries that participate in NPIP (the National Poultry Improvement Plan). This is so that the birds will have been imported from flocks whose health is monitored. That's why My Pet Chicken's hatchery handles this...

And if there is a risk that some chicks die on the way, then how can you justify staying in business?|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 chicks, the risk of loss is small; in fact, it tends to be less than the risk of losing baby chicks you hatched at home in your home incubator. Even broody hens lose chicks. The truth is that we see more chicks die due to a lack of adequate care at...

In almost every case, starting a laying flock with baby chicks will be easier and less expensive than starting one by hatching fertile eggs at home. Don't get us wrong, home hatching is great! But remember that fertile eggs (supplied from any source) are not guaranteed to hatch, because shipping can be so rough on the eggs. With shipped eggs, the average hatch rate is about 50%. That's just the average, though! That means sometimes you will have higher, and sometimes lower. In fact, with eggs, it is possible to do everything right and still not have any hatch. Plus,...

We're sorry the breed you want is currently sold out, but yes---there is hope if you're diligent! It's the MUST HAVE white Silkie! Our website always has up to date availability information, because as orders are placed, our inventory of chicks is updated automatically every five minutes. Sometimes more availability dates can be added throughout the year due to updates to our flocks' expected egg production, or due to cancellations by other customers. This additional availability is usually added on Mondays and Tuesdays, so those are the best days to check for new dates. So, if out of stock status...

Unfortunately, no. USPS does NOT guarantee overnight Express delivery for live animals, as much as we would like them to. We agree: it seems a little crazy that the MOST important packages aren't subject to the same guarantees that much less sensitive packages have... but that is their policy. Even though the Post Office won't refund your postage, as a part of My Pet Chicken's 100% Live Arrival Guarantee, in addition to refunding the cost of lost chicks, we do cover shipping costs in some circumstances (out of our own pockets). Read details of our 100% Live Arrival Guarantee here...

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 chicks--the services of a chicken sexer are expensive because it is such a specialized skill and takes so many years to learn. We sex enough baby chicks to fulfill orders for the sexed birds that week, and only those that are NOT sexed are used as straight run birds. Any extra sexed chicks will be used to substitute for the same sex of another breed that had a bad hatch...

We want to make sure your chicks arrive safe and sound. Most of the year, your smallest minimum order could be as low as only three chicks (based on your location and on how quickly the post office tells us your package will arrive), but during the winter months, your minimum order will be significantly higher in order to make sure the chicks stay warm and safe. The minimums in winter is just 8 chicks.

Yes, we're happy to cancel or change an order of fertile hatching eggs provided you let us know by the week before your scheduled ship week. Since we ship eggs any day from Monday to Saturday, if you want to cancel or change your order for fertile hatching eggs, that must be done by the previous Monday. As you remember from checkout, your order cannot be cancelled (or changed) later than that date. Be sure to have your order number at hand so we can find your order to cancel it. In addition, you should be aware that you may...