We sell baby chicks for most of the year, with December and January being the only months that we usually don't keep them. However, our supplier, Privett Hatchery, hatches year-round, so chicks are always available if the order is large enough. Some ducks, geese, turkeys, and guineas are seasonal and can only be ordered in late spring and summer. All chicks are vaccinated at the hatchery for Marek's disease and there is no minimum purchase for chicks that are in stock in our store.

Special Order Terms

We are happy to special order chicks for you, but there are a few requirements to place an order. The hatchery requires that we buy a minimum of five of any one breed, except for sexed ducks and geese which can be puchased individually. Generally, if you order pullets of common standard breed layers (Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks, Sex Links, etc.) there is no minimum to place an order, due to the fact that we can easily sell the extra birds that we have to buy. When it comes to bantam breeds though, we do have a minimum purchase of five and keep in mind, bantams are NOT SEXED. If you can do five bantams, but would like a selction of different colors in a certain type, we offer quite a few assortments: Silkies, Old English, Dutch, D'Uccle, Cochin, even "Clean Legged", or "Feather Legged" to name a few. If you only want one or two bantams and are not in a hurry, sometimes we can add your order to someone else's, but that can take up to several months depending on the circumstances. Most importantly, when you order chicks, remember, these are live animals that we have to care for until you pick them up. Make sure to provide us with a working phone number or two so that we can contact you when they get here. When that time comes, if we have to leave a message, PLEASE call us back to let us know if you still want them. If for some reason you can't take them, all we ask is that you let us know that in a timely manner so that we can begin trying to find another home for them. We understand that things come up and life happens.

The best time to special order chicks is any time other than around Easter. The chicks that we have to sell in the few weeks before Easter were ordered in January. Due to the extremely high demand in March and April, its very hard to get particular breeds of chicks and frequently orders placed in those months will not be filled until May.

Sexing

Birds that CAN be sexed: most standard breed chickens, ducks, and geese (there is a $2-$3 charge per bird for sexing waterfowl).

Birds that CAN NOT be sexed: broilers, some very rare standard chickens (Phoenix, Polish, etc.), bantams, turkeys, guineas.