If you plan to raise baby chicks you'll need lots of information.
If you are thinking of raising chickens you will need to make some decisions on the breeds you will wait to raise. Most of the chickens raised in the United States are from four classes: american, Mediterranean, Asiatic and English.
The American Class includes Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire and Jersey Black Giant among the most popular in this class. These birds do not have feathered shanks. They all have yellow skin and shanks and red earlobes and are bred for meat and egg production.
The Mediterranean Class includes Leghorns, Ancona and Minorca among the most popular in this class. Other breeds are the Blue Andausian, Spanish and the Buttercup. These birds are kept for egg production, are smaller than the American, English and Asiatic breed, all lay white eggs and have white earlobes.
The English Class includes Australorp, Cornish and Orpington among the most popular. There are also three others, Sussex, Red Cap and Dorking. These all have good meat, are large and except for the Cornish have white skin.
Asiatic Class includes Brahma, Langshan, and Cochin. These have been used in producing American breeds. These breeds have feathered shanks, heavy bones, large and have red earlobes and with the exception of the Black Langshan all have yellow skin. These are raised for their meat production.
There are also hybridand crossbred chickens that breeders have developed by inbreeding. These are sold increasingly more as they provide both excellent broilers and eggs. Most farmers wanting to depend on commercial hatcheries and these chickens will depend on the lines and crosses available in whatever section of the country and community these are sold and are available.
Most farmers who raise chickens usually buy the chicks instead of hatching them on their farms. It seems that these who are in the business of having a hatchery seem to provide better breeding flocks and healthier chicks at a lower cost than if one were to hatch their own chicks. This is actually a large business across the country depending on the area.
I would recommend attempting to buy the chicks as close to home as possible so that you can pick them up personally instead of them being shipped, as bringing them a long distance by transporting usually results in losses. Also you can be more likely to get an adjustment on your expense on losses if you are near the hatchery.
You can always ask the honesty and reputation of a local hatchery. Naturally, the reputation of a hatchery will vary from one person's opinion to another.
If chicks are shipped they should be placed in the brooder and fed within 24 to 48 hours after the hatching time. There are government regulations to be followed limiting the time the chicks can be in transit. Be sure the chicks are shipped in ventilated boxes, with no more than 25 chicks in a section.
You also need to check with the hatchery to order weeks, even months ahead of time as there many be many other orders ahead of yours. You need to estimate that if you expect to market broilers in February, March, May, June, and July, you will need to have chicks that have been hatched in November, December, March, April, and May. Egg prices usually are the highest in the fall.
Your most important concern should be that you get healthy chicks of the breed you desire.
Be sure that you only buy chicks that have been supervised by the state agency of the National Pountry Improvement Plan so that you will not be purchasing chicks that are unhealthy. You can also ask to see the production records of the parent stock before buying. You want to have all the information you possibly can obtain before purchasing chicks from any hatchery. If you are close enough I would suggest visiting and seeing the flocks from which your chicks will be bred. You might want to check the broiler production and egg-laying test records also.
