h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Procuring Poultry {continued}

Day-Old Chicks

If the chicken keeper has a brooder but no incubator, day-old chicks are the least expensive option. Some breeds and hybrids can be sexed at hatch because of colour differences between males and females. Of all the live-fowl options, day-old chicks are the least
expensive to ship. They may be sent via Priority Mail in the US, as well as Express. This is possible because a chick does not need to
actually eat or drink for the first 2 days after hatching, because the yolk is still present*. The younger a chick is when you get it,
the more likely that it will be easy to handle*.

Unless you have gotten chicks that are sexable at hatch, or ordered from a hatchery that hires vent-sexers*, you take your chances as
far as sex of the chicks is concerned. For that matter, if you've gotten chicks from a feed store that orders from a hatchery that
vent-sexes and has separate brooders for pullets and cockerals, it's possible that other customers* have handled the chicks and put them back in the wrong bin. Also, chicks that haven't feathered out yet need a heat source--most commonly a lamp, but there are contact heaters, as well, all of which require electricity at all times, for weeks at a time. If one broods chicks indoors, chick dust gets absolutely everywhere. Also, it will be months before the pullets start laying.

Hatching Eggs

For the person with an incubator*, buying hatching eggs can mean the lowest immediate payout. Heck, if one has friends with their own
flock, complete with rooster, one could conceivably get eggs for free! Some people have also had success hatching fertile eggs from the grocery store, even after those eggs have been refrigerated ( http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/290845/trader-joes-other-grocery-store-egg-hatching-club-are-you-a-memberhttp://www.backyardchickens.com/t/628411/experienced-trader-joe-hatchers ), which is another low-cost option. Even buying individual eggs from a breeder is less expensive than buying chicks from that same breeder, however. Unlike live birds, there are no special regulations regarding shipping eggs. If you are adding to an already existing flock, and have a proven broody {add broody to vocab}, then you can just give the eggs to her and let her do all the work of hatching the eggs and raising the chicks*.

Incubators vary widely in quality, and there is no way to tell if the eggs that one is putting into an incubator are fertile. One egg from a batch can be sacrificed to check for fertility, but just because the egg that is checked is fertile, it doesn't necessarily follow that all the eggs are. A rooster:hen ratio of 1:10 or better is a good indication that the eggs are likely fertile, but there is no guarantee. Despite old wive's tales, there is no way to determine which sex is going to hatch out of which egg*. With an incubator, temperature and humidity need to be monitored constantly, and most incubators require humans to do any needed adjustments. If the incubator doesn't have an auto turner, then some way must be found to turn the eggs at least 3 times a day, to prevent the developing chick sticking to the inside of the egg. Chicken eggs have an average incubation time of 21 days, during which time one wants to avoid electrical interruptions. And, once the eggs have hatched, they share the disadvantages of day-old chicks. If one has hatching eggs shipped, that can lead to a whole other set of problems, largely related to how well packed the eggs are and how rough the handling during the journey.







*Though it should have been fully brought into the abdominal cavity, referred to as 'absorption', before hatching.

*Some birds never do warm up to humans, though.

*Still only 90% accurate at best.

*Or employees

*Or a broody hen, if one is adding to a flock instead of starting one.

*You can also try to give day-old chicks to a broody hen, but that isn't always successful.

*OK, so *technically* one could have a DNA test done. Then again, one could do that with chicks, too. But as far as ways that *don't* involve a lab...

~ ~ ~ ~

Ill never take my boiled egg and soldiers for granted again!

Deb

I never took my cousin's egg sculptures for granite.

Ah, 'tis Amy the Mufflewhump angel, , who has been tiptoeing into NaJoPoMo journals all month long, to make sure we're all on track. Thanks for that!

So, Amy, you seem to be a bit of an expert on rearing hens and chikkies then eh?

Very interesting.

My Dad was a farmer, so I should know more about the subject than I do. Still, never too late to learn. Thanks!

cc

Definitely not an expert--I've only had chickens for 1 year. I *have* done a lot of research, though! I've been writing most of the snippets out of my head, though I have looked up a few things (mostly the links, really). Once I get the entry consolidated and edited at the end of the month, I'm having one of my friends (the one with the eggs I want to get if Frieda is broody at the right time) from the chicken forum do a quick fact check for me before I put it into PR.