PREP Have you seen chick prices??

Meemur

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
I did a few calculations. It's still cheaper for me to buy eggs from the neighbors. Or barter some labor for eggs. I have raised chickens before -- I could do it if I sent them to freezer camp at the end of the summer -- but my property isn't ideal. I'm sticking to gardening and letting "guest chickens" come in and free range periodically, at least in 2023. I may have to modify that in later years.
 
joekan

joekan

Veteran Member
There is money to be made by ordering day old chicks and raising them for 6 months and selling them.
Also, if you are worried about your chickens being stolen, check out this security camara.
Dekco.com
 
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moza

Senior Member
I think McMurray was flagged for avian flu in April, 2022 and had some issues but afaik not all breeds were affected.
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
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WalknTrot said:
I've thought that if I wanted to do a completely free-range, half feral flock (hopefully trained to lay in a central nesting area...ha ha) I'd try a batch of simple straight-run White Leghorns., They are little, so can fly and from what I understand, get pretty spooky and cagey. Would need to incubate or have a few broody hens to keep things going, but White Leghorn chicks used to be cheaper than dirt and they lay better than anything else out there. Curious if anybody has tried it.
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Change it to Brown Leghorns (rose comb because you're in the north) and it likely would work. They're half feral to start, and much better camouflaged than the white ones.

Summerthyme
 
dawgofwar10

dawgofwar10

Veteran Member
That ain't nothing, back in the 70's chicks were alot more expensive, you could drop an easy $100.00 to $200.00 per chick back then. And I do not even want to factor in inflation compared to todays dollar value. Dinner, movie, dancing, it was easy, and I am not factoring in the price of a gram back then. And they were the general run of the mill chicks, nothing exotic..
 
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WalknTrot

Veteran Member
Here's a link I got in my email this morning from Welp Hatchery if you are interested in an early shipment of layer pullet chicks. RIR - $3.60, Black sex-link - $3.56, a few others. The Buff Barred Rocks look interesting. A hybrid of Rhode Island Red and Barred Plymouth Rock.


Added: This would be your chance to try a few Slow White Broilers ($3.80 straight run) to make up your 25 chick minimum as Welp is the only hatchery that has them.
 
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rob0126

rob0126

Veteran Member
This might be the reason .gov wants to rid us of all chickens and eggs.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Chicken Egg Yolk Antibodies (IgYs) block the binding of multiple SARS-CoV-2 spike protein variants to human ACE2

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is still spreading worldwide, and there is an urgent need to effectively prevent and control this pandemic. This study evaluated the potential efficacy of Egg Yolk Antibodies (IgY) as a neutralizing agent against the SARS-CoV-2. We ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Basically, there are antibodies in chicken yolks that protect against covid.
 
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Lei

Veteran Member
WalknTrot said:
Yup. That was the one glaring disadvantage I saw. And the red/brown leghorns aren't as good layers.
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I have been doing Golden Comets for several years and find they lay as good or better than the white leghorns. ( They are a cross between White Leghorn and Rhode Island Reds. Almost all of them are brown colored.
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
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babysteps said:
So I was looking at day-old chicks on McMurray Hatchery and Meyer Hatchery today.

Good GRAVY when did they go up to $15 to $30 PER CHICK at Meyer??

At least the basic Buff Orpingtons and Rhodies and such are still only about $5 apiece. (ONLY. It wasn't that long ago they were only $2!!)

McMurray prices are better but 3/4ths of their birds are already out of stock and the earliest delivery date they currently have is in June.

I'm going to have to cross my fingers and hope that my local feed stores get enough decent stock in when they get chicks next month. :(

Crap. I should have pushed harder to get the new coop last year, apparently, but hubby already had so many projects going on, I didn't want to add to his load.
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Just a warning... Meyer hatchery is the most unreliable source I've used. I've bought from McMurray, Cackle and Welp, with excellent results... birds true to type, excellent livability,mand super customer service when the occasional shipping disaster struck. My only complaint about Welp is you can't combine meat chicks with layer types in the same order... they apparently hatch them in different places.

But Meyer! I once ordered 12 straight run Cuckoo Marans from them. When they grew up, I had 11 cockerels and one pullet!! And, they ranged in size from bantam to an 11 pound monster who looked like they'd added some Cornish blood. The one pullet laid a light brown egg!

Then, I ordered 50 Cornish X from them... within 3 weeks, it was obvious they weren't Cornish X. Meyer basically said I didn't know the difference, then finally refunded my money... but I was out the cost of the feed for 50 useless layer cockerels. Their excuse was "new guy in the shipping department!"

I get my chicks from Welp these days. Their prices include shipping, whereas McMurray adds shipping, so take that into account when comparing costs.

Summerthyme
 
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