This story could have a sad ending . . or maybe not. I know now that we should have ordered our baby chickens from a hatchery but we didn’t. We had no idea buying them here would be any different from buying them in Missouri. There, almost every place in town had baby chicks . . all organized into different breeds . . straight runs or just pullets. Here . . it seems to be anyone’s guess as to what kind of chicks are in the buckets and everyone you ask at the store gives you a different answer.
Saturday we went into Tractor Supply and were talking to the guy working in the chicken department. He told us they hadn’t gotten in any egg production pullets on the Tuesday before (that’s when we bought our chicks) . . the only pullets they had were Cornish Cross. Those are meat birds! They pretty much have to be butchered when they get to be 6 or 7 weeks old because they’ll get so big, their legs will break. I would never have bought those chickens but we didn’t know. We still don’t know. Then we asked someone else and they said no . . they had gotten some mixed pullets but there could have been some Cornish Cross birds in there. They’re growing so fast that I fear they are Cornish Cross. And, no matter how much I handle them, they are not friendly. They are scared to death of me. I can see they are never going to be pet type chickens like my others were. I suppose I didn’t buy them to be pets . . maybe . . but I surely did enjoy spending time with the chickens in Missouri.
So, we decided we would get some more chickens just in case the first ones are Cornish Cross. Yesterday was Tuesday so that meant a new shipment of baby chicks arriving at Tractor Supply. I called and they said they had “production red” pullets. I did a bit of research and decided those were close enough to what I had before. I drove to town and the chicken guy told me that no . . the production reds were straight runs, not all pullets. I didn’t want that. They had assorted pullets . . meaning no one had a clue what kind of chickens there were. There could be Cornish Cross chicks in there too. So, I left without getting anything.
They did have the cutest bantam babies with these funny little “hats”. They looked like someone had glued a pom-pom on their heads. If they had been pullets, I would probably have bought some of them but the last thing I want are roosters of any kind. After work I was telling Vince about them and he said “Let’s go see them!” So, we went back to town. Would you believe that they probably had at least 100 of those little bantams that morning and by the time we got there, every one of them was gone!
We debated about whether we should buy more of those assorted pullets and decided to get 8 of the reddest ones and hope they were either Rhode Island Reds or red stars or something . . anything besides Cornish Cross.
Just like all baby chicks, they are so darned cute! These are very friendly. They will eat out of my hand . . the others never would. That gives me hope. Vince said “What happens if next week they get in red star pullets?” I guess we’ll end up with 24 chickens when we really only wanted 8. Thank goodness we’re not living in the city! 🙂
Wish us luck! I’ll be so heartbroken if we have to butcher our first 8 chickens but that’s life on a farm and we’ll deal with it if we have to.
Roberta says
Getting the reddest chicks was smart!!! Cornish cross are yellow babies. The chicks with hat were most likely Polish of some kind. We have had cornish cross chickens live for a year but they don’t walk around much and you need to feed them a high protein feed so they don’t have leg problems. AND that is right from the start. But they will be some of the best tasting chickens you have eaten. Don’t delay until ten weeks or you will have roasting chickens. I was going to get five or six of them but hubby put the kybosh on that.
Hugs!!!!
Missy says
Where in TX do you live? If you are close to Waco there is a great place to buy chicks called Homestead Heritage. Let me know if you want the information. I agree with you that it would be hard to butcher the chickens. When we move to MO (from TX) I’ll be getting some guinneas to keep the bug and snake population down. I’ve never had any kind of farm animal before but we’ll be living out in the country, it should be an adventure!
CJ says
Buff Orpingtons + Judy = Match made in heaven 🙂 Sweet natured, good layers, fluffy and generally will hatch their own eggs, so you have a continuous supply of baby chicks. In 2 years, when your new ones are no longer laying well, try a hatchery. Meanwhile, your new babies look pretty cute!
Elizabeth says
Tractor Supply needs to get some better policies, I cannot believe they don’t even know what kind of chickens they get in. I have heard of people ordering chickens in the mail, they have to go down at 5 or 6am and pick them up at the post office. I wouldn’t be any good when it came time to kill one….
Roberta says
Our TSC had signs on the water tanks holding the babies. One was red pullets for eggs, one was red wyandottes as a fancy breed, one was cornish cross for meat and the last one was assorted ducks. They had pictures of the adults and chicks. This is in NYS so they had their act together at least.
Hugs!!!!
pdudgeon says
or you could call Tractor Supply and ask if they know of anyone who is raising chickens for production, call them and ask if they want 8 more baby chickens…
Hilary McDaniel says
Judy, we raise the Cornish birds for our meat birds. They are so tender . I don’t handle my meat birds so I won’t get attached to them. We buy our birds from the hatchery.
Mary says
I have a mix of Golden Comets (egg layers) and White Rocks (meat birds). Both groups are sweet and gentle and have personality. My husband has the meat birds in “his” coop by his workshop while I have the girls in coops closer to the house. That way I get to pet and snuggle the laying stock while not getting friendly with the dinner stock. My White Rock rooster will sit on my lap. I also have a Rhody Rooster who only tolerates me but takes good care of the flock. We got the Golden Comets from Tractor Supply. They weren’t sure what they were and each person we asked gave us a different answer. We thought we were only getting hens, That Rhody was definitely in the wrong tub!
Dora, the quilter says
Seems kind of amazing that they don’t know what they are selling. I thought maybe they were thinking they’re selling pets–except by Easter some of those chicks will be huge. It’s interesting how human minds are affected when they work for big business chains. I hope you ultimately get the kinds of chicks you really want.
bcinindy says
I don’t understand how the store does not know what it is selling?
Lynn says
Something you might want to check into is ordering the chicks to be delivered by mail….yes they do that. My sister in law gets her’s that way every year and my nieces could get the exact kind of chickens they wanted to show for 4-H and she could get the exact kind she wanted for laying hens and for butchering too. Just email me and I can find out the place/business she orders from. You used to be able to buy any kind of chicken locally as there was a hatchery in town but of course that was when every farm had a large flock of chickens.
Lee Ann L. says
Okay, you have convinced me to be patient to get my chickens from a hatchery when the time comes for me to get some. There is no way I could butcher a chicken — my heart would be broken.
tammy k. says
can you just give that first batch of chicks away now, before you find out they are meat birds and not layers? and can you have chicks mailed to you direct from the supplier? they get mailed to the stores and to individuals around here, so i wonder if you couldn’t just get them to mail you exactly what you want? good luck!
Claire says
You can order chicks from cackle hatchery in mo! They can mail them to you without any problems. I checked ‘production red’ and you can order as few as 5 pullets. Check them out. I have heard good things about them. Claire
Trina says
I had no idea there were so many types of chicken. I just thought chickens were chickens. LOL. No matter what kind of breed the chickens are, I would have a hard in letting them go. I would still get attached.
Trina
Winona says
We ordered our pullets from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon, MO. They should arrive in the mail on May 9th. We have done business with this hatchery for many years and never been disappointed. It is a family run operation. They have great customer service. We ordered 15. Good luck.
Robin says
My dgt and SIL just built a small coop for their back yard and are going to get their chicks through the mail also. Dan’s dad lives near Dallas and told them where to get them from- he also apparently has the bluff orphington type ( or something along that line- what do I know about chickens other than I like chicken and eggs!! LOL)
I would have trouble living on a farm and having to butcher my “pets”. I prefer not to know my meat before i eat it I guess!
Jo's Country Junction says
Baby chicks are just irresistible. Thankfully we ordered ours. They are coming April 23rd!! We had mean roosters when I was a kid. I hated them. The ones we have raised here are not that way. I think it’s a matter of raising them. I do think Buff Orpington roosters tend to be a bit more aggressive and they are more aggressive if you have more than one rooster.
Sandra Neel Hutchins says
Back in the 50’s when I was just a little girl . . . my parents had to order their baby chicks
from somewhere in Missouri. They came via the US Mail! I can still visualize the mailman driving up to our farm with a cardboard box with little round air holes and in that box were baby chicks! My parents also purchased eggs and put them under a “sitting” hen to hatch them out if they wanted a different type than they already had. I’m looking forward to many, many chicken stories from you again!
Sandra Neel Hutchins says
Setting hen?
Charlotte says
I enjoy your chick stories and your general outlook on life. I’ve raised chickens for years, both for meat and eggs. I know what my chickens are fed and how they are cleaned. There are many advantages to raising your own.
carol c says
I went to our tractor supply today, no one there knew anyway which one was, I saw 3 cute solid blacks ones, and graviatated to them, but did not get them. They would turn into cat food around here. My Hunter is 23 pounds and HUGE, Rocky Racoon is HUGE and his wife and child are big enough. Besides I am not needing to raise chickens, but I agree they are cute when tiny
Diane H says
I refuse to go to the feed store right now!!! I’d come home with more babies and I don’t have room. I already have 20 hens and am getting eight to fifteen eggs a day. Some are older hens and don’t lay much but I keep them anyway. We get ours from Ideal Hatchery in Cameron, TX, we’re less than 30 miles away so sometimes go pick them up They do mail chicks. You can get on their email list and know when there are new hatches.
Linda S says
Aw, they’re so cute! Those first chicks better get nice and turn out not to be the type that need to go the way of the axe or so be it. I know you’d prefer to keep them all. 😉
Susan North Idaho says
Judy, Judy, Judy!!!! I have never read or cared about chickens. I have however, enjoyed watching your escapades with your little chickies, and of course your stories. But I found myself today, opening an email from the Aslin-Finch newsletter, and their main story was “Taking Care of Your New Pet Baby Chicks” . Seriously!?!?!?
The sad part…..I READ THE DANG ARTICLE…and clicked on links and pictures of chickens.!!!!!!! Worse yet???? I was ooohing and aawwing over the beautiful colors and varieties. OMG!!!!!
Fortunately, an hour later!!!!! I came to my senses, and deleted the newsletter and went into my sewing room and started a new quilt. Whew!!!!!
But do please keep the stories and pictures coming. You are my nightly dose of laughter before bed. Love them!
P.S. I cancelled my subscription to the Aslin-Finch Newsletter.
lm says
I did a project on chicken raising in high school…so that’s all I know.
The farm gate seller bought her chickens from the factory producer across town, when they hit the first moult and stop/slow down laying. (The rest go to the meat processing plant). And they were still reasonably friendly, she knew they were all hens, and she got a good price. She had a few RI reds but the rest were just white feathered chickens. It’s just an interesting variation on sourcing.