Poultry Brooding Service
Something that we discovered a while ago that we had a real knack for was raising baby animals, especially chickens and other poultry. I (Heather) absolutely love having the babies around and caring for them. I decided a few years ago to start offering to raise poultry for others.
There are many advantages to allowing us to start your birds for you:
1. You do not have to worry about minimum orders that hatcheries require. Often the minimum is 25 chicks shipped or 6 if you can pick them up. This is often more than a backyard chicken keeper can or wants to keep.
2. You do not have to brood the babies. While it is quite fun (obviously I think so) to raise them yourself it can also be quite a hassle and you have to purchase heat lamps and set up a place for the babies. Often this is your house. There is a reason I brood everyone in outside brooders now. Chicks in the house lose their appeal pretty quickly, trust me.
3. Not all babies will survive and not all babies are the sex you ordered. It can be pretty disappointing to either lose one or two chicks when you were only able to raise a small number in the first place or to raise up your chicks and discover that one of your beloved chickens turns out to be a Mr.! I order plenty of extras so you are sure to get the breeds and sexes that you want.
4. I order from Privett or Welp Hatcheries. They have an extensive selection of breeds. Far more than are available from local sources. You can choose from all the more common breeds as well as a large selection of rare breeds.
5. You get to ask me all the questions that you can think of. I love to help people get started with poultry and continue to help and support you long after you have taken your birds home.
How does it all work, you ask? I place orders several times a season having the first arrive usually in early April and the last in August or September. You send me your order and I combine it with all other orders for a given date. You send me a deposit for half the total cost of your birds. I place the order with the hatchery and notify you when they will arrive. I then brood them until they are ready to be outside without any supplemental heat and are old enough that I'm absolutely sure of the sex. This is usually around 6 weeks old. You pick up your birds and start your adventure! (The other half of the payment is due at pickup.)
Another advantage to our service is that you will not be supporting the common hatchery practice of disposing of the unwanted extra male chicks. I will no longer be ordering sexed chicks. I will order lots of extras to ensure that you get the hens you wanted (I only rarely have anyone order roosters though I'm happy to sell those as well). My concience no longer allows me to order all these female birds knowing that there were the same number of male chicks hatched out with no place to go. The extra males will spend their lives roaming our farm and will then be processed as meat birds.
Pricing:
Standard chick: $10
Bantam chick: $14 (bantam chicks are more expensive and the roosters don't make good meat birds so the cost more as well)
Duckling: $16 (ducklings are expensive to purchase and labor intensive to raise)
Guinea: $12 (guineas are sold unsexed because it is very hard to tell the sexes apart even as adults)
I will give you plenty of warning as to when your birds will be ready to be picked up. This is somewhat weather dependent. If you can not pick up your birds by the designated week then there will be an additional charge for holding them for you longer. They do continue to eat you know.
I also often have pullets and older hens for sale. There are always extra so even if you miss an order date or want a bird that is closer to laying age please don't hesitate to ask. I usually have a selection to choose from.
Joining the farm newsletter list is the easiest way to find out when order dates are. Please feel free to use the contact page to ask any questions you may have about our service.