Chicken Chat - Our Favorite Winter Tips!

[@Heartofitall9691]

Hi! Love Meyer! ❤ So, I have a few questions- I'm thinking of getting some day old chicks in early spring since my gals are getting old/flock is dwindling but I've surfed your site and am in sticker shock😂 I know Covid and all these bird flu cases drives your costs up, so, I'm wondering do you still do your random in store bargain bin chicks? And if you come on a Mon (or is it Tues?) or Thurs is there a better opportunity to pick up day olds? The bin chicks are just customer guesses, or do you label which breeds are in the bins? Do you sex/guarantee those bargain bin chicks? And, can they be vaccinated if I want to pay the extra fee? Also, it's probably NOT a good idea to get a lil roo chick when you still have a rooster with your flock, huh? I have a bunch of hens that go broody, though over the years, they've slowed down-if they had strong maternal instinct, would they pick up with day olds? I was thinking that maybe I pull my sweetest broody (I have a buff orp, cochins, Dominiques, barred rock, partridge rock that have all tried to hatch clutches. The buff orp was always the most serious and took weeks to get her to snap out of it) and keep her inside with new babies until they feather/it warms up, BUT, my barred rock roo is the rooster from hell!! He takes his job way too seriously, so I just don't even know if I can expand the flock, even if I splurged and got pullets. I'd hate to wait until my entire flock is gone, plus I know MANY ppl integrate new with old easily-it can be done. I want egg layers, and while I truly have favorite breeds I'd love to add, it's more about saving money for me, and adding hearty birds that can deal with Ohio heat and cold, as well as be happy in a pasture situation in an enclosed garden about 50'x50' and with weight and coloring that helps defend against predators, not attracts. I don't want loud or unhappy hens. My flock is 5 and started with 13 chicks-only lost one at 13 weeks to a fox. The rest are smart, well camouflaged, weighty and hide well, relying on their rooster. Main predators are hawks and owls I do want to add a roo with the new group if possible, a friendlier, bigger guy like maybe a Brahma or a Faverolle, even a Cochin but I can't have attacks from my 5 yr old roo. I wish I was capable of adding him to the stew pot, but I just can't😢 Should I give up on the idea of a roo until he dies? I could hatch out my own eggs, but I'm not capable of culling any young roos that develop, and with my luck, I'd probably get more roos than hens Thanks in advance- I just can't believe how the prices have shot up to 5-6x what they were during the pandemic. Your company and chickens are top notch so I only want to support your hatchery, which is why I'm starting to plan now for 4 months from now!! It's a shame I'm too wimpy to just hatch my own eggs😂😢

[@MeyerHatchery]

Thanks for watching and for your questions! We do offer Bin Chicks in store. Please give our CS team a call before making the trip over, to ensure we have them available, as they can sell out at any time. Bin chicks are available 12:30pm or later on hatch date (usually Mondays). The breeds are mixed together in the bin, so they are considered "assorted", but they are layer breeds. If we have any meat breed chicks, those chicks have their own bin. The Bin Chicks are females only and can not be vaccinated. If you need vaccinated chicks you may want to place an order for pickup, so you can include the vaccination service. If you want a hen to raise the chicks, you will want to select a hen that is actively broody. If the hen isn't broody when you introduce the chicks, she may not be interested in caring for the chicks, and could abandon them. Please keep in mind our livability policy does not cover chicks being raised by a broody hen. You can add another rooster to your flock, but you may need to be extra mindful when merging the younger group with your existing flock. As long as there are enough hens for each rooster to have their own group, there will be very few, if any, disagreements between the roosters. I hope this information helps. If I have missed any questions, or if you have additional questions, please feel free to give us a call! Our team is always ready to answer any questions you have. 💖