Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens Read Online Free PDF Page A

incubated for 21 days. Starting out with a small incubator and a dozen or so eggs can be a fun and educationalproject, but finding fertile eggs of your chosen breed may be a challenge. And if you do find them, the project may end in disappointment if the eggs are suboptimal for hatching, the incubator’s temperature or humidity aren’t properly set, the power goes out, or any number of other things go wrong.
    Once you overcome the challenges of hatching, you have a new set of challenges in caring for freshly hatched chicks. Unless you are particularly adventuresome, or have prior experience running an incubator, consider starting out with live birds.
Baby Chicks
    Chicks are a surer bet than hatching eggs and are usually cheaper than older birds. If you want your chickens to be pets, chicks will bond with you more easily than started or mature birds. Baby birds shipped any distance travel much better than eggs for hatching and are less likely than older birds to bring disease into your yard. Chicks come in two options: sexed and unsexed.
    Unsexed chicks — also called
as-hatched
or
straight run
— are mixed in gender exactly as they hatch, or approximately 50 percent cockerels (males) and 50 percent pullets (females). Some people swear hatcheries stack the deck by throwing in extra cockerels, since the mix often comes out more like 60/40 or even 75/25, but some hatches just naturally turn out to be nearly all cockerels, while others are nearly all pullets.
    Sexed chicks are sorted so you get exactly as many pullets or cockerels as you want. Within a given breed, sexed pullets cost the most, straight run next, and sexed cockerels the least. Cockerels have the least value because a flock needsfewer roosters than hens, or none at all, if you or your neighbors don’t want to hear crowing.
CHICKS SHIPPED BY MAIL
    When you order chicks by mail, open the box in front of the mail carrier to verify any claim you may have for losses. Introduce the chicks to household pets to let them know the chicks are yours and shouldn’t be touched. Provide the chicks with heat and water as soon as possible after their arrival.
    If you’re establishing a laying flock, you can be sure to get the number of hens you need by buying sexed pullets, but starting with chicks means you’ll have to wait several months before gathering your first eggs. You do not need a rooster to get eggs, and roosters can sometimes be rough on the hens, although many people feel that including at least one cock in the flock doubles the enjoyment of having chickens.
    For a dual-purpose flock, you might start out with a batch of straight-run chicks and raise the surplus cockerels for the freezer. If your poultry project is strictly for meat, you can save money on chicks and grow out the birds faster by getting all cockerels.
    If you wish to compete with your birds at shows, the downside to starting with chicks is you won’t know if you have a potential winner or quality breeder until the chicks mature. And regardless of your purpose, chicks require more care at the outset than started or mature birds.
Started Birds
    Started birds, when you can find them, are partially grown and make a good deal if you don’t want the bother of brooding chicks. For a laying flock,
started pullets
have two advantages: you won’t spend much time feeding unproductive birds, since they’ll soon begin laying; and because the birds are just coming into lay, you’ll have them for the longest possible productive life compared to full-grown hens.
    Started birds are also a good option if you plan to show. They’re less expensive than proven show birds, but also less likely to have serious faults than chicks, since birds with serious faults are culled early. Just be sure you are not acquiring the culls.
Mature Birds
    Full-grown birds are the most expensive but offer the fewest surprises, since you see exactly what you’re getting. Two unpleasant surprises you can get unwittingly are disease