I popped into my local tack shop after work yesterday to buy a mineral block for my niece’s pony and noticed it was busier than usual. I quickly realized why. There, in a large area sectioned off by straw bales, were about 300 chicks, no more than a few days old. They were really very cute and I had the strongest urge to take some of them home with me. But it is never recommended to get chicks this way.
But it’s that time of year again and it’s becoming more and more common to find chicks in different types of stores. Spring is right around the corner and it’s that time of year when people start to feel like starting a chicken flock or adding to an existing chicken flock. One of the easiest but WORST ways to start raising a backyard chicken flock is to get “free” chicks or buy chicks at local feed stores.
Why is this one of the worst ways to start raising a backyard chicken flock? The main reason is that chicks are easily stressed, which can make them sick. When you walk into your local feed store, or in my case, the local horse tack store, and see those cute little chicks, it can be hard to put them down. And, to sweeten the deal and make it even more difficult, my local tack shop offers a free chick when you buy a bag of chicken feed. I needed chicken feed and it was VERY hard not to accept a chick or two.
I personally know several people who have purchased these cute little chicks. They seemed active and healthy at the time, but most of them later died. Picture this. The chicks are in their holding area, doing what chicks do and just being cute. Everyone crowds around the waiting area watching them, excitedly talking about them, and the kids leading them around the store. Then, when mom or dad says “No,” they drop back into their pen until the next person grabs them and drags them around the store. It is not surprising that many of them do not live long enough to become mature chickens. They just can’t handle the stress.
Raising a flock of backyard chickens isn’t something you should just jump into, either. Unless you only ordered one breed of chick, it will be almost impossible to know what kind of chicken you’ll end up with. The other problem is that it is cheaper to buy these chicks in “straight races”, which means that a good part of them will be roosters. While I always keep at least one rooster, if you end up with too many your hens will be endlessly harassed.
I know how hard it is to resist the allure of girls in these kinds of situations. Many people also feel the need to “rescue” them. If you’re already raising a flock of chickens in the backyard, you don’t know what kinds of diseases these cute little chicks can present to your existing flock. Worse, if you’ve never had chickens before, this is the worst way to start raising a backyard chicken flock. Don’t succumb to their cuteness and take one or more chicks home because you will almost certainly experience distress when some or all of them die within a few days of bringing them home. You will also end up with birds that may not be what you wanted or needed.
