How to Order Baby Chickens from a Poultry Hatchery

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VEVILA/FOTOLIA
Chicks are shipped in cardboard boxes designed to keep them warm.

Hatching eggs in an incubator or under a hen is an exciting project, and shopping for chicks or other baby poultry at a farm store is great fun. But you can order baby chickens to be shipped from a poultry hatchery through the mail, too. This is a great way to find some unusual breeds or varieties. It also helps with planning: If you rely on hatching eggs, you can never be quite certain how many chicks you’ll get.

Right before hatching, chicks and other baby poultry absorb the last of the yolk — their food source during incubation. For most species, this last bit of yolk provides enough nutrition to sustain the baby for about three days without eating or drinking, which makes shipping chicks through the mail possible, if they arrive quickly.

You can find the breed or variety of chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese or other fowl you’re looking for easily and quickly with the Mother Earth News Hatchery Finder, which searches more than 60 hatcheries from across the United States.

When preparing your order, here are some good things to keep in mind.

  • Published on Dec 31, 2008
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