Over the last couple of years it has been almost impossible to get chicks or ducklings as it's been an epic couple of years for people wanting to learn to grow their own food and take care of their families. ! I would stop in Tractor Supply, knowing they had just gotten a new shipment of chicks in, only to get there 15 minutes after delivery and they were already gone. It was unprecedented! And forget about trying to buy new feeders or waterers as they were sold out just about everywhere! Even with ordering my chicks online, I couldn't get them until the end of June or early July, when I usually get them delivered mid-May. While I'm amazed and excited to see so many people wanting to move towards a bit of sufficiency, one thing I'm noticing is that people don't know what types of chicks they are wanting. I saw many people in the store getting "straight run" chicks (because they were cheaper) and talking about how they couldn't wait to get fresh eggs. Now, I'm sitting back and watching as people are realizing they have a bunch of roosters and live in areas where they can't keep them and are having to get rid of them. I'm not going to lie when I say that I may have picked some up, finished raising them to the proper size and will be harvesting them for my freezer! Don't be one of those people in the spring and spend money on chickens that you aren't going to be able to keep.
What's the Difference?
What's the Difference?
It's hard to walk past the bins at Tractor Supply or other farm stores and see all the cute little fluff balls and not buy any. My husband knows by now that he can't send me in the spring or fall because I inevitably will come with more saying "But look how cute they are!" or "But I don't have this breed yet!" (I think I've got about 42 hens right now plus we've had around 50 meat chickens, 6 turkeys....they were all CUTE too!)
But what exactly is the difference between "straight run" and "pullet"? It's pretty simple-straight run are sort of an "As is". Whatever the eggs hatch is what you get so will have a mix of future hens and roosters. They typically say you will get roughly half and half but you need to know you could get 100% roosters by doing this. When buying pullets, you are getting all females (with only an occasional male by accident). This is the best way to assure that you will have eggs in a few months, but is also a little bit more costly per chick.
How do I get started buying my chicks?
But what exactly is the difference between "straight run" and "pullet"? It's pretty simple-straight run are sort of an "As is". Whatever the eggs hatch is what you get so will have a mix of future hens and roosters. They typically say you will get roughly half and half but you need to know you could get 100% roosters by doing this. When buying pullets, you are getting all females (with only an occasional male by accident). This is the best way to assure that you will have eggs in a few months, but is also a little bit more costly per chick.
How do I get started buying my chicks?
My best advice on buying chicks is to find your breed you like (I'll write about my favorite breeds in later posts) and decide if you are wanting to harvest some off possibly to put meat in the freezer. If so, go with straight run, this way, you'll end up having eggs on the counter and meat in the freezer. If you know you only want eggs, then you want to go with pullets. This year, out of all of my pullet chicks, I only had one stray rooster make his way in there.
Knowing the difference will save you time, money and possibly your kids heart breaking as they have to give up their beloved chicken because mom or dad didn't know and purchased the wrong thing! Join me at The Inexperienced Homesteader on Facebook to learn more about starting to provide food security for your family, learn from my mistakes and realize that anyone can farm!
Knowing the difference will save you time, money and possibly your kids heart breaking as they have to give up their beloved chicken because mom or dad didn't know and purchased the wrong thing! Join me at The Inexperienced Homesteader on Facebook to learn more about starting to provide food security for your family, learn from my mistakes and realize that anyone can farm!
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