Chicken ordering questions

[momof3]

I am looking at the McMurray site since from what I have read on here they are a good company.
I don't see roosters on the site....am I missing something??
I am looking at ordering Started White Leghorn Pullets it looks like these girls are good layers. What kind of rooster should I get??
I know nothing much about chickens and am learning as I go.....
One more stupid question....how the heck do they ship live chickens???

[Summerthyme]

Momof3... AFAIK, they don't sell "started" (partly grown) cockerels. Most folks who are going to pay the insane prices for started birds (the BIRD isn't the most expensive part- the shipping is!) don't want "noisy" roosters.... they are usually folks who don't want 25 chickens, can't imagine butchering any "extras" and can't have roosters because they crow and the neighbors will complain.

You do NOT need a rooster unless you need/want fertile eggs. The leghorn pullets you're looking at are great egg layers, but they won't set and hatch eggs... that trait has been bred out of them. (there are always exceptions, but they are VERY rare. I had a Golden Comet hen who went broody TWICE a year, every summer... raised two clutches of chicks every time. I've never heard of another Comet hen which went broody... but there's always an exception).

As far as shipping live chickens, baby chicks absorb what's left of the yolk inside the egg, pulling it into their abdomen just before hatching. This provides them with 48-72 hours worth of food and energy... so they ship them as soon as they're dry and they don't need feed until they get to their destination.

Older birds, like those started pullets, are a different story. I'm not sure how they DO ship them, but I assume they provide some way for food and water for the time they are in transit.

Tell us what your goals are here, and your situation (including your personal limits- ie, how many birds you can handle max, if you want to hatch chicks, etc) and we can probably help you figure out your best course of action.

Summerthyme

[curlysue]

momof3, McMurray is a great company. They also put in a couple of extra chicks when shipping. Summertyme is correct about babies being shipped. I have never lost a baby chick from McMurray, except for the last year when they shipped out all those baby chick during that feak deep freeze. They did replace all of them.

[momof3]

Okay we mainly just want the chickens for eggs, butchering them and eating them when they are done laying is something that may be possible eventually but I am not sure I can see myself doing it. (I am a little bit of a wussy) :mrgreen:
I think we want 3-4 chickens I am just not sure about trying to raise them from chicks and think I would be better off getting the bigger started birds. I have heard the hens can get mean if you don't have a rooster.

[goatlady]

Wanting only 3 or 4 hens for eggs, you're much better off buying locally. Check your feed store bulletin board for hens for sale though expect to pay a premium price for them. I never heard of hens getting mean without a rooster - most time the rooster runs the hens to pieces and won't leave them alone to lay! Finding a GOOD rooster - one who won't tear the hen's back to bloody shreds is a hard goal. If the rooster runs the hens too much they won't lay at all - they are way too stressed. Better go with NO rooster until you know a bit more and have a year or 2 of experience. BTW my hens usually never quit laying - they just die of old age years down the road, still laying, just not daily.

[Ike]

we have used McMurray's for several years. Ditto above comments
We went with Buff Orphingtons, Rhode Island Reds and Blacks. All are a good mix of egg layers and meat. McMurray's will talk you thru your questions and suggest a breed based on your wants, climate, etc.
we probably get 2 egss every 3 days or so. more in summer than winter, but my flock (40 hens) did layed thru winter.

All the Best, Ike (eastern Mtns of WVa)

[Crabapple Plum]

With only 3-4 hens, you do NOT want a rooster.

I agree if you only want a few pullets, buy them locally from the feed store. A small bunch of chicks do well in a bird cage under a regular a lamp until they feather out and can go outside to a coop or hutch.