Poultry for sale: Where should I buy Poultry?

There are a number of places to find poultry for sale and then buy poultry, such as a poultry sale, poultry auction, poultry websites, or a poultry exhibition. The best approach is to decide how you want to start, then contact a reputable poultry breeder. You can find details of some top quality breeders in the Poultry Journal.

Once you know what kind of chickens you want, the next step is to decide whether to purchase hatching eggs to incubate, newly hatched chicks, partially grown or ‘started’ birds or fully mature chickens. Each has advantages and disadvantages.

Chicks require additional care at the outset but give you the chance to get acquainted with your birds as they grow. Buying chicks lets you get the most birds for the least cost, and baby birds are least likely to bring a disease into your yard. On the other hand, if you buy exhibition birds, you won’t know if you have a potential winner or breeder until the chicks mature.

Hatching eggs - eggs which are sold for incubation and 'should' be fertile - are available from many sources from established breeders to hobbyists and smallholders, and are readily available on Ebay. A considerable amount of trust needs to be placed in the seller - firstly that the eggs have a chance of being fertile, and secondly that the eggs are as described. Thereafter, success depends on how carefully the eggs are packaged, delivered, and incubated - there is no guarantee any or all the eggs will hatch.

Chicks come in two options: sexed and unsexed. Unsexed chicks – also called ‘straight run’ or ‘as-hatched’ – are mixed in gender exactly as they hatch, or approximately 50 percent males (males) and 50 percent pullets (females). Sexed chicks are sorted so you can buy exactly as many pullets or males as you want. Within a given breed, sexed pullets cost the most, straight run next, and sexed males the least. Males have the least value because most people have too many of them.

If you’re establishing a laying flock, your best bet is to buy sexed pullets. For a dual-purpose flock, you might start out with a batch of straight run chicks and raise the surplus males for the freezer. If you’re starting a meat project, you can save money on chicks and grow out the birds faster if you get all male/s.

Started or ‘point of lay’ pullets, when you can find them, are a good deal if you don’t want the bother of brooding chicks. For a laying flock, started – or partially grown – 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, they’ll have the longest possible productive life ahead of them. Started birds are also a good option if you plan to show: they’re less expensive than proven show birds but less likely to have serious faults than chicks (since birds showing serious faults are culled early on).

Mature birds are the most expensive but offer the fewest surprises, since you see exactly what you’re getting. Two unpleasant surprises you can get are disease and excessive age. The older a bird gets, the longer it is exposed to potential diseases, and the more likely it is to carry one. That risk increases if the bird has been traveling the show circuit.

What to Look For

When you buy grown chickens, look for bright eyes; smooth, shiny feathers; smooth, clean shanks (legs); and full, bright combs. To make sure you aren’t getting an old, worn-out bird, look for legs that are smooth and clean and a breast bone that is straight. When you handle the bird, it should not feel thin. When you buy chicks, make sure they are bright-eyed and perky.

A well-kept bird of any age is parasite-free, which you can check by peeking under the wings and around the vent – external parasites can be visibly seen, internal parasites often cause diarrhea that sticks to vent feathers.

If you visit the seller in person, stop to listen for coughing or sneezing in the flock – when a few chickens catch cold, chances are good the whole flock is coming down with it. Old-time poultry keepers whistle whenever they near a flock, causing the birds to pause in their activities so coughs and sneezes are easier to hear.

If you are interested in finding out more about chicken breeds and poultry breeds you should consider subscribing to The Poultry Journal.

Poultry Journal Useful Links (The Poultry Journal is not responsible for the content of external websites and accepts no liability for their use)

Poultry Photos and Books

The Poultry Photos website is an excellent collection of photos of most poultry breeds photographed by the renowned poultry photographer, the late Arthur Rice. Prints and montages of these poultry breeds are available, along with poultry books by Ian Kay and others.

Poultry Mad

Poultry Mad offers an extensive range of Exhibition and Rare Breeds of Poultry and quality built, housing for poultry and waterfowl which is available ready assembled or flat - packed.

Blue Laced & Friends Forum

Got a poultry keeping question? Want to join a friendly and popular online poultry community? Then join the Blue Laced & Friends web forum. Easy to use and full of informative posts from poultry keepers of all levels of experience- this is the place to come for quick and friendly poultry advice. It's free to join.