If you buy chicks instead of adult chickens, they are typically sold at about 24-72 hours. You’ll find that most farms that sell chicks deliver before the chicks are 72 hours old.
However, according to experts, it is best to buy your chickens when they are at the point of laying (POL). This is best for those who want to harvest eggs while raising chickens.
It typically takes just 2-4 weeks for POL chickens to give eggs. Whereas, if you take a day-old chick, you must take care of them for 20-21 weeks before they can provide eggs.
How Old Are Chicks When You Buy Them?
Almost all stores sell chicks at least 1-2 days old. By 1 week, they will have grown their baby feathers, and in 12 weeks, they will replace the baby fuzz with real feathers.
You should be able to tell the age of the chicks when you buy them so that you can give them the care and nutrition they need.
Things To Consider Before Buying Chicks:
Before you go ahead and buy a dozen or more chicks, there are a few essential boxes you need to tick so that you can give them a loving and inviting home.
Do you have enough time to take care of the chicks?
Consider that taking care of chicks is a very time-consuming hobby, so you need to ask yourself if you can take out the time of day to spend with the chicks.
Once they grow older, it becomes easier to take care of them, but as day-old chicks, you have to keep monitoring their water and food intake as well as the temperature in their coop so that they have a healthy environment to grow up in
Do you have enough space in your yard?
Unless you have a farm or are thinking of starting a farm, you have to consider if you have enough room in your yard or home to construct a chicken coop.
Typically, chicken runs don’t take up so much room, but you need a lot of space to build a place to accommodate all your chicks even when they grow to become bigger adults.
How many chicks are you willing to breed?
Consider that your chicks will be ready to lay eggs within a few months. So you have to calculate how many eggs will be paid by a single hen, so if you decide to breed the fertilized eggs, you have enough room to keep all of them.
How To Introduce Chicks To Your Flock
There’s a common misconception that all mother hens will be motherly towards baby chicks. However, this is hardly the case regardless of what kind of animals you breed.
Typically, you old folk will not appreciate you bringing a new flock of birds into their already accommodated home. They think of them as a threat, especially regarding food intake.
This is why you need to take many precautious steps when introducing your new chicks to your flock. The most important factor is patience; you have to be super patient with your old flock and slowly ease the idea of new members in their flock.
Other than this, you need to monitor their interactions closely. Make sure they’re always physically separated, but they get used to their faces and smell.
After a long, drawn-out introduction, you can start trying to let them mingle once they have fully grown feathers and are at least 12-23 weeks old.
What not to do:
A major not to make is never to introduce just one chick to a whole flock. The older chickens could bully the little chick or even kill the chick because they feel threatened.
Always start small, get one or two friendly adult chickens to get accustomed to the little chick, and slowly make your way to the whole flock. If you only have one chick, it is best to wait for the chick to become a fully grown chicken before putting them in the same chicken pen.
Conclusion
Suppose you are planning on raising baby chickens. In that case, it is a gratifying experience because you watch them grow into adult chickens, lay eggs and experience the whole cycle. Chickens also grow very fast, so it won’t be long before your cute little chicks grow up to become adults, laying their eggs.
Chicks are also very friendly and love being around humans, and it’s because they can create strong bonds with their caregivers reasonably quickly. So when you get your chicks, make sure you give them enough opportunities to mingle with fellow chicks and even interact with them in their coup from time to time.