OPEN THE HATCH

PURCHASING YOUR SPRING CHICKS FROM A HATCHERY IS MORE THAN JUST CLICK AND WAIT

- HOPE ELLIS-ASHBURN

Purchasing chicks from a hatchery has important advantages, such as fewer people handling the birds, lessening the chance for cross-contamination in established flocks. Customers also have more options of birds to choose from to best suit their needs. Whether you are a veteran producer or are brand-new to raising chickens, follow these five tips and you'll be well on your way to making the experience as positive as possible.

ESTABLISH GENERAL GOALS

Before you even start shopping for breeds, you need to review your chicken-keeping goals. For starters, decide if you're looking for meat or egg production, or both. You'll also want to decide if your ambitions include simply contributing to your family's food supply or if you want to sell what your produce and on what scale.

Before he shopped, Greg Nance, a producer and pastor, decided on what type of breed-specific bird he wanted. Nance has raised chickens off and on since childhood. For the past five years, he has lived on his Sweet Grace farm, a small plot located on Signal Mountain in Tennessee, where he keeps a flock of about 100 birds that he raises for meat and eggs. While the birds provide for his family, he also sells to community and church members. Nance put in a considerable amount of research before he clicked "submit" on that first purchase.

Plan Before Proceeding

Evaluate your goals prior to placing your order. Decide ahead of time if you wish to produce meat or eggs for just you and your family or if you plan to sell what your produce. Selling your produce can be something on as small a scale as covering your feed costs by selling to community members or involve something on a larger scale such as selling at a local farmers market.