Frequently Asked Questions

Well, that's a more complex question than you may think. If there should be a problem on hatch day, of course we will contact you just as soon as we are aware, so you'll know to expect an altered shipment, or not to expect birds that week (depending on what you've asked us to do in the case of a hatch day issue). However, keep in mind that it wouldn't be before the Monday of hatch week, since we wouldn't know that there was a shortage of females hatching (for example) until after the babies had hatched and had been...

No, I'm sorry. We're not a breeder registry. We don't keep lists of independent breeders for any location. To find a list of breeders, you'll normally want to contact a breed club for the breed you are interested in, not a hatchery. To find a breed club, try a Google search: key in "breed club + [breed I'm interested in]." So, for example, you might key in "breed club Japanese Bantam." Breed clubs normally keep a registry of breeders, so contact the breed clubs you find in the Google search for a list of breeders. Hopefully you can find a...

|It really depends on the individual personality of the bird as well as how quickly they develop. Birds that feather out quickly may begin to roost early (if they have a roost to use), since the grown-in wing feathers allow them to fly up to the roost easily. Some may try roosting almost immediately, while others may take two or three weeks. Most people don't put roosts in their brooders, in which case it may take a few weeks for older birds to figure out "roosting" when they are moved to the big girl coop. However, you can give your...

My Pet Chicken is geared toward backyard flocks People who keep small numbers of chickens as a hobby often prefer to buy from My Pet Chicken because we are geared to small backyard keepers of just a few birds at a time. Our minimum order is just three (rather than 25 most other hatcheries). Even other "small order" hatcheries may allow you to order just a few birds, but then add "extra males for warmth," meaning you are saddled with 15 extra roosters to rehome. This is something most keepers of pet chickens are just not interested in. My Pet...

Don't worry, it's common for hens to not lay in the nest box!  "Floor eggs" are nothing to be too concerned about. Having your hens laying eggs on the floor rather than in the nest can be a pain in the neck. You want to be able to easily find all the eggs laid so you can gather them freshly--and you don't want to accidentally step on a floor egg! Some hens even lay eggs under the roosting area, which is just gross, because then the eggs get pooped on in the night. Having your eggs in a dark nest...

Not necessarily. Sometimes hens will regrow feathers immediately, and sometimes they won't regrow missing feathers until the molt (usually in the late summer or fall). The best layers are usually using all their resources to produce eggs, rather than to regrow feathers. That means high-production layers are generally the types that may not refeather immediately. To help your birds regrow missing feathers, you may consider getting a higher protein feed for a while; they need lots of protein to grow healthy feathers!

Our breeding flocks are raised indoor birds for reasons of biosecurity. Large hatcheries and serious breeders are more or less required to raise their birds indoors, since one of the main vectors for a lot of avian diseases is contact with wild birds. Hatcheries and breeders must be able to show by testing that their birds are free of these diseases (so sick or diseased chicks aren't sent all across the country!).   However, these aren't factory farm conditions like you see in the meat or egg industry with each bird being allocated a tiny cage that they can't even...

Probably not. Chickens actually eat deer ticks, wood ticks, and dog ticks (as well as other types), and these are the most common ticks that bother humans and canines. Perhaps these ticks are what you are seeing? If so, there is probably no special cause for concern. Even when you live in Tick Central, where a half hour hike means you may have to brush off many, many ticks from your clothing, you'll have few ticks in the immediate area of the chicken coop because the chickens will eat all they can find. This is especially true if you keep...