You can hatch replacement chicks yourself with a home incubator. Bantams are famously broody, and a bantam hen will hatch other hensвЂ™В eggs. Broodiness-the instinct to sit on eggs until they hatch-has been bred out of a lot of chickens, but we always had one or two who would begin to sit tight on the nest and peck if we tried to remove their eggs. Hens will lay perfectly well withoutВ one. Check your zoning regulations some places allow hens, but not roosters. Of course, youвЂ™ll also need a rooster to get fertile eggs. If you already have chickens (or know someone who does), thereвЂ™s always the option of hatchingВ your own chicks. (вЂњBattery hensвЂќ are not good candidates for a farm flock-theyвЂ™re confined in tiny cages, debeaked, and made to produce so hard that theyвЂ™re вЂњlaid outвЂќ at 2 to 3 years ofВ age.) Unless you have someone with a small flock nearby who wants to replace older hens and will sell their вЂњold girlsвЂќ to you, chances are,В youвЂ™ll have to buy pullets or chicks. Mature laying hens are harder to come by.These, too, can be ordered through your farm supplier from theВ hatchery. They can go straight to the coop and are all females. TheyвЂ™re more expensive than day-olds, but of course, you get your eggs sooner.

Ready-to-lay pullets are 20 weeks old and just about to start laying.

YouвЂ™ll have to wait about 6 months forВ eggs. Most farm suppliers do one or two chick orders a year, so you can get your chickens where you plan to get your feed.

Day-old chicks are available from hatcheries.

You can purchase chickens at several stages of development-it all depends on how long youвЂ™re willing to wait forВ eggs.

These days, you can even go online to order chicks and get them shipped to your door (or local post office).В Then thereвЂ™s always the вЂњask a friend with chickens to hatch some for youвЂќВ approach. There are a number of ways to go about getting chickens! Most often, chicks can be bought locally in the spring, from farm supply stores or small farms themselves. ( Note: This is the fourth article ofВ our six-part Raising Chickens 101 series.) Where to Get BabyВ Chickens

Feather 7 days to die