Just Want Pullets
I have been contacted dozens of times in the last few weeks by people wanting pullets and laying hens, and with the price of eggs, I understand. The trick is, that here at Flower Feather Farm, available pullets are far and few between.
I have pullets available only in two sets of circumstances:
If I hatch more chicks than people want and the birdies stay here long enough for me to sex them. That happened in December so I had a handful of pullets available earlier this month and they have been snatched up.
I grow-out a whole bunch of chicks with which to replenish my flocks. After they grow up I look for the characteristics I want to strengthen in my flock; the birds that don’t have those characteristics are culled — which doesn’t mean killed —just removed from the flock. I did that in late December and those birds were also claimed right away.
I am growing out replenishment birds for several of my flocks, so there is a chance in 4-8 months I will have some more pullets available. To get on the waitlist for those, go to the Juveniles and Adults listing for the breed you want, and sign up to be notified when I add any to the website. Everyone on the waitlist will be notified at the same time, so whoever checks-out first gets the birds.
A more reliable way to get some birds that will be laying this summer is to buy straight-run chicks, twice as many as you want hens, as half will likely be cockerels. (You can learn about sexing chicks here.) Financially it is about the same, but you can get chicks now and know what you have by late spring and be collecting eggs in the summer.
I am putting every egg I have in the incubator and should regularly have lots of chicks starting late January. You can see the hatch dates and learn how to reserve chicks from those hatches.
