Poultry: how to buy chicks, ducks, geese or hatching eggs
What are you buying: birds or eggs
You can buy day-old chicks, grown-on young birds, adult laying hens or hatching eggs. Day-old chicks are cheap, but they need a heated brooder and careful care for the first weeks. Grown-on birds (from four to six weeks) are easier to move, but cost more. Eggs for an incubator are the most economical, but you need your own incubator and some experience.
Also decide what the birds are for: meat, eggs or both. This decides the choice of cross or breed.
Crosses and breeds
- Meat crosses of broiler chicks (Cobb 500, Ross 308) put on weight fast, but need good feed and are not suited to breeding in a home flock.
- Egg crosses, such as Lohmann Brown, give many eggs, but have their own laying cycle.
- Dual-purpose breeds suit a yard and give both eggs and meat.
- Muscovy and mule ducks, turkeys, guinea fowl and quail differ in growth rate and housing needs.
- Geese are undemanding about food and like grazing and water.
What the birds need at home
For chicks, prepare a brooder with a lamp or heater, dry bedding, a feeder and a drinker. In the first days the temperature under the lamp is about 32–34 degrees, and then it is lowered gradually. Adult birds need a henhouse with perches, nest boxes for layers, a place to range or walk, and clean water. Geese and ducks like a pond, but can manage with a wide trough.
What to put in your request
- kind of bird — chicks, ducks, geese, turkeys, quail, guinea fowl;
- breed or cross;
- what exactly — live birds, hatching eggs or birds for meat;
- age — day-old or grown-on;
- number of birds;
- when you need them — month or date;
- sex — only pullets or mixed;
- vaccinations — against Marek's disease, Newcastle disease;
- district or village and budget.
Example: “I need 100 day-old laying chicks, pullets only, vaccinated against Marek's disease, for the middle of November. Near Vijayawada, self-pickup. Budget up to ₹60 per chick.”
How to compare offers
Check the age, cross and vaccinations, not just the price per bird. Ask where the birds come from: the seller's own farm or a middleman. Check whether the seller guarantees the hatch rate from eggs, or a replacement if chicks die in the first days. Healthy chicks are lively, noisy, with clean down and a dry navel.
Day-old chicks are carried warm in boxes, so do not leave them in a cold vehicle. Agree the hatch date in advance: there is no point waiting long after hatching.
How BlaBlaPrice works
You describe what you need once on BlaBlaPrice, and farms reply in the chat with offers: which birds, when, at what price. The platform shows the best-value offer first, with reviews beside it. Your phone number stays hidden until you choose a seller. Read more: how it works.
Look for other livestock in the “Farm animals” section, and feeders and drinkers in pet supplies.
