Chicks

Buying Chicks and Pullets: Hatchery, Feed Store or Local Breeder

Field guide · Updated November 4, 2026 · about 9 min read

Most backyard flocks start with day-old chicks from one of three places: a hatchery that ships them by mail, a farm or feed store, or a local breeder (University of Arizona Extension; UF/IFAS). This page compares them, explains NPIP and Marek's vaccination, sets out what sexed and straight-run orders deliver, summarizes the U.S. Postal Service rules for mailed chicks and lists what to check on arrival.

Short version: buy from a source in the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) (CDC; Missouri and Kentucky Extension), ask for Marek's vaccination at the hatchery (Penn State; UT Extension), expect up to 10% of the other sex in a sexed order (Kentucky), have the brooder running at least a day ahead (Missouri; UNH) and open a mailed box at the post office (Kentucky).

Hatchery, feed store or breeder?

Whatever the source, the CDC says to pick poultry that are "bright, alert, and active," and to tell the feed store or hatchery if birds get sick or die soon after purchase.

Day-old chicks or started pullets?

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension describes both routes. Some keepers buy day-old pullets and raise them, which needs brooding equipment, a brooder house cleaned at least two weeks before the chicks arrive, and heat. Others buy 16- to 18-week-old ready-to-lay pullets. Leghorn-type birds begin laying at about 5 months, and the same guide says pullets should be vaccinated for Marek's disease at the hatchery.

Started or adult birds joining a flock you already keep need extra care. Penn State says never to introduce adult birds into an established flock unless they pass 3 to 4 weeks of isolation or are tested clean, and the CDC advises keeping new poultry separate for at least 30 days. The steps are in adding new chickens to your flock.

NPIP: what the label means

The National Poultry Improvement Plan is "a voluntary federal-state cooperative testing and certification program" that began in 1935. It sets testing standards for breeding stock, baby chicks, poults and hatching eggs, and its participants are independent flocks, hatcheries and dealers (USDA APHIS). Kentucky Extension notes it was started to eradicate bacillary white diarrhea (Salmonella Pullorum), which breeder screening has made very uncommon.

• Diseases covered: avian influenza, pullorum disease, fowl typhoid, Salmonella Enteritidis and three mycoplasma infections, M. gallisepticum, M. synoviae and M. meleagridis (APHIS).
• Classifications include U.S. Pullorum-Typhoid Clean, U.S. MG Clean, U.S. Salmonella Monitored and U.S. Sanitation Monitored (APHIS).
• Crossing state lines: most states bar poultry shipments that are not pullorum-typhoid clean, so birds moving interstate generally need to be in the Pullorum-Typhoid Clean program or test negative first (APHIS).
• Checking a seller: APHIS publishes a directory of participants every spring, showing the products each one handles and its disease classifications.
• Salmonella: the CDC describes NPIP as intended to reduce Salmonella in baby poultry in the hatchery. It is not a guarantee, so the handwashing rules on the Salmonella and backyard poultry page still apply.

Marek's disease is not on the NPIP list, so vaccination is a separate question to ask.

Marek's vaccination at the hatchery

Marek's disease is caused by a herpesvirus and is "perhaps the most widespread poultry disease in the world." Chickens inhale it with feather dander, and it can persist in the environment for months or years. It can appear as early as 3 to 4 weeks of age but is more common between 12 and 30 weeks, and affected birds can become paralyzed in the legs or wings. There is no cure or treatment; vaccination is the only control (UT Extension D 185).

• Timing: the vaccine is given at hatch or in the egg before hatching; vaccinating older birds is not effective. Immunity takes about 2 weeks to build, so it is "critical to prevent young chicks from being exposed to the virus" during that time (UT Extension).
• Where: UT Extension says it is best to buy from a hatchery that can vaccinate before shipment. Penn State says egg-type chickens should be vaccinated at the hatchery, and Arizona suggests buying chicks vaccinated for Marek's and coccidiosis where possible. Some hatcheries offer a coccidiosis vaccine or probiotic, usually given in the shipping box (Kentucky).
• Limits: the MSD Veterinary Manual (Sato, 2024) says vaccination does not prevent infection or shedding of the field virus, and that birds vaccinated only with serotype 3, as most backyard chickens are, might not be fully protected. Kentucky notes that waterfowl do not need the vaccine.

Signs to watch for in grown birds are part of the hen health check. HenClass does not give dosing or treatment advice; ask a veterinarian or your county extension office.

Straight run, pullets or cockerels

The crosses behind color-sexed chicks are on the sex-link chickens page, and the signs that tell a pullet from a cockerel week by week are in pullet or cockerel? If roosters are banned where you live, check local chicken rules before ordering straight run.

Minimum orders and mail shipping rules

Chicks cannot regulate their body temperature for a few weeks, so in the shipping box they rely on each other's body heat; for this reason, Kentucky Extension says, most hatcheries have a minimum shipping order of 25 chicks. Minimums vary by hatchery and season. McMurray's are higher from January through March (25 standard chicks) and drop in April to as few as six day-old chicks. Arizona's example is a 3-chick minimum with a small-order fee.

Shipping works because of the yolk absorbed just before hatch, though the sources give different windows: the main food and water source for the first 48 hours (Kentucky), about 72 hours of reserves (Penn State) or no need for food or water for the first three days (Arizona). Penn State still advises getting chicks to a brooder with feed and water within 24 hours of hatching.

USPS Publication 52 (section 526.3) sets the rules for day-old poultry:

• Species: chickens, ducks, emus, geese, guinea birds, partridges, pheasants (April through August only), quail and turkeys. Other day-old poultry cannot be mailed.
• Box: the original, unopened box from the hatchery of origin, stacked no more than 10 high.
• Timing: mailings should be timed so the birds do not reach the delivery post office on a Sunday or holiday, or the afternoon before one.
• Adult birds go by Priority Mail Express only, each weighing more than 6 ounces and no more than 25 pounds, in approved containers (section 526.4).

Kentucky Extension adds that chicks go by express or priority mail, most hatcheries avoid shipping right before or after a weekend, and they usually add extra chicks to cover expected losses. McMurray ships chicks Monday through Wednesday and lists Hawaii among the places it cannot send fowl.

Arrival checklist

1. Brooder running ahead. Missouri Extension says to run the heat for at least 24 hours; UNH says to set up and test the brooder at least one day before. Lamp safety is on the heat lamp page.
2. Be reachable. The post office calls you to collect the chicks rather than delivering them (Kentucky); pick them up as soon as they arrive (Arizona).
3. Open the box at the post office and check for losses. A postal worker must sign a claim form as witness; once the box goes home, it cannot be brought back for a claim (Kentucky).
4. Read the label for the hatch date and hour that USPS requires on the box.
5. Note the guarantee window. McMurray, for example, wants losses reported by phone within 48 hours of arrival.
6. Keep them warm on the way home; Penn State's concern is that chicks not get chilled.
7. Water first. Dip each chick's beak in the water as it comes out of the box (UF/IFAS; UNH; Penn State).
8. Then feed: chick starter scattered on paper (UF/IFAS) or in a shallow dish or egg carton (UNH).
9. Watch for an hour to see that chicks find water and feed (UF/IFAS). Evenly spread, softly chirping chicks are comfortable (UNH); huddling under the heat means too cold (UF/IFAS); panting and gasping at the edges means too hot (Missouri).
10. Check crops: they should be full by the second day (Penn State).
11. Report problems. Tell the hatchery or store if birds sicken or die soon after purchase (CDC), and get a diagnostic-lab diagnosis for any deaths (Penn State).
12. Keep them apart from older birds for at least 30 days (CDC); see flock biosecurity. Children under 5 should not handle chicks (CDC).

Week-by-week brooder temperatures, space and feed are in chick care for the first 8 weeks.

HenClass does not give veterinary advice. For sick birds, talk to a veterinarian, your county extension office or your State veterinarian.