Benefits of Started Pullets

 

This is part two of two in a "series" about the pros and cons of day old chicks versus started pullets. 

Truth be told, there is a lot of good points for both day old chicks and started pullets. It really boils down to (a) how much time is available, (b) personal preference/circumstances. 

A "started pullet" is an immature chicken that has been raised up to a certain point (typically close to the point-of-lay). In other words, started pullets aren't chicks. There are some benefits to not starting with those tiny, peeping, fragile puff-balls...

A concern among parents with small children is that the chicks would be "loved" to death. Having the household cat get ahold of the chicks is bad enough, but having one of your own kids accidentally kill one or several of the chicks would be terrible. However, with started pullets, they are practically child and cat proof. 

With baby chicks, a constant source of heat is necessary for survival until they are fully feathered. Started pullets are already fully feathered so they don't have to have a heat source, which saves on electricity and on space. 

Dependent on how many chickens you would like to end up with, there are some advantages to having started pullets versus day old chicks. Lets say I wanted to buy 300 started pullets. Depending on where they were to be bought from, I could get them around $15 per bird. And the wonderful thing about buying in bulk is that the price goes down the more you buy of something! If I was to purchase those 300 chicks (plus extras to make up for any losses that may occur) and raise them myself, they would cost closer to $5000+ if supplies, feed, electricity, infrastructure, and other misc. expenses were factored in, versus a flat $4500 to buy started pullets. The price gap may close or widen depending on prices if the operation goes past 1,000 birds. However, when it comes to running an "egg-only" farm, the scale of those farms rarely is less than 1,500-2,000 chickens because of the costs associated with producing and maintaining those birds. 

A major player that determines whether an operation (or hobby farm, ect...) will start with chicks or started pullets is simply the availability of each option. For example, being in Idaho where there is precious little "chicken-influence," with regards to large operations, there aren't really any local suppliers of started pullets, because there isn't a big market for them in Idaho. However, there are many people who have small backyard flocks, in which people prefer to have the full experience of raising chickens, making day old chicks very popular! 

As a side note, several people don't know that Idaho has its own hatchery! Dunlap Hatchery in Caldwell has been my main supplier of chicks over the past 5 years, and I have been satisfied with every batch I've purchased from them! If you're interested in getting chickens this year, or are wanting to grow your flock, check them out here. They also supply the feed stores throughout the valley with their chicks in the spring (D&B supply, Zamzows, Tractor Supply Co.) 

Another benefit to having started pullets is that the wait time for eggs is significantly less. Instead of 5 months of waiting, you'd only wait for 2-4 weeks for eggs with started pullets. 

So, who knew there were so many different options and concerns about chickens! I hope that these two articles brought some clarity, or even just some more knowledge, about chickens. As always, if there are any recommendations for future articles, feel free to let me know!