Questions to Ask Before Buying Poultry
You’ve found a breeder you’re comfortable with and birds (or eggs!) you’d like to bring home. Before you commit, there are a few things worth knowing.
This isn’t a list of questions you need to copy and paste into someone’s inbox. Some won’t apply to your purchase, and many may already be answered on the breeder’s profile, website, social media pages, or sales post. The goal is simply to make sure both you and the breeder know what you’re agreeing to before birds, eggs, or money change hands.
Read What’s Already There First
Before messaging the breeder, take a few minutes to read the information they’ve already provided. Check their Breeder Registry profile, including their policies and availability information. If they’ve linked a website or social media account, you may find more information there too.
Breeders answer many of the same questions over and over, especially during hatching season. If they’ve already taken the time to provide the answer publicly, there’s no need to make them type it again.
Once you’ve done that, ask about anything that’s unclear or specific to your purchase.
Questions That Apply to Most Purchases
You won’t necessarily need every question on this list, but before committing you should have a clear idea of what you’re getting.
What exactly am I purchasing?
Make sure you and the breeder are talking about the same thing. Confirm the species, breed or cross, approximate age, number of birds or eggs, and anything else that matters to your decision. If you’re purchasing a particular bird you’ve seen in a photo, confirm that the photo is of the actual bird rather than a representative example.
Is there anything I should know about their health?
It’s reasonable to ask whether the birds you’re purchasing are currently healthy and whether there have been any recent health concerns that could be relevant. This doesn’t mean a breeder can promise that a bird will never become sick. Poultry can carry or develop problems without obvious symptoms, which is one reason quarantine remains important no matter where your birds come from.
What are they currently eating?
Changing homes is stressful enough without abruptly changing feed at the same time. Ask what feed the birds are currently eating so you can either have the same thing ready or transition them gradually onto whatever you use at home.
What are the pickup or shipping arrangements?
Know when and where you’re expected to collect your birds, or how shipping will work if you’re purchasing hatching eggs. Please note that live birds are not shipped in our province and offering to ship birds is often a tactic that scammers use.
Also make sure you understand deposits, payment expectations, cancellation policies, and how long the breeder will hold birds for you. These policies will vary from breeder to breeder. What’s important is that you know what they are before committing.
If You’re Buying Chicks
Are they straight run or sexed?
Don’t assume.
Straight run means the chicks have not been sorted by sex. You may end up with pullets, cockerels, or a mixture of both. If chicks are being sold as sexed, ask how they were sexed if that information matters to you. Different methods have different levels of reliability, and mistakes can happen. A chick sold as a pullet can still occasionally grow up and crow.
What happens if a sexed chick turns out to be male?
Ask about the breeder’s policy before you buy. Some breeders may be willing to take a mistakenly sexed cockerel back. Others may not. Neither arrangement should be assumed unless the breeder has told you.
If you’re buying straight run chicks, males aren’t a sexing mistake. They’re part of what you agreed to purchase.
Do they still need supplemental heat?
Age alone doesn’t always tell you whether chicks are ready to live without supplemental heat. Ask what conditions they’re currently being kept in so you can have an appropriate setup waiting at home.
If You’re Buying Started or Adult Birds
How old are they?
If age matters to you, ask. For laying hens, age gives you more useful information than simply asking whether they’re “laying.”
Are they currently laying?
If you’re purchasing hens for eggs, it’s perfectly reasonable to ask about current laying status. Just remember that moving is stressful. A hen that was laying regularly at the breeder’s property may temporarily stop after moving, and no breeder can promise exactly how many eggs an individual bird will produce for you.
Is there anything useful to know about their temperament?
Temperament can change in a new environment and flock hierarchy, so don’t expect guarantees. A breeder may still be able to tell you whether a bird is particularly confident, timid, flighty, people-friendly, or difficult with other birds. That information can be useful when planning introductions.
If You’re Buying Hatching Eggs
Hatching eggs deserve their own set of expectations because you’re purchasing the possibility of chicks, not a guaranteed number of them.
What should hatch from these eggs?
Confirm the breed, cross, or breeding group the eggs are coming from. If specific colors, varieties, or traits are possible rather than guaranteed, make sure you understand that too.
How fresh will the eggs be?
Ask when the eggs will be collected and approximately how old they’ll be when you receive them. Fertility and hatchability aren’t the same thing, and many factors after an egg is laid can affect whether a fertile egg ultimately produces a chick.
If they’re being shipped, how will they be packed and sent?
Shipped hatching eggs are common, but shipping introduces factors that neither you nor the breeder can control. Handling, vibration, temperature changes, delays, and rough treatment during transit can all affect hatchability. A breeder can pack eggs carefully. They cannot control what happens to the parcel after it leaves their hands.
Is there a hatch guarantee?
In most cases, you should expect the answer to be no. That’s normal.
A breeder can provide eggs from birds they reasonably believe to be fertile and can handle and package those eggs appropriately. Once the eggs leave their possession, however, incubation conditions, handling, shipping, equipment, temperature, humidity, and plain old biology are outside their control. Even under excellent conditions, not every fertile egg becomes a chick.
A lack of a hatch guarantee is not, by itself, a reason to distrust a breeder. Make sure you understand the breeder’s hatching egg policy before purchasing and decide whether you’re comfortable accepting that risk.
KEEP READING:
The Breeder May Have Questions for You Too
Don’t be surprised if the breeder asks you a few questions of their own.
Many breeders care very much about where their animals are going and want to give them the best chance of being successfully placed. Depending on what you’re purchasing, they may ask about your existing flock, other animals on the property, your housing or coop setup, your experience with that species, or what you’re looking for in your new birds.
Some questions may be specific to the animals they’re selling. For social species that shouldn’t be kept alone, for example, a breeder may want to know whether you already have an appropriate companion at home. They may also require you to purchase a minimum number of birds rather than selling a single animal by itself.
Those questions aren’t necessarily a breeder being nosy or making the purchase unnecessarily difficult. In many cases, they’re trying to make sure the placement is appropriate before the animal leaves their care.
Sometimes the answer may be no.
A breeder is allowed to decide that they aren’t comfortable with a particular placement, just as you’re allowed to decide that a breeder isn’t the right fit for you. A good purchase should work for the keeper, the breeder, and the animals involved.
Before You Say Yes, Ask Yourself a Few Questions Too
The breeder isn’t the only person with responsibilities in this transaction. Before committing, make sure you’re ready for what you’re buying.
Do I have appropriate housing ready?
Not “I can probably figure something out.”
Ready.
That may mean a brooder, quarantine area, separate coop, appropriate fencing, or species-specific housing depending on what you’re bringing home.
Can I quarantine these birds?
If you’re adding live birds to an existing flock, have a quarantine plan in place before pickup. Choosing a responsible breeder reduces risk. It doesn’t eliminate it.
KEEP READING:
If there could be males, what is my plan?
This matters whether you’re buying straight run chicks, hatching eggs, and even sexed chicks. Mistakes happen!
Roughly half of the chicks you hatch could be male. Don’t incubate a dozen eggs while assuming you’ll somehow beat the odds and hatch twelve hens. Decide what you’re realistically able and willing to do with cockerels before they exist.
The Rooster Registry can be one tool available to Nova Scotia poultry keepers who need to find appropriate homes for male birds, but it is not a guarantee that a home will be found. Your plan for possible males needs to account for the possibility that rehoming won’t happen quickly, or at all.
Can I meet the needs of these birds as adults?
That tiny chick won’t stay tiny. In fact, it will grow MUCH faster than you’d probably expect. Think about adult size, housing requirements, temperament, noise, flock compatibility, and any species or breed-specific needs before buying.
Am I prepared if things don’t go exactly as planned?
A supposedly female chick might turn out to be male. A hen may stop laying after moving. Hatching eggs may produce fewer chicks than you hoped for, or none at all. Birds that got along somewhere else may need time and careful introductions before they settle into your flock.
Poultry are living animals. There are limits to what any breeder can predict or guarantee. Knowing that before you buy makes the occasional surprise a lot easier to handle.
Good Placements Start With Clear Expectations
You don’t need to interrogate a breeder or ask every question on this page. Read what’s available. Ask the questions that matter to your particular purchase. Make sure you understand what the breeder is offering and what happens once you say yes.
A good transaction works better when both sides know what to expect. Once the birds or eggs are yours, some of that responsibility becomes yours too.
Ready to Find Your Next Birds?
Browse Nova Scotia poultry breeders and see who’s raising what you’re looking for.
This guide is provided by Feathered Fundamentals, a Nova Scotia poultry education project helping keepers build the knowledge and confidence to care for their birds well.