What To Look For When Buying a Backyard Chicken Pullet

Have you ever wondered what to look for when buying a backyard chicken pullet? 

If you have ever wondered what to look for when buying a backyard chicken pullet I’d love to share everything Katie and I have learned this year when it comes to buying chickens!  Whether it is for your first backyard flock or a full on egg operation!

So, Katie and I haven’t had the chance to really share what we’ve been going through because we have been way to busy trying to get our newly purchased pullets healthy!  But let me just say… we got burned!  And we don’t want this to happen to anyone else, ever!

It all started when we were ready to purchase our flock.  We decided to go with pullets because we were not yet at a point where we wanted to raise day old laying chicks. 

Have you ever wondered what a pullet even is?

A pullet is a chicken that is just reaching laying age… they are over the age of 12 weeks and are usually closer to 20-26 weeks.  Most sellers will list how old the hens are in their adds, if they don’t, be sure to ask!  Keep in mind that you will pay quite a bit more for saving the time of raising day olds.  In our area a pullets going rate can be anywhere from $20 to $55.  

Anyway, like I said, we were ready to purchase our flock. 

We have “a guy” that we always use when buying our birds… however, this time he didn’t have any in stock due to his shipment not coming in.  So, we had to resort to using another seller.  He seemed great, was registered with the state (or at least that is what we were told), communicated great, and we felt good about working with him.

When I arrived at the property everything seemed normal.  He had several flocks.  We chose a breed that has a good laying record.  And here is where I wish I had known more about purchasing pullets and what I will do different next time!  The birds were all molting.  That didn’t seem off to me since we were in winter and the weather was all over the place this year.  But then when I thought more about it later I realized… chickens typically molt in the fall.  I didn’t even think to question it.  And the other breed that he carried wasn’t molting at all.

Two red flags right there!

Unfortunately, I went ahead with the purchase anyway and made the long journey back to our coop.  And that’s when the fun really got started (that’s sarcasm by the way!).  The drive was rough.  We got in an accident.  The birds were fine and so were we.. but… we got the birds to their new home WAY later in the day than we had planned.  So that was stress upon stress for the birds.  So when they didn’t lay any eggs the first few days… we understood.  They were adjusting to their new space.  

However, after a few weeks we started getting worried.  Did we buy a dud flock?  Is there even such a thing as an entire flock that doesn’t lay?

Were they older than we were told?  Younger? Sick??

We really didn’t know!  The seller said this was a healthy flock that had been laying a very large amount of eggs each day.  I had no reason not to trust him!  Also, the internet said that it could take as much as 21 days for a flock to adjust to a new home and feel safe enough to lay.

Long story short… we started on a journey of trying to rehabilitate our sweet ladies and we learned what to look for when buying a backyard chicken pullet. 

And we have learned A LOT!  In the meantime we bought another flock from “our guy” and they started laying right away!  So we were thankfully able to start getting eggs! We kept the flocks separate to quarantine each flock.  And we kept on learning. 

You may be thinking “why didn’t they just take them to the vet?”  Well, finding a vet that will see chickens is easier said than done.  And if you can find one that is willing to see chickens… it can be very expensive!  Although many will do fecal float tests and we do have a vet for that! Needless to say… many owners get very good at caring for their flocks on their own!

Here we are two months later and we finally have a beautiful flock of healthy chickens!  We are grateful for what we’ve learned and are praying we’ll be blessed with an abundance of yummy eggs! Someday we’ll write a post on how to rehabilitate a flock of chickens!  But for now we’ll start with what to look for you so can avoid having to go through all of this in the first place!

And I have GREAT NEWS!  I watched one of our ladies from the original flock lay an egg for the very first time this morning and it took everything in me not to shout with joy!!! (if you’ve purchased eggs, you’ve been buying from our other flocks because these ladies have never produced an egg until this morning!)

So… here is what we will do different the next time we purchase pullets:

1. We will go with at trusted seller or breeder, if our guy doesn’t have any… we probably won’t go searching for another flock.  We’ll just wait!  If you are in the market for a trusted chicken dealer, try joining some backyard chicken Facebook groups and ask around.  You can also ask your local feed store.  
2. We will thoroughly inspect the chickens that we are purchasing (See the checklist below for what we will look for with each chicken in the future!)
3. We will inspect the coop more thoroughly and make sure it is clean and doesn’t have signs of mites as well as look at their poop to see if it looks healthy (here is a great post that teaches you how to look at chicken poop, complete with pictures!)
4. We will ask what the sellers return/refund policies are BEFORE we purchase!

And here is the list of what to look for when buying a backyard chicken pullet:

• Inspect the chickens feet and legs. If they look ashy, flaky and dull that may be a sign of scaly mites.
• Pick the chickens up. Do they feel nice and full and healthy? A pullet should be at least 6 pounds. Dehydrated chickens feel very light, almost hollow. Chickens that are healthy and hydrated feel plump and heavy.
• Inspect the comb and wattle (the little red bits on top of their head and under their beak). These should be plump, bright and healthy looking. They should look well moisturized. If they look shriveled, dry/ashy or dull this could be a red flag for many underlying health issues.
• Look at their eyes and nostrils. They should be clear and free of crust and mucus.
• Inspect the area below the vent (where they poop, pee and lay eggs). It should be clean and fluffy. If it is full of poop that is a red flag that there could be underlying health issues.
• Inspect the vent, it should look healthy, clean and almost a pink color and it should look hydrated. Make sure to also look around the vent for mites and lice.
• Inspect under their feathers on the chickens back, the back of neck and around the vent for mites and lice. If they have them you will see them! Mites are small and can vary in color. Lice are bigger. Also get familiar with what the lice eggs look like, they typically lay them at the base of the feather (don’t worry, you won’t catch mites or lice from chickens! They are species specific)
• And last, just give the bird a general all over inspection of their feathers. Their feathers should be healthy and shiny! If the bird is molting, depending on the time of year, this could be a sign of underlying health issues.

  

 

 

What To Look For When Buying a Backyard Chicken Pullet

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1. Inspect the chickens feet and legs. If they look ashy, flaky and dull that may be a sign of scaly mites.
2. Pick the chickens up. Do they feel nice and full and healthy? A pullet should be at least 6 pounds. Chickens that are dehydrated feel very light, almost hollow. Chickens that are healthy and hydrated feel plump and heavy.
3. Inspect the comb and wattle (the little red bits on top of their head and under their beak). These should be plump, bright and healthy looking. They should look well moisturized. If they look shriveled, dry/ashy or dull this could be a read flag for many underlying issues.
4. Look at their eyes and nostrils. They should be clear and free of crust and mucus.
5. Inspect the area below the vent. It should be clean and fluffy. If it is full of poop that is a red flag that there could be underlying health issues.
6. Inspect the vent, it should look healthy, clean and almost a pink color and it should look hydrated. Make sure to also look around the vent for mites and lice.
7. Inspect under their feathers on the chickens back, the back of neck and around the vent for mites and lice. If they have them you will see them! Mites are small and can vary in color. Lice are bigger. Also get familiar with what the lice eggs look like, they typcially lay them at the base of the feather (don't worry, you won't catch mites or lice from chickens! They are species specific)
8. And last, just give the bird a general all of inspection of their feathers. Their feathers should be healthy and shiny! If the bird is molting, depending on the time of year, this could be a sign of underlying health issues.