How to get the sold-out baby chicks you want!

Is there a sold-out baby chick on your wish list that you must have but just can't seem to get? At My Pet Chicken, we hear this more and more from our customers, yes, it is harder! The increase in demand for backyard chickens is currently due to the Avian Flu Outbreak and the increased price of eggs.

Follow these five tips to get that special sold-out chicken breed into your backyard coop!

1. Order chicks early on hatch day (Monday).

The early bird gets the sold out baby chick breeds! You can place your baby chick order on Monday mornings (early!) when the chicks hatch and are shipped weekly. If you can be prepared to receive chicks as soon as the next day, ordering on hatch day is a great option.

The reason why we can offer this option? Even once we count the eggs we collected 3 weeks before they hatch, we are still conservative in predicting how many chicks will hatch. This means that we (intentionally) try to hatch a tad more than we expect. So we put those extra baby chicks up on the website on Monday mornings for sale. Be on your toes, though! We stop accepting same-day orders around 2:30 p.m. eastern time.

But wait! Are you ready for baby chicks at your home? Read over our Baby Chick Supply Check List to find out. Please remember that if you don't already have the needed supplies, you must find them locally, as we cannot ship them to you before your baby chicks arrive.

2. Try hatching baby chicks at home!

Hatching baby chicks at home is a rewarding experience, and it can also get you some otherwise already sold-out chicken breeds. Kids find hatching eggs mentally stimulating, and hatching generates family discussions that can help keep your kids engaged in something other than screen time.

Shop our selection of Chicken Hatching Eggs and prepare yourself to hatch by reading our free Hatching Egg and Incubation Hatching Guide.

3. Order started chicken pullets

Throughout the year, we sell batches of 6-week-old pullets. These started pullets are a great way to add to your backyard chicken flock, and there are many benefits to ordering started chicken pullets vs. baby chicks. We are often able to offer rare breed pullets for sale that are sold out as day-old baby chicks.

4. Shop our from pre inventory selection in November

Plan ahead for next year to avoid your favorite baby chick breed being sold out! Our pre-inventory for the next year is available for purchase in November of each year.

(Pre-inventory is the percentage of day-old chicks we "count" before they hatch—often before the breeder flock is even mature!) This is the best time of year to order baby chick breeds that are otherwise sold out normally. Sign up for our newsletter to be the first to know when we release our pre-inventory.

5. Find normally sold-out baby chick breeds for delivery in the "Off-Season."

There is often more availability of normally sold-out baby chick breeds in the winter. We will add additional baby chick inventory in mid-January, February, and March -- and be on the lookout for our newsletter! We always announce new rare breed inventory when it comes through. 

My Pet Chicken ships baby chicks year round, but in the winter, the baby chick minimum increases to 8 for warmth and safety. If this is more chicks than you can accept into your flock, try sharing an order with a friend or neighbor.

What rare or sold-out baby chick breeds are you searching to add to your flock? Comment below to share with us!