2025 Chick Information and Pricing

 

CHICKS AND CHICKENS

Baby chicks are usually hatched weekly in small batches. They are color sexed at hatch, to the extent possible, and marked with sex and breed color codes. 

All birds are fed non-GMO or organic feed, usually from local growers/mills, plus fresh greens when available. Heavy predator pressure and concern for HPAI prevents free ranging, but we use portable enclosed pens when weather allows.

My chicken operation revolves around creating a new breed of chicken, the ChocoMint. One main goal of the ChocoMint is to serve as a sire line that allows anyone to create their own sex-link chicks from hens they already have.

Breeding your non-chocolate hens with a ChocoMint rooster will give you sex-link chicks that will almost certainly lay blue or green eggs. Male chicks are black or have black markings; females are chocolate or have chocolate markings. Some breeds are easier to tell than others. Other benefits of ChocoMints include broody hens (so you don't need to incubate eggs and brood chicks!), pea comb (reduced frostbite), and white skin (dresses out nicely). I am breeding towards early maturity and a nice dual-purpose bird.

ChocoMint

I'll be hatching as many as possible to continue selecting for my breeding program, so a variety of ages will be available. I cannot sex ChocoMint chicks. Sexing of young adults is based on back pinfeather type, and is guaranteed if they are sold as sexed.

Hatch to 7 days: $7 each, straight run only, no sex guarantee.
8 days to 16 weeks: $7 + $1.00 per week of age, up to $25

Pullets laying brown, or untested: $25
Pullets laying blue/green/light olive: $30
Pullets laying dark olive: $40
Hens retired from breeding program $25 - $30

Young cockerels (as soon as can be determined): $20
Proven sires of hens laying blue/green eggs: $35

ChocoLink-WTG

The variable coloring of the Whitings True Green hens results in a wide range of chick colors in the ChocoLink-WTGs, making some of them harder to sex than hybrids with more standardized breeds. Both sexed and unsexed chicks will be available. Over time, my ability to interpret chick color will improve. Meanwhile, chicks sold as pullets are guaranteed...if they crow, I will buy them back for your original purchase price.

I will be changing roosters from time to time. Some hatches may include chicks from two different roosters.

ChocoLinks will not breed true in all traits, but the blue egg trait should breed true, and the chocolate gene will be expressed when a ChocoLink hen is bred to a rooster that carries the chocolate gene (ChocoMint, or another chocolate breed).

Pullets only (sex guaranteed; feather or egg color not guaranteed):

Hatch to 7 days: $9 each
8 days to 16+ weeks: $9 + $1.00 per week of age, up to $25

Straight run: 

Hatch to 7 days: $6 each
8 days to 16+ weeks: $6 + $1.00 per week of age, up to $20

Cockerels only (will consider quantity discount):

Hatch to 7 days: $3 each
8 days to 16+ weeks: $3 + $1.00 per week of age, up to $18

 
Blue Egg Layers

These are the offspring of Whitings True Blue hens from Murray McMurray Hatchery, bred to a Whitings True Blue rooster from Whitings Farm, and their progeny. I am selecting this flock for pea combs, dark colors, barring, and no beards or muffs.

Hatch to 7 days: $7 each, straight run only, no sex guarantee.
8 days to 16+ weeks: $7 + $1.00 per week of age, up to $25

Hens retired from breeding program $20

Young cockerels (as soon as can be determined): $20

 

2025 Hatching Egg Information and Pricing

Fast forward to 2025, after several years of being AWOL from this online space.

I'm back in the hatching business again, after just hatching for my own breeding program for a few years. Chicks are hatching as I type, and folks are wanting to know chick prices and details, so here's my update of the 2021 post, divided into two posts (hatching eggs, and chicks) for quick reference. 

See bottom of post for payment, pickup and delivery information

HATCHING EGGS

Generally available, for pick up or local delivery. Eggs are gathered several times a day, held in moderate temperatures to prevent freezing in cold weather or spoiling in hot weather, and candled (within the limits of colored eggs) before sale to be sure of no cracks or obvious flaws. Cartons are marked with collection dates, hen flock, and rooster. Eggs are accumulated for a week or less in cartons that are turned twice a day.

Hatching eggs should be handled carefully...not jostled, shaken, or dropped. The natural "bloom" on the shell should be kept intact to seal out bacteria, so don't wash them or get them wet. The small amount of dirt that may be present won't affect hatching. They should be kept at room temperature. Let them rest for a day or two after you get them home, before incubating.

I have had hatch rates around 70% with indifferently calibrated incubators and poor humidity control. Rates are looking much better now that I have better equipment, but I haven't done the numbers yet. Some customers have had perfect hatches! No guarantees...just too many variables.

Free hatching eggs (up to 1 dozen) for classroom (or homeschool) hatching. Hatch-and-return is an option if we plan ahead.

ChocoMint: $20/dozen

ChocoLink-WTG: $20/dozen

Pending formal permission to use the name "Whitings True Blue" for eggs laid by my birds...I have a Whitings True Blue rooster purchased from Whitings Farm who is breeding Whitings True Blue hens purchased from Murray McMurray Hatchery, and their eggs are for sale:
WTB x WTB: $15/dozen. 

PAYMENT OPTIONS

I accept cash, credit cards via Square, PayPal. and Venmo. Checks if I know you.

PICKUP OR DELIVERY

I DO NOT SHIP EGGS, CHICKS, OR ADULT BIRDS! Not only am I hearing a lot of horror stories about delayed shipments and dead birds...I just personally hate trying to put things in boxes, do labels, stand in line at the PO, etc.

Pickup at the farm in North Lawrence, by appointment only. Contact me via Messenger (Natalya Pinwheel Lowther), phone (785-979-6786...mailbox is permanently full, but you can text if you don't reach me by voice), or email (natalyalowther@hotmail.com; call if you don't hear back in a couple days).

Please wear clean clothes and shoes when picking up at the farm. Due to HPAI, we are not giving tours of our chicken facilities but you can visit the sheep. Supervised children are welcome; dogs will need to stay in vehicle except brief on-leash potty breaks.

We can also meet up in a local parking lot, if preferred.

Delivery can sometimes be arranged locally.

2021 Winter Prices: Hatching Eggs, Chicks, Chickens

See bottom of post for payment, pickup and delivery information

HATCHING EGGS

Generally available, for pick up or local delivery. Eggs are gathered several times a day, held in moderate temperatures to prevent freezing in cold weather, and candled (within the limits of colored eggs) before sale to be sure of no cracks, etc. Marked with collection date and hen if known. Accumulated for a week or less in cartons that are turned twice a day. I have had hatch rates around 70% with indifferently calibrated incubators and poor humidity control. No guarantees.

Free hatching eggs (up to 1 dozen) for classroom (or homeschool) hatching. Hatch-and-return is an option if we plan ahead.

ChocoMint $15/dozen (limited availability, will include a mix of hens unless otherwise agreed)

ChocoLink $10/dozen
 

CHICKS AND CHICKENS

Baby chicks are usually hatched weekly in small batches. They are color sexed at hatch, to the extent possible, and marked with sex and breed color codes. I hope to begin wing tagging soon to keep better track of individuals both on the farm and in case of customer questions after sale.

All birds are fed non-GMO or organic feed, usually from local growers/millers,  plus fresh greens when available. Heavy predator pressure prevents free ranging, but we use portable enclosed pens when weather allows.

ChocoMint

I'll be keeping some for the breeding program, but will be hatching as many as possible from my best birds, so some will be available. If you hatch your own eggs, breeding your non-chocolate hens with a ChocoMint rooster will give you sex-link chicks (males are black or have black markings; females are chocolate or have chocolate markings...some breeds are easier to tell than others).

Hatch to 7 days: $7 each, straight run only, no sex guarantee.
8 days to 16 weeks: $7 + $1.00 per week of age, up to $25

Pullets laying brown, or untested: $25
Pullets laying green: $30
Hens retired from breeding program $25 - $30

Young cockerels (as soon as can be determined): $20
Proven sires of hens laying green eggs: $35

ChocoLink WTG

The variable coloring of the Whitings True Green hens results in a wide range of chick colors in the ChocoLink WTGs, making some of them harder to sex than hybrids with more standardized breeds. Both sexed and unsexed chicks will be available. Over time, my ability to interpret chick color will improve. Meanwhile, chicks sold as pullets only are guaranteed...if they crow, I will buy them back for your original purchase price.

I will be changing roosters from time to time. Some hatches may include chicks from two different roosters.

ChocoLinks will not breed true in all traits, but the chocolate gene will be expressed when a ChocoLink hen is bred to a rooster that carries the chocolate gene.

While the hens for the ChocoLink hybrids are lighter-weight laying breeds, the ChocoMints are a heavy breed with English Orpington and Barred Rock ancestry.

Straight run:

Hatch to 7 days: $4 each
8 days to 16 weeks: $4 + $1.00 per week of age, up to $20

Pullets only (sex guaranteed; egg color not guaranteed):

Hatch to 7 days: $7 each,
8 days to 16 weeks: $7 + $1.00 per week of age, up to $25

Cockerels only (will consider quantity discount):

Hatch to 7 days: $ each,
8 days to 16 weeks: $2 + $1.00 per week of age, up to $15

ChocoLink PWL

These should be available in February or March, when the Pearl White Leghorns start laying. No idea what they will look like or what egg colors.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

I accept cash, credit cards, PayPal. and Venmo. Checks if I know you.

PICKUP OR DELIVERY

Pickup at the farm in North Lawrence, by appointment only. Contact me via Messenger (Natalya Pinwheel Lowther), phone (785-979-6786...when I find it, and mailbox never works), or email (natalyalowther@hotmail.com). Please wear clean clothes and shoes. Supervised children are welcome; dogs will need to stay in vehicle except brief on-leash potty breaks.

Delivery can sometimes be arranged locally or along the I70 or Highway 24 corridors between Lawrence and Manhattan.

Chocolate Chicken History

Once upon a time there was a farmer (or two, or three...) who loved chocolate....

Some years back, a friend rented space at Pinwheel to carry out her longtime chicken breeding projects. As things got busier for her, I got more involved in the day-to-day work of R.'s Chicken World. But I never got the marketing end figured out, and she was too busy to market, and we had some predator problems, and so eventually she sold the flock.

Her projects included breeding chocolate-colored chickens...English Orpingtons and Barred Rocks. We joked about how cool it would be to have chocolate chickens that laid green eggs.

At some point, we sold a chocolate-colored rooster to J.

By the time J. came to Pinwheel, she had been breeding from that rooster for several years, and she wanted to expand her program with her birds at Pinwheel. This included hatching some eggs to sell chicks. She was out of town the weekend they hatch, so I ended up in charge. We had agreed to sell them straight run, but with a promise to buy back any roosters since we were selling to city people.

That turned out to be a true God-send. J. chose to abruptly leave the farm, cutting off all ties. Her chickens went, too. But meanwhile, I had placed a couple of orders for hatchery chicks that we wanted to raise, some broilers to butcher and some Whitings True Greens (WTG) to which we would breed her chocolate rooster. Suddenly I was raising 50 chicks by myself, in addition to everything else! A bit overwhelming, but the broilers would finish in 8 weeks and be gone, and I could always sell some of the WTGs.

Then customers called me to return roosters. J. wanted nothing to do with making good on our guarantee, so I took the money out of pocket to make good on the guarantee. Then I realized...R's breeding program had come full circle, and returned to the farm...and I had the chocolate roosters and green-egg-laying hens to carry on the plan that R and I had imagined long ago. Additionally, J. had sold some hatching eggs to my Mom some years back, and she had a rooster and two lovely hens out of that hatch.

So, I started hatching chicks, buying feed, and building chicken facilities, and here is where I am:

I have a breeding flock of what I am calling ChocoMint chickens descended from R's, J's, and Mom's flocks. Some are solid chocolate (light or dark); some are barred (light or dark), some are solid dark chocolate, some are white with chocolate filigree or Columbian markings. Some lay brown, some lay green...I'll be selecting for the green ones.

The ChocoMint flock will produce terminal sires for creating ChocoLinks...sex link hybrids with laying breeds to create chocolate hens that (hopefully) will lay green eggs. The chocolate color gene is passed on by the rooster, but his male chicks from non-chocolate hens will not be chocolate. Daughter chicks from non-chocolate hens will be chocolate...or at least have traces of chocolate. This allows the chicks' sex to be determined at hatching, non-invasively.

For the ChocoLink hybrids, I have a laying flock of 15 WTG hens that lay green eggs, and 6 Pearl White Leghorns that will lay white eggs. My first cohort of ChocoLink WTG hybrids should be laying sometime in May...I can barely wait!

2020 Hindsight

Just over a year ago, I started the new year by renewing my determination to keep a blog again. I wrote:

Facebook took a toll on my writing...along with a variety of distractions and general busy-ness in daily life. Now, in 2020, I hope to get back to less Facebook, more blogging.

Since my last posts, here are some of the significant changes, as well as continuities, at Pinwheel Farm.

Border Collie transition: Sookie left a couple years ago, and I adopted Daisy in spring of 2019. Daisy is a bundle of anxieties, erratic in her ability to pay attention and learn. On the other hand, she is sweet, gentle, and friendly with everyone, and she is VERY interested in sheep. Unfortunately, I can't do much herding training until she decides it's in her best interest to listen and learn. She's about 4 years old.

Livestock Guardian: Many years ago, I tried out a semi-retired Great Pyrenees, who turned out to not be a good fit for the farm. Then we had a llama, Freckleface, who was amazing. After his demise, I tried another llama who was aggressive with the sheep. Generally, we've done alright without a livestock guardian, but this spring I had the chance to see some great Great Pyrenees at work with a friend's flock that was scattered by the tornado, and then had a chance to purchase an LGD puppy from working parents on a friend's farm. Thus Luna became part of the farm...a small white bundle of fuzz at 8 weeks old, now a rangy 8 month old weighing over 70 lbs., with her back nearly at table top height when in the house. Daisy's most important contribution to the farm so far has been exercising and socializing this energetic puppy...a task that would have overwhelmed me if I had to do it myself.

Elder care: I have been traveling more and more to Manhattan, KS, to aid my parents as they "age in place." They are in good health and energetic for their advanced years, so a lot of what I do is groundskeeping and facilities maintenance on their 20 acres in the Flint Hills....

And then...I got distracted and never finished the post. I would have been busy preparing for my annual trip to Phillipsburg, KS, to the Shepherd's Mill to teach natural dye workshops at their annual fiber festival in early February, and to deliver fleeces. And J. moved to Lawrence to apprentice at the farm. And suddenly there was a pandemic, and everything changed.

So, it's January, and I'm going to try again.

J. is gone. Luna is gone. Daisy the Border Collie is gone, and Briar the Border Collie is on duty. I did not do Farmer's Market. Chickens happened, and continue. A year of solitude on the farm interspersed with trips to Manhattan has, in retrospect, been good for me, personally, and for the farm in practical ways, if not financially.

 

 

Welcome, City Shepherds! P.S.

Last but not least, before getting an animal that needs shearing to be healthy and comfortable (angora goat or wool sheep), be sure you have a plan for having it sheared. You COULD do it yourself, but it is truly a challenge with a squirming animal (and the smaller they are the wigglier they are, it seems). It is horrible to nick your own animal by accident, and all too easy.

I will be making plans for City Shepherds to bring their sheep to the farm on our regularly scheduled Sheep Shearing Day Open House. They will be kept separate from my flock, and biosecurity measures will apply, but it will make life soooooo much easier for new shepherds. Our shearer can also give lessons at shearing day.

Welcome, City Shepherds!

The City of Lawrence just passed regulations allowing small ruminants (pygmy goats and sheep) to be kept within city limits! This is exciting news for livestock lovers with large lots!

But there's a down side. Goats and sheep are cute, but they ARE livestock, not pets. They aren't just dogs that eat hay.

 

Here are some words of wisdom from a livestock pro: First things first! Before you decide to get any kind of livestock, esp. sheep and goats, you need to have the following things really nailed down, not just "we'll figure it out when we get there".

1. Carcass disposal. Even if it's years in the future, you need to plan this BEFORE it happens, because you won't be in any shape to make decisions or track down options when it does. A rabbit or chicken isn't a big deal (chicken bones go in the trash all the time), but a goat or sheep in the garbage can in the middle of the summer is probably a bad, bad idea. Alternatives that work in the country probably won't work on a city lot.

2. Manure management. Everything poops (yes, dogs do, too). With livestock, this is a good thing IF you have a system set up before the manure starts rolling in.

3. Transportation. Don't just have the seller deliver your new livestock. If you don't have access to safe, humane transportation for it, don't bring it home. You may need to transport it to the vet in an emergency. Veterinary "farm calls" are an extra $100 or more on top of the cost of exam or treatment.

4. Veterinarian. Most Lawrence vets want nothing to do with small ruminants. Hopefully this will soon change, but unless it does, plan on taking your livestock to Eudora Animal Hospital, Pleasant Valley in Tonganoxie, or Baldwin. Many medications, esp. for sheep,  legally require a vet's oversight, even if you administer the medication to the animal yourself. That means establishing a relationship with an appropriate vet BEFORE there is a crisis.

5. First aid kit. Treatment tools, thermometer, basic treatments, bandages, wound treatments, etc. Figure this out with your vet. When crisis hits, you can handle it much better if you have the items you need at hand. Your vet, or an experienced livestock handler, can talk you through a lot on the phone.

6. Willingness to administer injections. Those vets are a long way away if your animal needs daily or twice-daily injections to treat an illness or injury. Also see #3.

7. Good fences, gates with good latches, animal shelters, AND animal-proof storage for hay, grain, etc. BEFORE the animal arrives. These need to be stronger than you can even imagine, because these animals like to rub (sheep) and climb (goats). Facilities must also include a small gated pen that can be used to catch and restrain the animal. They can run faster than you...even when they are almost dead.

8. Proper, humane restraints designed for sheep and goats. A collar and lead rope, at least. Also preferably a gambrel restrainer or cuff, for emergency restraint.

9. Feed suppliers. More than one source for the kind of feed you need, in case your usual supplier is out. Sometimes "out" means "until the next hay crop". There will inevitably be times when you can't just feed grass.

10. Back-up chore people. You generally can't take livestock for boarding, so you'll have to have someone come to your house while you are on vacation. Or out of town for work or funeral. Or when your entire family has the flu and can't crawl out to the sheep shed through a blizzard.

11. A lawn mower. Because there are kinds of grass your goat or sheep won't touch with a 10 foot pole.

12. Insemination. If you want to breed your sheep or goat so you can have babies and milk, be sure you have a deal with a stud owner in the country where you can take your gal for a honeymoon, or learn about AI for goats. Sheep pretty much have to be naturally bred. Bear in mind that many of us keep closed flocks, do not want other people's animals on our farm, and do not "loan out" our rams. Promiscuity can spread disease, right?

13. Backup source of colostrum and milk if you are breeding sheep or goats. Again, you won't have time or mental capacity to figure this out from scratch if your mom-critter doesn't have milk for her newborn. Colostrum must be given within 8 hours of birth.

14. A plan for male offspring. Please, please, please be real about this. If you want milk, you have to keep breeding goats or sheep every year, and you can't keep all the babies with limited space. Someone else will probably want your female animals, but most of your friends do not want non-productive animals unless they can take them for slaughter. Inevitably most male animals will be slaughtered. Don't breed if you don't want this to happen.

 

15. Learn about prey animal psychology. Sheep and goats are very, very different than dogs...they are more like horses. Studying up on low-stress livestock handling, Monty Roberts-style horse training, etc. will help you learn to interact calmly with your sheep and goats. Most people only know how to interact with dogs, using predator body language. If you interact with sheep and goats that way,  they'll panic, and you'll be frustrated.

NOW you're ready for the fun part--deciding which species, which breed, which farm, which animal, and what to name it!