Demand for chicks is up this spring, and it’s likely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"When you go to the grocery stores you're finding eggs off the shelves and no chickens to cook, so that's got people with chickens on the mind," said Sean Richardson, a fourth generation owner of Estes Farm Hatchery in Mt. Vernon.
The major retail stores Estes Farm Hatchery supplies chicks to have extended their buying season, one as long as a month, according to Richardson.
He joked that it’s taken a pandemic to make more people appreciate chickens.
In Springfield, residents can have up to six hens in their backyards. And Richardson said it’s not that difficult to raise them.
You’ll need a heat lamp for the chicks when you get them home. Once they get their feathers and can be moved outside, they’ll need a shelter to go into at night with one a half to two square feet of space per chicken, according to Richardson.
He said chickens are a great way to supply food for your family. Hens are most fertile their first year, laying an average of 8.5 eggs per chicken every 10 days.
If you’re serious about buying them for food, he said, you’ll need to replace them every couple of years.
"You still want to keep, you know, getting eggs, he said. "So you may want to take those old hens and make soup out of them."
While the coronavirus pandemic has made people realize the importance of hand washing, the practice is also important if you raise chickens, Richardson said. They carry salmonella, and you should wash your hands well after handling them.
