Where Can I Buy Chicks and Ducklings Near Santa Cruz?
Where Can I Buy Chicks and Ducklings Near Santa Cruz?
Santa Cruz County has several reliable sources for chicks and ducklings, with local feed stores stocking birds from roughly late February through May. According to the USDA National Poultry Improvement Plan, purchasing from NPIP-certified sources helps ensure your birds are tested for common diseases like pullorum and typhoid.
Your best local options include feed stores in the Santa Cruz area that carry chicks seasonally. Call ahead to ask about breed availability, because popular breeds sell out fast in spring. These stores typically source from large hatcheries and can tell you whether the birds have been vaccinated for Marek's disease, which UC Davis Veterinary Medicine recommends for backyard flocks.
For ducklings, local selection is more limited. Feed stores sometimes carry Pekin or Khaki Campbell ducklings, but if you want specific breeds like Black Runners (which I keep in my Boulder Creek flock), you will likely need to order from a hatchery. Metzer Farms in Gonzales is a California-based waterfowl hatchery about an hour south of Santa Cruz, and they ship day-old ducklings and goslings. For chickens, Murray McMurray and Cackle Hatchery both ship via USPS with reliable arrival times to our area.
Another option worth considering is rescue and rehoming. Santa Cruz County has an active poultry community, and birds come up for rehoming regularly on local community boards and through organizations that rescue former commercial laying hens. Rescue birds can be wonderful additions to a flock, though they need a quarantine period (at least 30 days, separated from your existing birds) and often benefit from deworming. I have taken in rescue chickens myself, and while they sometimes arrive in rough shape, they adapt well with good care.
A few tips for bringing new birds home. If you are picking up chicks from a store, bring a ventilated box with a towel in the bottom. For shipped birds, have your brooder warm and water ready before you open the box. Check each bird for alertness and clear eyes. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and UC ANR both note that healthy chicks should be active, vocal, and interested in food and water within the first hour.
This week: Call two or three local feed stores to ask what breeds they have in stock, and set up your brooder before you bring any birds home.
