Please contact us in 4-5 weeks in advance of your desired pick-up date.
We need to make sure we have availability of the breed(s) and quantity you'd like along with incubator space. Hatch days can be any day of the week. We cannot make special accommodations around hatch days as we are at the mercy of the weather and our hens' laying schedule, but we will do the best we can.

Purchase AgreemenT & live bird policy

  • NorthWoods Poultry (NWP) is a private small scale hobby farm that is a sole proprietorship. Please be patient and mindful of the time and effort it takes as one person manages all aspects of this breeding operation. 
  • NWP is NPIP certified by the Minnesota Board of Animal Health for Pullorum-Typhoid. The farm is inspected once (or twice) a year for continued compliance. No visitors or buyers are allowed on site or in with the flock due to bio-security purposes.
  • Buyer accepts and agrees to all risks, disclosed or undisclosed, outlined in this policy associated with the purchase of live birds. We assume no responsibility, liability, or obligations once the customer takes custody of the bird(s). ​​NWP does not refund, exchange, credit, or offer discounts from purchases in partial or whole once the birds are no longer in our care.
  • ​NWP does not ship chicks or live birds. All live exchanges are conducted locally.
  • All chicks are sold straight run (unsexed). We do not have auto-sexing breeds and we are unable to sex them internally. 
  • Payment is due in full before your eggs are set. To protect NWP from scammers and customers from filing false claims with payment vendors, we only accept these payment options:
    • PayPal (Friends & Family only)
    • Venmo
    • Cash App
In recent years, many flock owners report customers filing payment claims once they've received their chicks or birds. Whether it be due to early or late deaths, illness, injury, deformities, etc., the cases are usually settled on the side of the buyer. This means the seller loses out on time, money, resources, and the bird itself. To protect NWP from such losses, this is why we have chosen the list of payment options above.
  • Chicks must be picked up within one week post hatching. Space is limited so we want to make sure the chicks are in their new home within a timely manner. Chicks not picked up will be sold with no refunds issued.
    • Please contact us if you do encounter a major conflict so we can arrange a different time if needed.
  • NWP makes no claims or guarantees of birds being any type or quality. Some breeds are in project phases and may present non-SOP traits even though we work towards their respective SOPs. Feedback on resulting progeny is always welcome from customers to help make better breeding choices.
  • NWP does not breed birds with known or obvious genetic deformities. However, we cannot guarantee that issues don't arise in later generations. Active efforts are made to select against these anomalies. 
  • We cannot take back birds once they have left our care. This is due to our bio-security and NPIP program status.
  • Whole or partial refunds may or may not be honored depending on the case. Please see list below of some of the potential circumstances. Others will be addressed accordingly as cases come up.
    • Full refund:
      • Buyer cancels order prior to eggs being set in the incubator.
      • NWP experiences issues that prevent us from filling the order and the buyer receives no chicks.
    • Partial refund:
      • NWP is only able to fulfill a portion of the order and buyer receives some chicks. You will be refunded the amount in chicks per cost per breed not received upon pick up. Or, you may make a substitution for a chick of equal or lesser value if availability allows.
    • No refund:
      • ​Buyer cancels after eggs are in incubator or hatched and ready for pick up.
      • Last minute order changes, reductions in quantity, cancellations, or failure to pick up chicks within one week post hatch.
  • Pick up days are Saturdays and Sundays only and buyer must meet at the designated off-site location at Sportsmen's Park in Sleepy Eye, MN. This is for the safety of both parties. The public location is very active and off of a main highway.
  • Chicks are marked with colored leg bands depending on breed. This is so you can verify your order. Please remove these bands with a nail clipper, nipper, or small scissors as they will outgrow them quickly. Be extremely careful to not injure the chick. 
    • Black/Blue Silver Marans - blue
    • Black Copper Marans - purple
    • Hedemora - red
    • Nordehøne - pink
    • Forest Eggers - green
    • Svart Hona - white
    • Silkies/Satins (smaller, usually 5 toes, feathered legs/feet)
      • Lavender - purple
      • Penciled/Laced/Patterned - black
      • Buff/Partridge/Red - red
      • Kaleidoscope Projects - white
  • We highly recommend providing warmth from a heat lamp (not a brooder plate) and offering water with vitamins and electrolytes for the first 24 hours after you arrive home with your chicks. 
    • Prior to pick up, your chicks are spending their first days under a heat lamp learning to eat, drink, and build up their strength. During this time, we watch for pasty butt, crooked toes, failure to thrives, and monitor overall well-being. The day before pick up, they will receive vitamin water in advance because travel is stressful on chicks. While you will be provided a box with hand warmers for the drive, it's not the environment they are used to and it's important that they get a chance to fully warm up under a heat lamp post-journey before making other changes to their environment. While we can't enforce this, we really encourage that you do this to ensure your chicks survival.
NEW FOR 2026: Waitlists will be kept this year. Please understand that we cannot accommodate firm pick-up dates. ​