One of the most frequently asked questions from our newest customers is, what could possibly take Gale’s Agro Products 6 weeks to produce baby chicks? The answer is not that complex, but does require some explanation:

Shipping Logistics and Documentation
After we count all of our chick orders, we calculate how many eggs we need to purchase in order to hatch the chicks that are being requested. Then we make requests to our egg suppliers for those eggs. Once the eggs are available for us to purchase, the supplier makes arrangements to have them shipped to us by air – arrangements including filling out government heath certificates, in the case of USA suppliers they must also contact the USDA Inspectors to come and certify the eggs being shipped. Once these have been confirmed, trucks are scheduled to take the eggs to the airport, in the case of our USA suppliers that is a two-day journey.

Egg Preparation and Incubation
When the hatching eggs arrive in Barbados (usually three days before they go into the incubators) they are unpacked, sorted for breakage and mis-shaped eggs that cannot be incubated. The remaining eggs are then sprayed with disinfecting foam, allowed to warm up to room temperature, and finally placed in incubators according to our scheduled Monday and Thursday hatch days. Incubation of broiler and layer eggs takes 21 days – Turkeys require 28 days.

The graphics show the minimum amount of time required, however our suppliers frequently ask for more notice than 10 days. We often give estimated egg quantities until the 6 week mark arrives, at which point we have to give final purchase quantities for booking health certificates and air cargo space.

So now you know why we need at least 6 weeks to prepare for your baby chick’s hatch day!