What Do Baby Chicks Cost in 2026?
From $3 broilers to $70 collector pullets: current median prices by sex across six US hatcheries, and the four things that actually set a chick's price.
Published July 29, 2026 · figures recomputed from data through November 9, 2026 · by Chick Price Index
Ask what a baby chick costs and you'll get answers from "a couple of bucks" to "seventy dollars" — and both are right. This guide maps the actual range, computed from every in-stock listing across the 4 US hatcheries we track, as of November 9, 2026.
The headline numbers
The middle of the market: a sexed female chick (pullet) runs a median $9.99, straight run $8.00, a sexed male $5.57. Around those medians, the full catalog spans roughly $2.70 (broiler cockerels) to $72.99 (an Ayam Cemani pullet) — a 27× spread for what is, in every case, a days-old chicken.
The four things that set a chick's price
- Sex. The single biggest lever on an individual listing: the same bird as a pullet costs a median 78% more than as a cockerel — measured pair-by-pair in The pullet premium.
- Breed rarity. Production hybrids bred by the hundred thousand anchor the bottom (the cheapest chicks); imports and fashionable rare breeds command the top (the collector tier).
- Size class. Bantams often cost more than their full-size namesakes, not less — measured here.
- The hatchery. The same breed, same sex, can be priced very differently across hatcheries — that cross-hatchery spread is what every breed page on this site exists to show.
The cheap end and the dear end, today
| Cheapest compared breeds | Median | Most expensive | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cornish Cross Broiler | $3.68 | Ayam Cemani | $65.89 |
| Black Sex Link | $4.39 | Barnevelder | $42.28 |
| Austra White | $4.43 | Legbar (other) | $33.99 |
| Golden Laced Wyandotte | $4.81 | Swedish Flower Hen | $30.56 |
| Buff Orpington | $4.86 | Basque Hen (Euskal Oiloa) | $30.56 |
What the chick price doesn't include
The listed price is per chick, before minimum order quantities (hatcheries ship day-olds in group minimums for warmth), optional vaccinations, and shipping — all of which vary by hatchery and can reorder which one is cheapest to your door. And the chick itself is the smallest line in the project: our priced-out first-flock budget shows the bird is typically under a tenth of the real startup cost.
One thing you don't need to budget for is timing: chick prices don't move day to day (we measured). What changes is whether the breed you want is in stock — how to read that signal.