In chickens and other poultry, the term “Straight Run” means that a group of chicks/ birds are unsexed and not being sold or traded as a particular sex. At Rural King or Tractor Supply, you will often see chicks sold as “unsexed”, meaning straight run, or “pullets”.
Why buy straight run chicks?
Purchasing chicks as straight run is always a gamble. If I am purchasing chicks as straight run, I make sure that 1. it is a breed that I would like to breed/ have a rooster for and 2. I am buying 4+ of that breed. If I were only wanting to buy 2 or 3 chicks of a certain breed, odds are that I could easily end up with 2 roosters. If you know 100% that you cannot take on another rooster, I highly recommend purchasing chicks that are sexed as pullets. Keep in mind though that even sexed chicks at the local farm supply store can end up being roosters, so have a backup plan.
If you do not mind sending some roosters to freezer camp, it is often less expensive to purchase chicks as straight run from a breeder than as sexed pullets. Another reason to purchase chicks as straight run is it is far easier to find rare breeds sold as straight run than as sexed. If you are looking at Ayam Cemani, Silkies, or another highly-sought-after breed of chicken, you are likely going to have better luck finding them as straight run chicks unless you are ordering in bulk from a hatchery.
Why sell chicks straight run?
The biggest reason that breeders sell their chicks as straight run is simply because most breeds cannot be sexed until they are 6 weeks or older. For a breeder to keep chicks until their sex can be distinguished, they would have to buy more feed and have much more space than if they just sold their chicks as straight run. I personally only sell chicks as straight run unless they are old enough to crow. While there are ways to sex chicks while they are younger, they are not terribly accurate and I would not want to sell without being 100% certain.
Should I buy sexed chickens?
If you live in an area that restricts owning roosters or you know that you only want hens, I highly recommend purchasing chickens that are sexed and not straight run. The chickens that are going to be the most accurately sexed will, of course, be sex-linked breeds. These breeds/ mixes have physical characteristics that are only present in one sex, so they can be told apart as soon as they are hatched. Since these sex-linked birds are hybrid crosses between two breeds, they are usually inexpensive and easy to find from hatcheries. Purebred pullets will usually cost more from a breeder, since they have a higher demand. However, if you are sure that you cannot have a rooster and you do not want to butcher any potential roos, sexed pullets are the way to go.
