At Easter, farm store reminds us chicks are not pets

Walk into the Las Vegas C-A-L Ranch Store this time of year and you might spot this sign: “Chicks dig us.”

Apparently, customers also dig chicks.

On a recent Thursday afternoon, the store at 232 Jones Blvd., just south of U.S. Highway 95, got a shipment of 400 baby chickens. Within four hours, all but 20 had been sold, at about $3 a piece.

Parents often want to pick up a few chicks to celebrate Easter.

But Wayland Taylor, manager of the Western and home store, said the seasonal sale shouldn’t be misinterpreted: Chickens are livestock.

“We don’t encourage people to buy them for Easter,” Taylor said. “These are not pets.”

For those unaccustomed to farm life, that means most of these chicks are destined to lay eggs or to become someone’s dinner.

C-A-L Ranch promotes the sale of chicks from mid-January to mid-June, Taylor said. That’s when the animals have their best chance of survival, Taylor said. It’s not too hot, not too cold.

They arrive when they’re two or three days old from a hatchery in Idaho, and they’re hardy, as proven by their delivery method: The U.S. Postal Service.

Day-old chicks are considered “mailable live animals” by the Postal Service, as long as the box is properly ventilated and can be delivered within 72 hours.

Once here, they go home with customers from all over Southern Nevada, Taylor said, but usually outside the city limits. They often buy up to 20 chicks at a time. Store estimates are that about 1,000 chicks have been sold this season.

Poultry isn’t allowed in most urban areas zoned residential, Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said. But local governments have their own rules, and most places zoned for rural land use can have chickens.

In Las Vegas, it is against the law to keep a wild animal without a permit from the Animal Regulation Office, according to municipal code.

“We don’t monitor it here,” Taylor said. But store employees readily explain what the chicks need to thrive.

Customers must be at least 18 to purchase any wild animal from the store, Taylor said.

Other options available recently at C-A-L Ranch included about a dozen four-week-old lop and rex rabbits. These are considered pets, not livestock.

“Bunnies sell quite a bit for Easter,” Taylor said.

Las Vegas municipal code states that no one can keep more that three rabbits over 4 months old within the city.

Live animals cannot be returned to C-A-L Ranch, Taylor said. If customers change their minds, they must surrender the animals to a shelter.

Owning any animal is a long-term commitment, officials and salesmen alike said.

“The real consideration is making sure you’re getting a pet that makes sense for your family,” Kulin said.

In lieu of taking an animal home, malls, parks and celebrations throughout the valley this weekend have plenty of Easter bunnies available to pet — and leave behind.

Contact Kimberly De La Cruz at kdelacruz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @KimberlyinLV.