But what I've learned is that there are several ways to get chickens from eggs. Strange as it sounds, I buy most of my chicks online, from a Texas company called Ideal Poultry. They have a huge selection of chicks, and the prices are quite reasonable.
Chicks you order online are delivered by the US Post Office. This is possible because newly hatched chicks don't eat or drink for 48-72 hours. So as long as they reach their destination within this time, they'll be fine. The chicks are packed in cardboard boxes holding a minimum of 25 chicks (any fewer chicks and they might die because they need the warmth of other chicks to help maintain their body heat).
My tiny country post office gets a lot of boxed chicks, and they know exactly what to do. I normally call the post office a few days before the chicks are expected so they'll be on the lookout for my shipment.
The boxed chicks typically arrive at the post office with the first mail delivery around 5:00 am. The morning clerk calls me as soon as the mail comes in so I can pick up my chicks, even though the post office will not be open for almost 3 hours. Once I pick up the chicks I inspect the box so I can report to Ideal Poultry if any chicks look sick or have died in transit (that's never happened for any of my shipments, fortunately).
The other way I have gotten chickens is to hatch my own. This way is harder and contains more uncertainty. Since I don't have an incubator (a container for holding eggs at a constant temperature and humidity until they hatch), I have to rely on one of my hens to sit on the eggs until they hatch. This is hard on the hen, and hard on the eggs, since a hen will often break a few eggs she intends to hatch by moving around in the nesting box. So I have found it much easier to just order chicks online.
Here's a picture of the chicks I got in May 2012. They were less than two days old when they arrived.
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