Favorite Hatchery Poll

[KrystalRose]

I have been debating on where to order this years batch of chicks. I would love to do a poll on which hatchery you have had the best luck with as far as health of chicks / chickens and being true to breed and anything else that was important to you. Please select your favorite hatchery and if you will, list the pros and cons of each hatchery you have ordered from.

I know there are a million more hatcheries out there and I cant list them all, I chose to list the ones that came up on the first page of a Google search for chick hatcheries. If your favorite isn't one listed on the poll please let us know.

Thanks!!!

 

[KrystalRose]

I have only ordered one batch of chicks before, this was last spring. I haven't had very good luck. I ordered from McMurray hatchery. I ordered 24 chicks plus I got a "free mystery chick" and they sent me one extra chick on top of that for 26 total. One chick arrived with spraddle leg on arrival and ended up not making it. I originally ordered all girls, but one of the breeds I got 4 out of 4 were boys, I am assuming they accidently pulled from the wrong bin. They did refund me for their mistake but it was still an inconvenience. I have had three chickens over the past 9 months die suddenly, they were totally fine one minute and dead as a doornail for no apparent reason the next minute. Not sure if it was heart problems or what? I am happy with how many eggs I am getting from them and their size and appearance is excellent with good temperaments. But I am hoping to have better luck with another hatchery possibly this year, or maybe I just had a fluke bad time with this hatchery and I should stay with them?

 

[Elektra2167]

I have not had good luck with McMurray. The last two batches we ordered from them, first one we lost half of them for some unknow reason, the latest batch laid sporadically and didn't grow well. I've had chickens for 25 years and not had problems like this. Will probably go back to looking at local birds, or hoping to get some good suggestions on quality hatcheries.

 

[BenHogan]

I have ordered a lot from Murray McMurray. While the first time around was good, the next several times were less than exciting. I ordered some Delaware chickens from them in the last batch. The hens never achieved the size I anticipated and they never laid as well as a Delaware should. The Buff Orpingtons I ordered reached good size, but were low on egg production. Over all health and survival rate was not nearly as good as I expected based on other chick orders I had placed through the local feed store in previous years as well as my first couple times of ordering from them. I am exploring other options for ordering chicks when I get my new flock later this year.

 

[Michael OShay]

I've ordered chicks on multiple occasions from four hatcheries on your poll (Murray McMurray, Cackle, Ideal Poultry, and Dunlap) and love all four of them, but Dunlap is my personal favorite. It is a smaller family run hatchery than the other three, but the folks at Dunlap are very friendly and helpful, and I've never lost a single chick in shipping from Dunlap (I can't say that about the other three).

 

[kacklinghen]

most of my chickens come from feed store and locals but the others I ordered from Stromberg's and all my birds was healthy and I am well pleased with them

 

[KrystalRose]

Its good to know I am not the only one who has had problems with that hatchery. I love my girls and hate to see them die for no apparent reason, if this is something I can avoid by choosing a different hatchery I am all for it.

 

[Spangled]

Cackle and Ideal. Reasonable results from both hatcheries, ordering more than once from each hatchery. I voted for Ideal, but would have voted for Cackle also since they are both right up there on healthy chicks, run by folks that have a generations of experience with chickens, broad selection, etc. I do not hesitate to order from either of them; it is a delight. Not foolproof, mind you, but it never is.

I have ordered from a number of other hatcheries and breeders, but I hesitate to mention anything about the poor, sick chicks, hatching eggs, and rotten service I received from some of them because possibly it was my handling of the chicks or eggs or my handling of the people that caused my poor experiences with the other hatcheries and breeders. But not always, I still am appalled when I remember a breeder showing me Lavender Orpingtons that had feathered legs and pea combs--I am not kidding.

I have also been sent an Easter Egger that was supposed to be a Spangled Russian Orloff; talk about disappointment when there were no spangles and then she ended up laying green eggs.

 

[Miss Dottie]

The only large scale hatchery I have ever ordered chicks from is McMurray, and I only went with them because my Grandpa always ordered from them. I never had a single problem. I did have 2 DOAs in one order, but that is always a possibility. They refunded my money no questions asked. Their customer service was really great. That being said, I now prefer to buy locally or order from smaller breeders with more specialized focus on a single breed or a handful of breeds.

 

[rebel-rousing-at-night]

I have been debating on where to order this years batch of chicks. I would love to do a poll on which hatchery you have had the best luck with as far as health of chicks / chickens and being true to breed and anything else that was important to you. Please select your favorite hatchery and if you will, list the pros and cons of each hatchery you have ordered from.

I know there are a million more hatcheries out there and I cant list them all, I chose to list the ones that came up on the first page of a Google search for chick hatcheries. If your favorite isn't one listed on the poll please let us know.

Thanks!!!

Having been on BYC a number of years I can tell you that many times it's good to consider which hatchery after deciding which breed or breeds you plan to order. Some hatcheries have much better of certain breeds than others. Cackle Hatchery is my favorite but then Easter Eggers have proven to be my favorite breed and I've never been disappointed with EE's from Cackle.

I've had one order from Ideal Poultry of various breeds and I was happy but I wouldn't order Silkies from them. I got one order from Welp and I must say the chicks arrived very vigorous. There were Easter Eggers in the Welp order but they were very common looking to me so I sold them.

Last year I got Sebrights from the local TSC who had gotten them from Mt. Healthy. They were straight run and all but 2 are cockerels. The cockerels are very poor quality in the feather department.

If you know what breeds you are planning to order KrystalRose, you could always ask which hatchery had those breeds that were the most true to breed.Also you could ask for pictures which could help you with your decision.

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