Clipped Beaks?

I've ordered from a couple hatcheries and never gotten any pullets with clipped beaks, but I was told by another user here today that a lot of pullets coming from hatcheries have clipped beaks, I guess even if you don't ask for it? Or I feel that was the implication. Personally I've ordered from Ideal and Meyer and never had this happen to me, although I know that Ideal does offer the option, probably for its commercial clients, but they are careful to specify that they don't recommend it for backyard flocks. Has anyone ever ordered pullets from a hatchery and had them come in with clipped beaks even though they didn't request it? I'm just asking so that if it has happened I can avoid the hatchery. So if you've ordered from a certain hatchery and your chicks arrived with their beaks just fine, please post that here, and if you've ordered and gotten a bad surprise, please do let me know here too. I've never even seen chicks in feed stores, who order in large bulk, have chicks with clipped beaks. As far as I knew it was really just a factory farm/battery farm type of thing.

I guess the other implication could have been that a lot of people who are ordering pullets from hatcheries are opting to have their beaks clipped. Have you ever ordered chicks with their beaks clipped for the backyard flock environment? Just trying to gauge how common this is and if I'm really in danger of ordering chicks from somewhere and getting a nasty surprise.

I've never heard of hatcheries debeaking, unless it was specifically requested by the buyer. I did once hear of a hatchery that sent wing-banded chicks to feed stores, but that's not really quite the same thing.

Personally, I've never received chicks with any kind of modification that I didn't specifically request, and usually, I don't even request vaccines. So far, I've always ordered my own birds from Murray McMurray, but where I work (see my signature for an explanation) we order chicks from multiple hatcheries - Belt, Ideal, Privett, and Meyer I know we've bought from, possibly Mt. Healthy and Welp, too. I can't be sure because I don't make the orders, I've just seen the papers lying about in the office. Never received any debeaked or otherwise modified chicks, although a few batches came without the requested vaccines (and hoo boy, was my boss mad about that!).

I've never debeaked my own birds. I did do a very minimal clipping on a peachick's beak recently, just enough to make it go from sharp to rounded on the tip. I was hoping to stop his eye-picking issue, but it didn't work, and I wasn't willing to debeak in any serious sort of way, so I opted for isolation instead. It looks like the tip has already regrown though, so yeah, it was a very minimal clipping.

Although I do recognize and respect debeaking as having it's uses, it is, in any case, a form of mutilation and should be considered a last resort in all situations, except intensive/industrial farming. Now, intensive farming shouldn't be happening in the first place, but it is and does and probably won't stop anytime soon, so in such cases, I do advocate it - A little bit of pain early on can prevent a lot of picking and cannibalism later in life, and probably makes daily existence a bit less painful for commercial fowl.

In backyard and small-scale flocks, I believe it still has it's purpose, but again, it should be used as a last resort only to prevent or treat picking/cannibalism. I can see using it as a final fix-all after all other options (separation/reintroduction and pinless peepers and/or bits) have been exhausted, but nothing else.

Thanks much! I didn't think so, but after I recently suggested to a member that the sex links they bought in an auction that were skinny, missing tons of feathers, and had been debeaked might be from a battery farm situation, another member came in and said that tons of pullets that come from hatcheries are debeaked and then a second member came in and agreed with them. Made me wonder, but I guess I was right. If you're getting that many chicks in from all those hatcheries and never had it happen, I'm going to guess that they were the ones who were mistaken.

By the way, saw your booted bantams on Reddit. Very cute