Hoover Hatchery

Thinking about ordering some chicks this spring and did a quick price comparison of the big hatcheries online. Looked up 25 Cornish X's to get prices and shipping costs. I found Hoover to be the cheapest per bird at $1.85 and they claim from their website that shipping is free!

Is this correct??????? My instate hatchery, Townline, wants more per bird and 15.00 in shipping costs. I did a quick search through the forums on Hoover reviews but none talked about the free shipping. Can anyone confirm the free shipping and quality of birds?

Thanks,
Eric

i've never ordered or gotten chicks/chickens from them. Here's a link to a thread with reviews about Hoover. Hope this helps!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/522297/hoover-hatchery-any-good

Thanks, I read that thread and it really didn't say anything about free shipping plus it's from 2011 so I would expect it may have changed since then. By far it is the cheapest I have found for meat birds if it is free shipping......

Keep in mind the expression "You get what you pay for." Since You're just buying broilers quality isn't as big an issue, but if you were planning on getting, say, silkies, you should buy from a more reputable hatchery or even better, a breeder.

Good luck! If you do order from Hoover, let us know how it goes!

If you're uncertain about the shipping, just call them up and ask. I know some hatcheries offer free shipping on their supplies but not chicks, and others have the cost of shipping included in the price of the chicks.

As far as I'm aware, most broilers from hatcheries are hatched from eggs gotten from a very small handful of broiler-breeding operations--you can call up all the big hatcheries that offer broilers and ask which specific strain of white broiler they offer, and I bet most will say something along the lines of "Cobb 500" or "Ross 308" or some other proprietary name. So, just going on bird quality, what "you get what you pay for" is essentially the same bird hatched in a different incubator. Of course different hatcheries have different ratings for customer service, etc.

New to BYC but had to put in my experience with Hoover Hatchery. Like many who saw the "winter specials" on the pre-orders, I decided to take a leap of faith on "cheap chicks with free shipping." Boy was I wrong! Before you order, please do your research on this hatchery. I ordered through eFowl and when I ordered in December 2015, feedback was pretty good on Hoover. From my understanding, there has been some changes in their management and in their flocks. Not in a positive way. First, my order was delayed a month due to the expected Feb shipment being a "short hatch." Seems common and understandable. Received my 32 chicks last week. No extra's included, non were marked (specifically asked for the 2 Salmon Favorelle males to me marked) no paperwork on what chick was what, and all 32 chicks were crammed into a box the size of a shoe box. I kid you not these babies were one on top of the other. No water source or anything in the box with the chicks. Two chicks DOA, 2 more died within an hour. Since Thursday, I have lost 2 more and I have one in the nursery and don't expect it to live. I order 5 of 6 different breeds. The only ones I can truly identify is the Black Cooper Marans and the Salmon Faverolles. The others look like barnyard chicks, aka mutts. I got 2 Salmon's with deformed feet, one Salmon with a deformed wing. Not to mention the chicks were of mixed ages. Some where almost fully feathered, and supposed to be "day olds." All were very very small and very weak. It's been a chick nightmare! To watch these innocent babies die so tragically, simply because the hatchery didn't take care of either the breeding stock or the babies. Truly a sad situation. I pray daily for no more loses. I have used Cackle & Murry McMurry in the past and have been extremely please with the quality of the birds and the way they handle the chicks. Yes, they may cost a little more than Hoover, but trust me when I say, you may pay in the end with heartache and frustration with Hoover's chicks. Never again will I go the "cheap route" on living breathing chicks. It's not worth it! One positive on my experience, I have to say that the customer service with eFowl was outstanding. They were compassionate and went out of their way to try and "make it right." What I learned is even dollars can't heal the sadness of watching these pitiful little babies die needlessly. No more will I use Hoover under any circumstances. Please, do your research before you buy. Sometimes cheapest is not best.

As a counterpoint to some of the negative expetiences, I ordered 32 chicks in March, 16 white leghorns, 16 Cornish cross, and 6 Plymouth barred rock. Also 8 pekin ducks. Got 2 extra Cornish I believe, maybe 3. Packed well, shipped on time, no deaths on arrival. One died the 2nd day, I believe due to pasty vent. This was my first time raising chicks and I do not think I caught it soon enough.

3 more deaths later on, all cornish, i beliebe due to cardiovascular issues. Around week 4, 1 seemed to go into acute heart failure, possibly with flash pulmonary edema (if chickens even gert that). Within the course of a few hrs it developed significant lethargy and very labored breathing. It was dead within about 4 hrs of developing symptoms. Tried to even give it a veterinarian dosed liquid aspirin solution as I suspect it had a heart attact, but to know avail. I found 2 more around weeks 5-6 dropped over dead in the classic Cornish sudden cardiac death posture. I do not really blame any of these deaths on Hoover's, I believe them to be a combo of operator error and heart issues. I do not know enough about poultry genetics and do not have enough experience to say if their stock is more prone to cardiac issues than from other hatcheries.

Anyways, I was overall happy with what I got. I have another shipment of some more barred rocks, some Rhode island reds, and delawares coming next month. I'll write a subsequent review about that. I allso have 25 freedom rangers coming from welp hatchery next month. Will do a write up about that also.