reviews from ideal hatchery

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I have to agree here with G Wiz. I haven't ordered nearly as many chicks from Ideal, but the ones I do have have been wonderful. I am a production bird keeper if that is what you want to call it. Meaning I don't show and won't do so with chickens. I live on a ranch and have livestock..chickens just part of that. I want a bird that is going to produce and look similar to what I expect of the breed. I don't have a Standard and don't care to follow one. I have tried over the past couple of years to hatch out eggs from show breeders and have learned a hard lesson. No matter what bird you hatch out of that egg it is a small percentage that it isn't going to be show quality. And most of the ones I hatched out had major DQ for show anyhow....unlike Ideals who maybe not perfect, but at least didn't have wrong combs, skin colors off, or lacking fertility. And yes, I have found that show quality breeders have issues with fertility. If you want a show bird you are going to have to do the work and find a breeder and develop a line....not just have egg layers and chickens for pets or fun. Breeding for show is work period. It all depends on what you want with chickens really.

So that being said, you are going to get reviews from breeders here that say their birds are horrible because they want and breed for show. And you are going to get the majority of the back yard flock keepers and ones that want eggs and eye candy for their flocks to say that Ideal is wonderful. Their bird are healthy and their customer service is very good. G Wiz is correct in saying that they don't false advertise that they have show quality birds. You are also going to get the few percentage of folks that had problems due to shipping that will claim the birds are not so good. Overall though, I think being as large as they are, their business would not still be producing and selling if their stock wasn't pleasing the majority of their customers.

Is there a way that you can order online?

DonnaBellePerry said:

Is there a way that you can order online?

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yes Ideal has a website http://www.idealpoultry.com/index.html

i ordered 14 LF cochin pullets in all but 2 of the colors Ideal offered and 5 bantams for a friend. they hatched and were shipped out june 19th and arrived at my local PO the morning of the 20th...so the chicks were in transit for less then a day and they sent an extra bantam so my friend got 6 chicks instead of 5


the only thing i didn't like is that both silver laced and one of the gold laced had very poor coloring barely had any silver or gold once their feathers were mostly in...i kept 1 of the golden laced as she from the get go has had the best coloring of all the other silver and golden laced combined.

the 9 i didn't keep went to my uncle and he really like them and thinks their good looking but i think they could be better..not saying they have to be show quality just need better coloring


overall i would oder from Ideal again...am actually thinking of doing so soon before it gets chilly as i'm expanding my coop and run so will room for a few more chickens

Chris09 said:

I bought from "Ideal" one time about 5 years ago and all I can say is NEVER again..

Chris

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Well that was 5 years ago they can change!

Aside from the mangled-looking birds, I've stayed away from Ideal because of their rather unsettling, if not vague, perspectives and stance re NAIS, some of which is archived on this board. Unfortunately for customers, as well as Ideal, the powers that be on this board make it difficult for anyone to set the record straight--whatever it might be--by shutting down valuable discussion and frantically locking threads at the first whiff of controversy. Due to the fact that topics of discussion pertaining to Ideal, as well as other companies, have been censored, I'm left only with suspicions and no real answers. My principles do not allow me to do business with Ideal, without clarification as to their position on NAIS and their privacy practices.

buckbye said:

Aside from the mangled-looking birds, I've stayed away from Ideal because of their rather unsettling, if not vague, perspectives and stance re NAIS, some of which is archived on this board. Unfortunately for customers, as well as Ideal, the powers that be on this board make it difficult for anyone to set the record straight--whatever it might be--by shutting down valuable discussion and frantically locking threads at the first whiff of controversy. Due to the fact that topics of discussion pertaining to Ideal, as well as other companies, have been censored, I'm left only with suspicions and no real answers. My principles do not allow me to do business with Ideal, without clarification as to their position on NAIS and their privacy practices.

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I can argue with that! I have had a great experience and great chicks from ideal, when was the last time you have ordered from them? They have changed and I ordered polish and silkie chicks and they arrived safely happy and healthy! If any were sick or killed they would give me an immediate refund and they try their very hardest to meet the customers demand. And about the mangled birds, they say on most of the profiles of the chicks that you click on that these chicks represent the breed, but may not be show quality. You can't say anything about them without an argument ,OK?