Anyone Ordered from a Hatchery?

Yes, I've ordered from on-line hatcheries. Have also gotten chicks and grown hens from local breeders. You can get really nice stock from on-line hatcheries. There are some caveats. You tend to order more than you need - whether because there's a minimum, or you just can't resist that one extra breed. Don't crowd your coop! It's helpful to split an order with a friend. Also, you're likely to get a rooster. This happens even if you specify, "no extra chick, no rooster!!" And, lastly chicks do die while in transit. The box can be tipped and they smother. The weather can turn cold or hot. The post office might direct it the wrong way. You'll get a refund, but dead chicks in a box is a sad sight. That said, do it! The breed you've chosen is very pretty. For those who haven't decided what to get, I've just posted on my blog about what to think about when choosing breeds.

http://www.hencam.com/henblog/2012/01/choosing-chicken-breeds-right-for-you/

Three years ago I got my first Salmon Faverolles from Meyer Hatcheries.  One pullet was okay though she turned out mahogany, not salmon.  A cockerel and another pullet were definitely pet quality.  The cockerel had crossed beak and the salmon pullet had a "dirty" beard.  The second cockerel though was very nice - breeding quality.  I have since used him to start a line of mahogany faverolles that is steadily improving.  I have read on the Faverolles thread that a few other people have gotten decent quality Faverolles from Meyer also.  Here is a picture of the original rooster (Emmet) that I got from Meyer at about 1 year old:

 

I still have him - he'll be 3 in June.

 

Here is one of the hens that I got from Meyer - the too dark one:

I ended up selling her as she was quite mean.

 

 

This is the pullet with the dirty beard.

 

So, while you can't count on getting great quality birds from a hatchery, you can get decent ones occasionally. It mostly depends on whether you really want breeding quality birds or if you would be just as happy with "pet" quality.  Have you considered ordering eggs from a breeder instead?  While no breeder can guarantee show quality birds, your chances of getting good quality Faverolles will be greater if you can get some from a breeder.  However, if you aren't concerned with them being breeding or show quality, I would highly recommend Meyer Hatchery.  Faverolles are great birds and with the exception of the one hen, all of mine have lovely temperaments.  I have yet to have a mean rooster.  Emmet comes when I call and is easy to handle.  He has also fought off a raccoon in defense of his ladies.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Well, I know nothing about Australorps but you need to go with what will make you happy and what works best for your situation.  Good Luck!

I ordered 6 from mypetchicken.com 2 years ago and all 6 lived just fine and mail man dropped them off first thing in the morning so they wouldn't be in a cold postal truck all day. Plus they would probably drive him nuts after a few minutes of chirping anyway.  I ended up giving those 6 away because of noise problems and ordered 15 more yesterday to try. My local feed store didn't have the breeds I wanted so I got some from cacklehatchery because they had all 3 of the ones I want to try out. I've done a lot of research on breeds to find quietest but still pretty good egg production.  I should get the babies first week of April due to getting only 15.   

 

But again so far, my experience with online hatcheries has been good. If you only want a few chicks mypetchicken has the lowest minimums around based on zip code.  2 years ago mine was 6 minimum but now it's 7. Not sure why the increase because I got 6 just fine in February 2011 when it was still pretty cold outside. 

 

Ok someone else asked about breeds. I started with Standard Easter Eggers and Red Stars. My Reds were egg laying powerhouses. Super jumbo eggs bigger than jumbo eggs in the store. One hen laid nearly daily 6-7 eggs a week for her sometimes with weeks between a daily miss. One hen laid large eggs that were all weird shaped and funky looking but still edible. The other was regular jumbo size eggs store size. Now I read that EE'ers laid large eggs too but mine did not. They lay medium sized. Ok so my Reds were super duper quiet even at laying. Never cackled because of laying. They cackled because 1. they didn't like being lonely or 2. some dog or cat got in my yard and chased them. I gave 2 EE'er away in the beginning because they were super noisy. I kept 1 and she was even quieter than the Reds. She was my favorite chick and she died last year near the nest so was egg bound or heat stroke. Not sure. When she died one of the Reds started hollering for hours on end so I gave her away. Then a couple weeks later one of the other Reds started hollering while the last Red was on the nest so in the end I gave those 2 to the same ladies who got the first Red. All 3 Reds are back together elsewhere and are not hollering anymore. So my experience is that Red Stars are great for backyard city dweller flocks. EE'ers are toss of the dime. I also bought 2 Australorps and 4 Golden Buffs last August to see how they were. I loved those Aussies a lot but when one started laying she was so noisy that she had the Goldens hollering with her for hours on end and in a fit of madness I gave all 6 and the coop away determined to not buy more.  But I broke down this week and researched other breeds trying to find more quiet ones. My mom said to try bantam sized so I am. Someone said the faverolles are super quiet so was going to try those but found out they don't tolerate super high drought/heat areas like Fresno. If these RIR and EE bannies end up noisy I am going to buy more Red Stars from mypetchicken.com because they've been the quietest so far as long as you have  3 or more chickens noise creation shouldn't be a problem for the Red Stars. 

 

Sorry I prattle on alot in these forums. People probably have heard my story several times by now. LOL

 

Hope this helps.

Carla

Edited by cgoodloe - 3/1/13 at 4:09pm

I order my OEG bantams from Ideal hatchery and they arrived at 1 day old and all 25 survived. And I ordered 15 BR's from cackle hatchery and had 1 dead on arrival and had a total of 5 die within 4 days. They were 2 days old when they arrived. But they are all thriving now. I have lost 2 bantams now but the other 23 are doing great. I will order from either of these hatcheries again. Ideal will send you emails when they have specials on and I like that. They don't really have a catalog even tho they call it a catalog. It's just descriptions and order forms. No pictures. Cackle , Meyer and Murry MacMurry hatcheries have free catalogs. I found Ideal and Cackle to be more reasonable on price but different hatcheries provide different breeds.

Flock Happy....In spite of the positive review about MY Pet Chicken on this thread...There was a scathing review posted only yesterday...They get their chickens shipped from Meyer Hatchery and double the prices and charge ridiculous postage rates completely out of line with actual producing hatcheries..Either McMurray or Cackle are good  for above average quality Faverolles...Marti Poultry in Windsor had excellent Faverolles a few years back but I don't know if they are still in business...A safe rule is to avoid the brokers or drop shippers unless they have a good track record...The Stromberg family has been in the poultry business since before the Great Depression and once operated more hatcheries than any other hatchery in the USA...They have good connections for their exibition grade...The regular grade I don't know about...