Ideal Poultry - Page 2

I just ordered 7 Cochin chicks from them and they are supposed to be arriving this week.   They were about $27 with shipping.  I don't know if thats a great deal or not.  It wasn't one of the specials.

Over the years, I have gotten a lot of our chicks from them, and my neighbor has too.  We have always been very happy and they have excellent customer service. 

 

I just received a batch of bantam cochins on Thursday.  I ordered one of their specials, 25 assorted Cochins. I have fun trying to figure out what everybody is. 

I've ordered from Ideal twice, from MyPetChicken once, and Metzer Farms once.  I would order from each of them again, according to purpose:  MPC for sexed bantams, Metzer for ducks and geese, and Ideal for large fowl pullets.  I've got nothing bad to say about any of those three companies.  I also buy chicks from my favorite feed store, which uses both Ideal Poultry and Metzer Farms. Sometimes they order from Privett or Meyer, I think it depends upon the season or the breed availability throughout the Chick Season, which - at my favorite feed store - runs from mid-February to early October.  

 

 

We have 7 eggs on day 14, and just picked up 5 one-day old chicks today.

We're new to this, but we were hoping that after 2-3 days after the eggs hatch, we could put them together.

Any word of wisdom for introducing the 2 different ages?

 

 

Just put them together and keep an eye on the little ones to make sure they are eating/drinking.  I've mixed ages of chicks many times and never had a problem.  I'd leave the hatched ones in the incubator until they are steady on their feet though. (usually 24 hours)

 

Here's a day old snuggling up to a week old chick

 

 

 

I've done the same, put chicks of disparate ages together, up to 3 weeks difference.  Unless it's a single chick at the far end of the age difference....   I kept a couple of those in a separate brooder for a week so the smaller ones are eating and drinking okay and have demonstrated they're alert, quick, and have good mobility and speed when they get the "zoomies."  Then I know they can hold their own in with chicks 3 weeks older.  Bantams hatched later than other chicks also get special treatment for the same reason. 

 

Other than those circumstances (or any chick is not alert, active, eating and drinking) I put younger chicks with older chick quite routinely.  I would not push it past 3 weeks though.

My local Grange buys from Ideal, so my birds are from there. I've had no problems, but I've not bought direct from them. By the time I get them, they're a couple of days old and the weaker ones have died off.

Ahh, that's one of my special tactics with feed store chicks!  I always try to get the oldest chicks of the breeds I want.  Chicks are delivered in quantity one day a week, and those that didn't sell the previous week are therefore a week older.  I look for the most active and alert older chicks, precisely because they HAVE survived well.  They've passed that early die-off stage. 

 

But if my feed store isn't offering a breed I would like, I'll check with Ideal.  Or, if there's a special sale I cannot resist, I'll buy chicks in quantity from Ideal, which offers many more breeds than my feed store carries.

 

 

I got an order from Ideal last week. All of the chicks are healthy and doing great, although I did loose a packing peanut (it had a twisted leg ). I would definitely order from them again. I ordered from McMurray last year, and really liked them alot too. Both had great customer service. Good luck!