California Hatchery reviews?

I found another duck "farm", in SoCal. It is in SanDiego County. Why I say "farm", is that it is owned by a guy that sells the eggs. Any ducks that stop laying, or unwanted drakes ( they are all Pekin), are probably killed and sold to pig farmers. On the net it had ( butcher) under his farm. He sells duck embryos for people to eat, sells eggs to university's for science classes, and sells eggs to the government for immunization medication. I called him before I knew all of this, and he said he would sell me Pekin for 15.00. Fully Grown. Which is great, because I don't have the equipment or time to raise chicks. I got my first Pekin from a shelter, who was do to be put down, for 2.00. I just got a northern pintail, from a shelter, for 17.00.. I have been searching a 5 county area in a 100 mile circumference from my place, for ducks, at shelters. There have been zero. I am hooked up with majesticfowl.com, and several other fowl sanctuary/ adoption places, but nothing has come up. Metzger only sells chicks, and only pairs of chicks, whereas, I only need/want 1 adult at a time. I don't want to buy from a hatchery, when I know I can save a duck/chicken from being slaughtered. So, this guy at the "duck farm" is where I will be going, because the living conditions there look horrible, and they get slaughtered when they aren't needed anymore. So, my delima is over. I will be going there and trying to save ducks from shelters if they aren't placed. Thanks anyway y'all

dumbusername said:

I call
ed I called California hatchery and all you get is an answering machine that says to email them. It took them a day to reply. They are in Rancho Cucamonga, about a 30 m-45 minute drive from my house, so, I asked if I could pick up the ducks since I was local. They said no, I have to order online and have them shipped. So I'm thinking that the birds aren't taken care of well, and maybe they're farm isn't clean, nice, etc. and that they might be doing some non-animal lover type things that someone from say, PETA, would be upset about. They also have a 3 bird minimum order, which sucks. I asked them another question and will probably have to wait another whole day for a reply. I like Metzger better. They reply to email very quickly, and are super knowledgable and helpful. I'm thinking of driving to the California hatchery location to see what the conditions are like there, and will report back on this thread what I find.

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Hello, just curious to know if you ever did go to California hatchery.

California Hatchery never answers an email, as far as I can tell. They are located not far from me and it would be convenient to pick up chicks rather than to subject them to USPS, but after multiple emails inquiring about getting chicks from them, I gave up. That was over a year ago.
However, for those in Southern California, AV Hatchery, in Lancaster, is a good option. I buy all the poultry for our small town's feed store from AV when I need a type that I do not breed myself. They reply reasonably quickly to messages left by phone and are always friendly and helpful.
They ship out hatching eggs beautifully packed in foam and I have had good hatch rates from these. Once, there were some cracked shells; the owner replaced them with extras the next time I ordered.
Shipped chicks have also arrived in good condition with extras as well. We have stocked chicks, turkeys and guineas purchased from them, and all have been healthy.
It is possible to pick up birds or eggs at the hatchery though they do not allow anyone inside the gate for biosecurity reasons.
Lastly, even though we are a small store and do not make huge purchases, they have always gone out of their way to supply any special request we have made. They have a website for online orders, but have more breeds than those listed, so it is worth the trouble to call if you have a special type in mind. I am not associated in any way with AV, but am a satisfied customer.

I went with Ideal hatchery and by passed California hatchery. Cheaper shipping and rediculous that I can't do a walk in order only living 2 hrs away. Doesn't seem to business friendly to me.

I was hoping to find someone that had ordered from this hatchery. I live in Nevada and wanted a closer hatchery than the ones in the east coast.