are hatcheries all like this?

I finally talked hubby into letting me get a few more chicks so I found a hatchery 30 minutes away. I was so excited I could go there and pick what I wanted without waiting for mail order. The hatchery had a very nice website, pictures of their farm and breeding stock as well as their chicks. So I went today to get my chicks. I had emailed the woman a few days ago to make sure they had plenty of the two breeds I wanted, and she asked me to text her husband when I was on my way. Which I did.

So I got there and the husband took me into the building they have the chicks. They have 4 brooders set up made out of plywood. They use shredded newspaper for bedding. They have 2-3 breeds in each box, but the chicks were so covered in feces that you really couldnt tell them apart. By the time I got down there I had talked myself into asking about a third breed, but after I saw the chicks I didnt. There were also several dead chicks in each box, that had been dead long enough to be trampled and flat. Each waterer was fouled and the smell was horrible. Ive only ever known Cornish x to smell like that.

So I went ahead and took the chicks I had told them I would take, 10 buff orpingtons and 10 barred rock, just to get a few of them out of the boxes. By the time I got home, one of the buffshad died and im worried 3 more will. Ive given them save a chick and electrolytes in their water.

Is this how all hatcheries are ran? Ive never been inside any others, and if I had ordered my chicks I would never know the conditions they were in prior to shipping. All my other chickens came from the feed store. They were clean when we bought them, and in clean cages. And no dead babies. These poor little guys are so filthy its sad.

I dont want to name the hatchery because again, I dont know if this is how they are ran. Im sure if I told them Ive already lost one they would offer to replace but I dont want to drive back down there.

No - not at all.

For future reference, the best response to the situation would have been to leave with no birds - not only have you potentially (quite likely) purchased birds that will bring more heartache than anything to you (and, since it sounds like you have other birds, potentially expose your entire flock to health risks) , but while it may make you feel that you are "saving" the chicks from the deplorable conditions you are also only further encouraging the seller to continue doing business in this manner.

Chicks ordered from a hatchery are hatched, sexed, sorted and packed for shipping by the time they are about a day old - so they aren't there long enough for conditions to become deplorable. Once they arrive at their destination (be it your home or the farm store) they are then put into the care of that person. In the retail setting, birds can/do die, etc. - just as they can/do die in your own brooder - but a good staff is keeping an eye on things, maintaining a clean brooder and removing any birds that do die so as to a) maintain the health of the other chicks and b) because dead birds or a nasty brooder would be bad for business.

Thank you. I do have other birds; these new ones will be isolated from my others for several months. The brooder is currently in my laundry room where they'll stay for about 5 weeks, then they will go in a grow out pen til about 12 weeks before they go to the main coop. Hopefully that will be enough. The 3 I was worried about have perked up after the electrolyte water and some scrambled eggs. Ive avoided buying from backyard breeders because of disease...this was an actual licensed hatchery. Grrr. Makes me want to start my own so people can get clean healthy birds.

Nope,, not at all. I myself run a small hatchery with a few select breeds during the summer months. We strive to keep our chicks clean and healthy. After all, we serve a lot of people in our local community and would not remain in buisness long if we treated our birds like that. Sadly too many people have jumped on the bandwagon of trying to make a quick buck by hatching chicks without any real care for the animals well being.... much like the puppy mills.... thankfully our state has clamped down on the puppy mills... unfortunetly, the chick mills seem to keep popping up,,, thankfully though,, they do not tend to last long once the word gets out about their practices.

Update: So the one chick that I thought had died, didnt! I had watched this little guy close his eyes and slowly lean backwards until he was on his back with his legs straight out behind him. The other chicks started walking over him. But when I reached in to pull him out, he opened his eyes and chirped! So I made up a bowl of electrolyte water, got a deep spoonful and held it under his beak. He drank a bit, waited a minute and drank a bit more. After a few minutes he nibbled some egg. We put him in a little basket pretty close to the heat lamp. An hour later he was flapping his wings trying to get out of the basket! Put him back in the brooder and he started attacking the feed. Can't tell the difference between him and the other buffs now!

Everyone made it through the night and is loudly insisting on breakfast now! Im still bothered by the conditions they were in, but at least mine are looking better. Oh, and I had to go to Rural King last night and they had 3 lonely looking Black Jersey Giants left. I couldnt leave them haha. So they came home to. I dont think hubby has realized it yet

MysteriaSdrassa said:

Nope,, not at all. I myself run a small hatchery with a few select breeds during the summer months. We strive to keep our chicks clean and healthy. After all, we serve a lot of people in our local community and would not remain in buisness long if we treated our birds like that.   Sadly too many people have jumped on the bandwagon of trying to make a quick buck by hatching chicks without any real care for the animals well being.... much like the puppy mills.... thankfully our state has clamped down on the puppy mills... unfortunetly, the chick mills seem to keep popping up,,, thankfully though,, they do not tend to last long once the word gets out about their practices.

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Hey, I figured out this quoting thing! Lol. I have no idea what is involved in getting a hatchery licensed in Indiana, and I'm nowhere near to hatching my own eggs. But I may look into it. Indiana doesnt seem to have quite as many regulations on small farms as other states.

The family running the hatchery in question also raise and sell other livestock. They have several very large barns and a lot of property. They are also a young family. If I had to guess, Id say they have just gotten in over there heads. Its sad for the birds though. They had a Lavender Orpington in one of the brooders that looked to be about 3 weeks old, and in the same condition as the rest. Id love to have some of those, but hubby wont let me spend that kind of money on a chick. But their website says they are backed up on orders of those through September. He must have gotten forgotten .

I meant to put a frownie face grrr.

The conditions you describe are what we ran into answering an ad on Craigslist. The conditions were deplorable and we felt sorry for them so we took home the 7 we had requested via phone call. What a mistake that was. We lost 4 of the 7 in the first 2 weeks. It was a terrible introduction to poultry for 1st timers like us. I'll never go through CL again.

@Ol Grey Mare is correct, not all hatcheries or breeders are like that. There are good ones out there. It may help to ask other members experiences or recommendations here before you go to another one.

Good luck with your birds.

NorthFLChick said:

The conditions you describe are what we ran into answering an ad on Craigslist. The conditions were deplorable and we felt sorry for them so we took home the 7 we had requested via phone call. What a mistake that was. We lost 4 of the 7 in the first 2 weeks. It was a terrible introduction to poultry for 1st timers like us. I'll never go through CL again.

@Ol Grey Mare
 is correct, not all hatcheries or breeders are like that. There are good ones out there. It may help to ask other members experiences or recommendations here before you go to another one.

Good luck with your birds.

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Thank you. Im sorry you went through that. Ive stayed away from craigslist because of stories like yours. I think from now on I will stick with ordering my meat chicks. Im hoping to be able to hatch my own layers next year and stick with the breeds Ive got. We'll see how that goes when I walk into the feed store next March .