Cackle hatchery's Hatchery Surprise- Anybody got this before?

[realsis]

Yeah....i wont be ordering from this hatchery again......these chicks keep dying off from pasty butt now one has prolaspe. Never lost so many chicks from a hatchery before. No wonders its cheap....there sick.

pasty butt can be caused from shipping stress which isn't the hatcheries fault and incorrect brooder temperature causes pasty butt as well. usually too warm with no cool area. the prolapse can be directly related to fecal impaction from pasty butt. again not a hatchery issue. I've not ever ordered from Cackle before but in all fairness the issues you mentioned are NOT related to the hatchery at all.

 

[Liddy]

I have been losing chicks at a prodgious rate! I suspect it has been the weak that just can't hold their own in a crowd. Not sure any of them would have made it if I had fewer to care for, since I have had help and we've done what we could. It seems as though I'm finding half a dozen still, cold little bodies morning and night. I'm darned tired of this!

Is it the distance or is it the quality of birds? I have no idea, but I don't care. I'm not doing this again. It looks like I will have enough colored egg layers to keep me happy for a while, and the turkeys will fill the freezer nicely. I thought about this on my way to work yesterday morning...why do I have these birds? I figure my goal is egg production to sell, and breeding colored egg layers. I can do that with what I have at this point, and likely supplement my current flocks with local purchases. I see no need to put any birds (or me) through this kind of trauma again.

Now, to put me in a better frame of mind, here are some of the chicks I have that are thriving! I only know what a few of them are.

1

2 A little smaller, lighter in color


3 Maybe Polish, but not as well-defined head puff

4 White Polish, with a very well-defined puff


5 This one has a pronounced breast, it's not just a huge crop


6. I have about a dozen of these

7. From the cheeks and beard, I deduce this is an EE

8. Same for this one, although the head is a lot puffier than #7



9 I have one of these. Spangled Hamburg?

10 The turkey poult was obviously not a chick. Looks to me like Mr Burns!

I'll have to call another one Smithers.

 

[SlipsWife]

Our surprise came in today. 50 chicks and 2 ducklings

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

I was pleasantly surprised, I thought for sure it would be be a "rooster dump" but of all those I kept to maturity, I had 5 roosters, and they were all pairs -- so like a Delaware pair, Phoenix pair, EE pair, um..oh and two "little black Roos" I gave to a little boy who has a whole flock of "tiny roosters". Now I did sell about 15 "fuzzy foots" about week 3, maybe that's where all the Roos were but I got silver laced Wyandottes, Dominiques, RIRs, NH reds, EEs, Delawares, spitzes, all pullets. It was a great bargain. Will get some pics posted soon! Oh, and I am having to build a second coop for all the ones I just " had to keep"

 

[eyeofthechicken]

I received 46 healthy chicks and a turkey pout, Cochins,Easter Eggers,Wyandotte,bantams, and many others!!

 

[eyeofthechicken]

Does this look like a turkey pout or a peafowl, they don’t have turkeys shipping this month, but they have peacocks

 

[Texaschickie85]

I would split them up according to size and run at least 2 large brooders. If you get some species other than chickens I would split them out too.

Thank you!! I have two areas set up and a extra third smaller one. If I get ducks I’ll have to make some adjustments but should be okay

 

[KKmedic]

I ordered 2 this spring (one was to replace the kids favorites involved in a chihuahua massacre in our brooder)
We have polish, large Cochins 2 will be being shown this school year, various marans which a few will be shown this coming year, Orpington, welsummer, australorps, rir, Delaware, light Brahma, a pair of Welsh harlequin ducks, a Rouen drake, gold and silver spitz, blue Sumatra, speckled Sussex, Dominique, barred rock, etc.
far more hens than roosters

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

I got my mini surprise this morning. Quite a few poof heads (Polish), some fuzzy feets (cochins) and a bunch of others of all makes and models - I forgot to count as I put them in but I had NO DOAs. I haven't really sat down to figure out what the rest are but I got THREE DUCKLINGS!!!!! Two brown stripey ones and a yellow one. I hope at least one is a female.

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

My mini surprise from March had 1 turkey, 1 duck and about 30 chicks. So fun!!