Post pics of stock from Ideal Poultry please !!

[CountryMom]

Ok, I am feeling bad for these silkies! LOL They are not all ugly. Not SQ either, but here is one of our Partridge hens.

Wish I had one of our BBS from Ideal. But here is one of our Greys from them. She was missing some of her top knot from her rooster.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
Are you even old enough to LOOK at Playboy?

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

My 12 wk old chicks from Ideal. I ended up with one rooster out of 10 (gave 3 pullets to my sister and kept 6)
I'm happy with them so far, they seem healthy, although the BR does have crooked middle toes.

EE, BR, RIR, LB(roo), RIR, LB, RIR

 

[algopurple]

The lack of actual photos of the chickens is the very reason I don't buy from the people that have paintings of the birds. I understand not every bird is going to look just like the photo but that is what a disclaimer is for. Just say the bird purchased is not going to be just like the one in the photo. At least I will have a better idea from a photo than some artists idea of how it should look. An actual photo of what the chicks should look like would be nice too.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

I've got 10 pullets from ideal. I haven't lost a single one of these babies *knock on wood*!!! Sorry for the watermarks, but I can't have anyone stealing my photos. All these girls are just over 6 months

I'm impressed with ideal for the most part. Even if the birds aren't exactly conforming to standards, they are all very well tempered for the most part. The delaware is the head hen, and she can be aggressive, but she is pretty hyper active and a tad ditsy. The buff brahma is food aggressive, as is the red chantecler, but not to a degree where I would want to get rid of them. I'm especially impressed with the quality of the barnevelder and the dark brahma. They are exceptional for hatchery birds. And as far as I can tell, the silver-grey dorking is nice as well.


Kira - Dark Brahma

Kira is VERY well tempered. She is the lowest on the pecking order besides Hope, even though she is the tallest/biggest. I'm very impressed with her quality and temperament. She eats from my hand and follows me around.


Hope - Blue-Red Cubalaya

Hope is very well tempered, and is the lowest on the pecking order besides Kira. She is tiny - and I'm worried about her size. She's very quiet, well mannered, and *smart*. She is just so adorable. She will eat from my hand, but doesn't like to. But she does love to be around me - not on me, but just to be around my feet.



Skye - Silver-Spangled Spitzhauben

I just love this little girl. She's hyper-active, but not flighty. She goes from one thing to the next in the blur of an eye. She follows me around and eats from my hand, and is beautiful. Some parts of her, like her shoulders, have good spangling, but in other places it's not so great. Her crest is much better than what I was expecting. I lover her all the same.



Mika - Silver-Grey Dorking

Mika is just the sweetest thing. Talks, talks, talks! Follows me around, eats from my hand, begs, jumps up for treats. She is ADORABLE. She looks like she doesn't have legs at all! And she is a very chunky little girl. Love her to bits, wouldn't trade her for anything. And she's very brave!



Koji - Buff Brahma

I'm not exactly impressed with Koji. Compared to my other birds, she's the most aggressive and the least personable. Her color and body conformation aren't very good. I don't dislike her, but she's the least impressive of all my girls.



Nina - Barred Holland

Nina is the most quiet bird you would ever meet. I've never, *NEVER* heard her talk. She is just so calm and collected. She will just look at you, and just look around. She's not stupid, just very calm. She's a cutie. I love her to death. She doesn't like to eat from my hand yet, but will come up to you in the yard and scratch around you.


Avery - Russian Orloff

Avery isn't the best of conformation, but she's a great little bird. She's personable, and loves to come over, talk to me, beg and eat from my hand. She'll follow me around the yard/run up to me. Mom doesn't like it that she looks like she has mold growing on her face, but I think she's just as cute as can be. Sadly, her tail feathers have been picked out/run over, but she's not aggressive at all. A very good bird.



Riley - Red Chantecler

From what little I know about the breed, Riley has horrific conformation - especially color wise. But I do like her color - I love the lacing she shows. I expected her to be a bit food aggressive, but she is more food protective. She is our "cry-baby" and will run in terror, screaming, flapping her wings from the slightest disturbance. She is personable and will come up to you, eat by you and from your hand. A good enough little girl. She's a bit ditsy, though.



I don't have pictures of Lily, the delaware, or Fang, the barnevelder yet. I'll get those up soon

 

[Nomibear]

From what I understand they are a hatchery, and I remember reading on their web site that they make no claim of SOP or show quality birds. I think if I were looking for birds of that "quality" I would find a breeder who had done well at shows. Of course I would expect to also pay much more then I did for my Ideal chicks as well.

 

[Nomibear]

I agree, I have seen some beautiful birds from ideal. When your only payig $2 a chick, from a source that does not claim to sell show birds.... Anyway. I love this thread, and all the adorable pictures!

 

[RachaelS]

Getting show qiality on every chick would be like looking for santa and his Slay on christmas eve as a 43 yr old adult .

Why, is that bad

Well, I am not 43 yet, so I guess it is okay for me

Yep, you can buy the best from the best and still end up with nothing. Or you can buy the cheapest thing you can find and end up with a winner. However, chances are greater with the best of the best. I got Barnevelders from Ideal and they actually ended up very nice, for the most part. Good lacing, yellow legs, nice "U" back on 3 out of the 4. Only 1 had really messy lacing.

 

[4hchickmama]

the duel purpose breeds turn out alright as for my d'uccle and cochins they are iffy black mottled cochin has to much white on his chest and not enough on his body and feathering on all of them is in-proper not even fluffy like they should be (blk mottled, white, red, and partridge). the d'uccle's lack in beards and have to big of wattles. my black breasted game has some red on his chest that shouldn't be there but over all is fine but my millie has always had way to much white even at a young age. my golden neck d'uccle cockerel has black on him. my polish is ok but lacing could be better. my light brahma is iffy. but this is me and everyone has their own opinions be it good or bad. like reading reviews, so i had a horrible exprince this time around it doesn't mean i wont order from them again though.

i to have had some win in shows but those are only parish fairs that my kids participate in, thus do not count as actual APA and ABA shows.

i'm sorry you felt offended but i gave an honest review of their stock we received this time and there is not a thing wrong with that. i'm not going to sugar coat a bad experience and it wasn't even bad it was horrible. ideal is not a bad hatchery though but i have read enough in the first few pages that would detour me away from ideal from very bad typed birds to those that are very weak and small. others recommend cackle,whelp, and mcmurray. i am not the only one that has given a bad review on an order if you think i am then you really need to go and read like the first 10 pages....no i am not trying to be mean at all just saying i am not the only one

i have not gotten an assortment from them but wouldn't need to call and ask them what i had if i did get one though as i wouldn't have that many breeds to choose from.

i will be ordering snowy calls, cayuga, and mallards from them and i will give another honest review of them as well when i do get them....i have 2 of their crested cayuga, one has turned out lovely but needs a work while the other is just pet quality wouldn't even put him in a breeding program. my 2 mallards have also turned out great and my son one grand champ with one of the them. though a lot of the post i have read thus far makes me wonder if i should even put my money in this or go to a different hatchery, weak, fragile, small ducklings....hoping i don't get these ducklings

if you are looking to show in shows that aren't 4-h related anyone on here will tell do not buy from hatchery but instead spend the money on buying from a breeder and i do believe in that as the differences between the stock is day and night.

i will post pics of my birds from ideal at a later date

Well, to be fair, your first draft of what you said was actually directly offensive to people as you were criticizing their actual birds, however, you edited it and it reads much better. I can see why people were offended having read both versions though.

If you are going to order waterfowl, I'd go with Metzer's or Holderreads. I wasn't aware anyone shipped juvenile call ducks...Metzers for good service and decent to good quality and Holderreads for show quality.

I actually don't have any hatchery birds, mine are all from local breeders, mostly because my girls show. I'm not opposed to getting some in the future though.

 

[WarrenHound]

I am honestly a little bit confused as to what has people's feelings hurt. Breed standards are a set quantifiable thing, are they not? The bird either meets them or does not and generally hatchery birds do not. Correct? Is this just a word choice issue?

If you have a breed standard bird from this hatchery I could see this being a good opportunity to disagree and tell people about your good experience but it doesn't really seem like anything personal or attacking nor a comment on how much a person likes their pets. I am not sure where feelings are involved here.

My pug is the most poorly bred pug I have ever seen. I didn't rescue her to show her or because I wanted a pure bred dog.  If you walk up to me and say wow, that is the worst bred pug I have seen in my life I would: why yes. yes she is.

to each their own but to say some of the birds on here that HAVE shown and won at shows are bad quality as well? no they are not they proved that BY WINNING. i think their is a chance of getting a show dog out of a BYB litter i have seen it i even helped the girl show the dogs yes 2 that met the standard that came from a back yard breeder not a reputable breeder just someone breeding for fast cash no shots ect. those 2 dogs won best of breed and Best of Opposite sex and won in the hound group.

as someone that shows dogs no matter how "clean cut" the standard is the judge will look at it with his/her own preferences for things within it and they will decide how much is to much white or to little feather not the peanut gallery ;p

and yes it is very insulting to me as i am proud of my birds for someone to just lump us all into the "so bad its not funny" when they look perfectly fine for their age except a bit to much white on the Uccle to be told exactly like that is very insulting to not only me but the people that HAVE won.

i get just as offended if someone tells me my show dog is ugly when they don't know the difference from him and a greyhound! ibzan hound all the way! you dont know me or my animals so don't mock them i think they are beautiful =] and the judges agree