Sort of frustrated with Hoover's Hatchery, but giving them another chance.

[FoxandBearFarms]

Late last year I put in an order with Hoover's Hatchery for 22 Partridge Chanteclers. 15 pullets and 7 cockerels. My plan was to keep nearly all the pullets, minus any that had obvious genetic defects, and keep the two best cockerels for breeding purposes wow butchering the remaining five. I live in the same town as cackle hatchery, and if they carried Partridge Chanteclers I just pick them up from there in person. But alas, no one near me has this breed so shipping chicks was the next option. I place an order to be shipped on January 31st, they arrived two days later. Unfortunately, and I should have planned for this, there were four dead and three would fade over the next 48 hours. I contacted Hoovers and they promptly refunded the seven that it died. At that point I was down to 15 birds. 2 weeks later 2 chicks escaped and a field rat finish them off leaving me with 13 birds. My fault.

Here's where it gets frustrating. Now that I've had the birds for almost 5 weeks, and they've started to grow quite a bit, I realized that a number of them were not partridge chanteclers. 5 of the remaining 13 birds have single or pea combs, instead of the fusion combs chanteclers have.
I contacted Hoover's Hatchery again and they promptly refunded me and I ordered another 15 after they apologize for the mix-up. But how do you have a mix-up like that? I did some digging on this website and found someone else that ordered this breed last year and ended up with a decent number of Partridge rocks.
Anyways, I guess I'm just venting a little bit. A month of feed into a couple of dozen birds really isn't much. It's $15 in the grand scheme of things. But now I'm also feeding chickens of a breed that I'm not sure what they are and didn't plan on raising them in the first place.

 

[Mantisquailman]

Late last year I put in an order with Hoover's Hatchery for 22 Partridge Chanteclers. 15 pullets and 7 cockerels. My plan was to keep nearly all the pullets, minus any that had obvious genetic defects, and keep the two best cockerels for breeding purposes wow butchering the remaining five. I live in the same town as cackle hatchery, and if they carried Partridge Chanteclers I just pick them up from there in person. But alas, no one near me has this breed so shipping chicks was the next option. I place an order to be shipped on January 31st, they arrived two days later. Unfortunately, and I should have planned for this, there were four dead and three would fade over the next 48 hours. I contacted Hoovers and they promptly refunded the seven that it died. At that point I was down to 15 birds. 2 weeks later 2 chicks escaped and a field rat finish them off leaving me with 13 birds. My fault.

Here's where it gets frustrating. Now that I've had the birds for almost 5 weeks, and they've started to grow quite a bit, I realized that a number of them were not partridge chanteclers. 5 of the remaining 13 birds have single or pea combs, instead of the fusion combs chanteclers have.
I contacted Hoover's Hatchery again and they promptly refunded me and I ordered another 15 after they apologize for the mix-up. But how do you have a mix-up like that? I did some digging on this website and found someone else that ordered this breed last year and ended up with a decent number of Partridge rocks.
Anyways, I guess I'm just venting a little bit. A month of feed into a couple of dozen birds really isn't much. It's $15 in the grand scheme of things. But now I'm also feeding chickens of a breed that I'm not sure what they are and didn't plan on raising them in the first place.

I am very sorry for what happened to you. But have you thought of getting your birds
from Murray mcmurray

 

[FoxandBearFarms]

I am very sorry for what happened to you. But have you thought of getting your birds
from Murray mcmurray

They don't carry the breeds I wanted. And living 15 minutes from Cackle Hatchery, it's hard to think about using another hatchery in the first place lol

 

[Mantisquailman]

Why do you want partridge chanteclers?

 

[FoxandBearFarms]

Why do you want partridge chanteclers?

Super long story lol. Ever see the movie "Rock-a-Doodle" from the early 90's? Well the main character is a rooster named "Chantecler". I LOVED that movie as a little kid. That probably planted the seed lol. But now, as a guy in his mid thirties with a family and a small farm, I'm wanting for us to be more self sufficient. I've been experimenting with different breeds and considered American Bresse, but after this winter's extreme cold and dealing with frostbite on birds, I don't want any birds that are susceptible to that again. So looking at other breeds, the Chantecler seems perfect. Extremely cold hardy, prolific layers, big roosters(9lbs) so big enough to eat extra cockerels.

 

[Mantisquailman]

Super long story lol. Ever see the movie "Rock-a-Doodle" from the early 90's? Well the main character is a rooster named "Chantecler". I LOVED that movie as a little kid. That probably planted the seed lol. But now, as a guy in his mid thirties with a family and a small farm, I'm wanting for us to be more self sufficient. I've been experimenting with different breeds and considered American Bresse, but after this winter's extreme cold and dealing with frostbite on birds, I don't want any birds that are susceptible to that again. So looking at other breeds, the Chantecler seems perfect. Extremely cold hardy, prolific layers, big roosters(9lbs) so big enough to eat extra cockerels.

I am going to have to watch that movie, but how long do they take to get fully grown?

 

[FoxandBearFarms]

I am going to have to watch that movie, but how long do they take to get fully grown?

They start laying at 5-6 months. Butcher the cockerels at 16 weeks.

 

[FoxandBearFarms]

I am going to have to watch that movie, but how long do they take to get fully grown?

Obviously they won't be 9lbs at 16 weeks. But they'll be decent size. 3-4 lbs butcher weight.

 

[Mantisquailman]

Obviously they won't be 9lbs at 16 weeks. But they'll be decent size. 3-4 lbs butcher weight.

I'm not saying that you have to do this but
if you want to get a big meat bird than try out Jersey Giants (the roosters can get up to
15 pounds!

 

[FoxandBearFarms]

I'm not saying that you have to do this but
if you want to get a big meat bird than try out Jersey Giants (the roosters can get up to
15 pounds!

I'd thought about that, but they get frostbite on their big combs and wattles, and don't lay as much as chanteclers.