Hatcheries, Day Old Chicks

I always used Ideal Poultry because I live in Texas, they are located in Texas, shipping is less, and I get my chicks within a day. If there is a specific breed that I want, I order them, but sometimes when I want a variety, I order the Heavy Assorted Breeds. Ideal always list the breeds that I get and the number. Ideal was out when i ordered my last batch so I used Cackle and ordered the mixed assorted heavy breed. They did not list the breeds so I do not know what I have until they are almost grown and the shipping was high.

I will never use my pet chicken again, ALL my chicks were dead on delivery. Murray Mcmurray my silkies had mutations, cross beak and my duccles also had mutations. Over half my birds from there have died. All my birds from efowl are healthy and great and same for ideal, I lost very little from these two.

I ordered chicks from Ideal Poultry. Had some issues. Contacted Ideal Poultry and they resolved them within 24 hours. My chicks are healthy and happy.

I ordered 4 pullet chicks about 8 weeks ago and since I live close enough to drive I drove instead of dealing with shipping (since I can't have more than 6 birds the shipping would've been three times the price of the chicks alone) So I arrived and instead of the 4 chicks I had 6. I had ordered a white wyandotte, a columbian wyandotte, and two speckled sussex. Since they couldn't for sure tell if the columbian was a pullet they sent three of them.
It has been 8 weeks since I picked up my chicks and all 6 are still healthy energetic chickies- we didn't lose 1! Although one of the speckled sussex is a roo, all the others are pullets. Over all I was impressed with my experience. The customer service was great. Before I had ordered I had emailed back and forth discussing how we would do chick pick up and getting recommendations on breeds for what I was wanting. I would use them again.

I ordered 15 chicks from Cackle in May. They all came to us healthy and bouncing out of the box with 2 extra chicks. The only hiccup for me was waiting for the ship date. The email went to my junk mail folder so I was checking my email 20 times a day trying to find out when to expect them.

I was very nervous about ordering from a hatchery but I wanted some breeds I hadn't been able to find locally. Cackle had great revues and they were well deserved. The chicks are about 10 days old and all are healthy and thriving. We spent less on these 17 chicks than on the 6 we bought from a breeder locally.

I've never ordered from a hatchery and I will tell you why. When I got a catalog to I believe it was Cackle Hatchery and a lot more that I can't remember, I looked through and I do have to say that there was a very large variety of chicken and more poultry to choose from and I just go right over to the bantam section or cochin section and look to see what they have and when I see one that I would love have and its an okay price i consider getting it and then i look down and see that its a straight run only bird which gets a little annoying after awhile and I have to many roosters and all to not know what the sex of the chicks im getting i mean they could all be roosters for all i know and you also have to order like 20 or else you have to pay about forty bucks for a heat pack.

we ordered 100 chicks for the shop i work at mr harrison sent in the money and we have been waiting since Nothing arrived and we are still in hopes they said they sent them
we have copies of order and check that they cashed ,.
Posted for new owner of the feed store In florence oregon

I had placed an order with another hatchery but then I learned that that hatchery shipped on Fridays and chicks sat in postal distributions all weekend and many here on BYC were experiencing high death rates amongst their chicks I cancelled it and looked elsewhere. I found that Privett had the breeds I wanted including a new desire, California Greys, which are only available in two hatcheries. I changed my order twice during the time between placing it and receiving it. The customer service people were polite and friendly and promptly took care of the changes I requested.

The chicks hatched on the 24th and arrived as scheduled on the 26th. I was thrilled with the size and apparent health of each one. They seemed twice the size of the chicks I had received from another more well known hatchery last year. I had my own hatch going and when my babies hatched they looked tiny by comparison too.

Privett is located in New Mexico so for those of us on the west coast it may make more sense to use them in terms of less potential stress on the chicks.

Because I have learned that sexing chicks is so hard on them I will not order sexed chicks again unless they are auto-sexing. But I am really pleased with the pullets I have received from Privett.

Purchase price for sexed pullets: 10 Easter Eggers, 5 Speckled Sussex, 5 California Grey, 5 Partridge Rocks. I don't remember what shipping was but it was reasonable...under 20.00

Almost every bird I have has come from these guys. Family run farm, they have chickens, pheasants, turkeys, geese, and ducks. If they sex a chick wrong you can bring it back and they will replace it with the correct sex. You can reserve chicks or they ship hatching eggs. They only have a few permanent breeds but often hatch varieties form outside sources. Will even incubate eggs for locals (a guy needed peacocks incubated and they helped out.) They know chickens and have very healthy birds. They helped me when one of my birds got sick and when I returned three cockerels and there weren't pullets to replace them, (someone had sabotaged the incubators by turning them off, killing everything, then murdered several older birds) they promised females in the same breeds for the next spring.

Our first order was in June of 2012 -- and like many who've reviewed, we had problems getting the breeds we wanted -- all on the same date. The shipping cost is steep with My Pet Chicken, and being a beginner, I really didn't relish the idea of integrating different age groups of hens. We settled on substitutes and made arrangements with our post mistress to call us immediately on the big day. Our order arrived with only 2 of the 7 alive. Those 2 died within 2 days. I was pretty shaken, and would have really liked to have had a more sympathetic person to speak with regarding their condition, and the ensuing process. The insensitivity and rudeness was later defended in the name of "efficiency" -- as in "I'm sure she was just trying to get you the birds you want . . . " and I might have bought that somewhat, if they hadn't called back to tell me that they " couldn't process my order with the birds selected" yet again . . . and then again . . . and yep -- AGAIN.
So, I selected birds that I was less and less familiar with, trusting that they knew what they were advising me about. Of the 7 I had REALLY wanted: at least 1 Austrolorp, at least 1 Speckled Sussex, and a couple of Salmon Faverolles (pref. 1 of each gender). and hopefully a Brahma and/or an Orpington -- Suffice to say I ended up, finally, with none of those -- except the Faverolles. And they were deformed (as was a female ordered on the same date by another buyer - from Meyer Hatchery.

I hadn't known it at the time, but "My Pet Chicken" is not a Hatchery. They are merely brokers who get their birds from Meyer Hatchery. (And Re-sell them with inflated prices and for absurd shipping charges.) They answer phones and emails from all over the country, but cannot affect the orders of a Hatchery that has their own huge orders to fill. So if someone fails to enter your phone order -- which happened to me REPEATEDLY . . . well suddenly you become a very low priority, and are out of choices -- behind Meyer customers and any MPC internet sales that may have come in while you assumed your order was all set. And, instead of being honest about the situation they make a lot of excuses and creatively falsify what's transpired, and what's been ordered -- and especially what they've promised. If, like me, this whole nightmare took you right through to August, well you aren't likely to find many of the choices that you paid to reserve 8 weeks ago. I gave up and found some of the breeds I'd wanted through breeders in my local (Northern CA) area and awaited the "re-shipment" --a very different bunch of birds, which they were finally able to ship 3 weeks later. Unfortunately, I had purchased 2 baby Austrolorps (at the suggestion of one of the My Pet Chicken customer service staff) to keep the last remaining Faverolles baby company. When he died, I still had healthy (but older) babies to integrate. We'd been given some EE's (as MPC had none) and when the last of the (first shipment) Faverolles left the Austrolorps lonely, we got a Crested Polish and an RIR so they'd have playmates.
My second MPC shipment arrived with some healthier birds. Only one, a Cinnamon Buff, looked truly sickly, but again, the Faverolles had problems. The females had very twisted toes, which I tried very hard to help along. One, named Gidget, improved pretty well, and one, Binky-Rae didn't. Still she gets around fairly well and is much loved and enjoyed by all of us. She is also well protected by her Barred Rock sister "Miss Weezah". Sadly, the male, "Fargo" had this weird soggy, almost pendulous belly that we hoped was merely a hernia -- I didn't know that such a tiny chick could have such a problem, but it seems to be cardiac related. At 8 months he had to be re-homed, and now has a flatter backyard to roam. As the Cochin pullet they sent turned out to be a rooster, and the Cinnamon Buff had died within a couple of days of arrival, we were looking at a flock without many stellar layers.
We finally purchased a few SLW's with a Buff Orpington and one more RIR. to round out the mix. In all I had 5 separate age groups to integrate, which as a beginner, I found challenging. I had chosen to go with My Pet Chicken because I felt they could offer the best customer support and probably healthier stock. I also wanted too support certain policies I believe in: -- Not de-beaking, not "peanut-packing" baby males, and so on. But since they merely broker their birds, I'm actually supporting another hatchery about whom I know nothing -- except that they had some major problems with their Faverolles that season. I feel sorry for the 2 very nice people I spoke spoke with who understood why I so wanted to have chickens, who shared my initial excitement, and my eventual frustration. They were totally devoted to chickens, yet devoid of any power to help when things when wrong, over, and over again. That said, I would absolutely NOT recommend My Pet Chicken based on my experiences. Too many people were simply too unprofessional. Rather than try to deal with it, they simply made excuses and made up fiction. They should be ashamed. Perhaps someday they'll pull together a viable company, but they made a miserably frustrating, horribly disappointing and overly expensive experience out of something I had very much wanted to enjoy. We love our birds very much, but they deserved a better and less stressful start.

I ordered 15 ameraucana chicks from them in December and they told me that there was a waiting list, I probably wouldn't get them until May. This was fine with me. He got back to me last month and said that it would probably be sooner. I got an email the other day that they had been shipped out. I went and picked them up at the P.O. There was one DOA which I contacted him about and he said that he would send me a refund check. He even punches their toes in unique patterns so that he can tell you which chick is which.

Really friendly, cordial people. Great customer service. Here is their email: [email protected]

Ordered 25 bantam EEs and 2 bantam Welsummers and unfortunately, they froze in shipping. Not enough bedding and no heat pack and then it appears weather caused a delay or something in shipping which caused the demise of my whole order. Called to report them DOA and wouldn't be able to get whole exact order until end of May or partial re-order in 3 weeks. Was pretty bummed and ended up not re-ordering from them cause I was paranoid it would happen again and I couldn't get everything I wanted anyways. Original phone call to customer service did not garner a whole lot of sympathy from the lady on the other end. Sent an email to the company via their website and got an email back from Jess who was very helpful and sympathetic about the loss of my babies. She offered to throw in a Vitapak with my reorder or refund the whole thing. I chose refund because I was gun-shy, but I might try ordering from them in a warmer time of year. I think maybe during cold weather it's a bad idea to order from a hatchery that is more than one state away. 3.5 stars for good selection and after emailing, excellent customer service, but no more than that cause the chicks should have been able to make it here alive.

I ordered 5 LF light brahma pullets 5 LF buff brahma s/r and 5 s/r cayuga ducks. They sent and extra LB as well. We lost 2 chicks the first day but the rest thrived and did well. I cannot say for certain if we recieved the exact sexes as a raccoon took care of culling for us and cut the flock down to our current flock of 2 light and 2 buff pullets and 1 buff rooster and 1 cayuga drake. The light brahmas are excellent quality and are laying well the buffs aren't quite as impressive but my Cayuga Drake is very close to the standard with the exception of a little extra green on his bill. Overall very satisfied!!

I've purchased from Sunnyside Up twice. Their breeding stock is quite lovely, but the first time around none of the BLRW eggs I purchased were fertilized. Jill apologized and replaced them, but the second set wasn't fertilized either, nor were the lavender orpingtons I purchased at the same time. Of 26 eggs on my second purchase from them, zero have developed. In contrast, on this same hatch, of 68 shipped eggs, 57 are developing nicely. It's not an incubation issue.

I should add that I drove an hour to go pick up eggs from them -- they weren't shipped. My shipped eggs are doing fabulously in comparison.

I LOVE Little Birdie Chicken Farm and Hatchery! We got our little cuties from them last week and had such a great experience. They are friendly, knowledgeable and professional, not to mention very reasonably priced. They are located in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and are a small family run operation. They sell locally sourced feed and bedding, and have recently implemented a program called Charity Chicks. The hatchery has partnered with Interfaith Food Shuttle to give chickens to at risk teens and families who live at or below the poverty level. If you donate a chick, LBH will match your gift with another chick.

To donate a chick (two with the LBH match) send $5 to Little Birdie Hatchery at 9805 Adlie Drive, Wake forest, NC 27587. Make your check payable to Interfaith Food Shuttle. They will make sure it gets to them.

I highly recommend Little Birdie Chicken Farm and Hatchery to anyone in the Triangle area.
Their website is www.littlebirdiehatchery.com

Every single chick shipped survived. Helpful on the phone. They have a huge variety of birds, plus mixes that may appeal to some.

My Pet Chicken responds to my calls about chicks or chickens.
I don't feel like I am talking to a corporation but somebody who
cares about chickens like I do.
Thanks,
Mary Grace.

Ideal Poultry, a hatchery started in 1937, is a family owned and operated business. They claim that their business is built on customer service and quality poultry, and from what I've seen, they stay true to that.

They are the biggest supplier of backyard poultry, having a wide range of bantams, brown egg layers, white egg layers, rare breeds, ducks, and geese, they ship their poultry all over the United States of America, and sell close to 5 million chicks annually.

While you can get quality chicks from them, there's always the chance that you wont get any quality poultry from them. Their poultry often fits what they say, with the red sex links laying brown eggs regularly, and the white leghorns laying jumbo-size white eggs regularly.

If you want quality poultry from a hatchery, then you're looking in the wrong place. Hatcheries do not breed their birds the same way a responsible, reputable breeder would. Instead of looking at hatcheries as a source of quality poultry, you should try to find a breeder of the bird you are looking for. There are plenty of good breeders right here on BYC!

There is no minimum order for poultry, but your order must come to $25.00

Ideal Poultry is U.S Avian Influenza clean, and Pullorum-Typhoid clean.

I hope this review helps someone decide whether or not Ideal Poultry is for them.

Thanks for reading! Please comment!

Love, Love, Love Mypetchicken.com. I ordered 2 cochins and a White Crested Black Polish from them in June. The chicks arrived in good shape and in a timely fashion, though I was waiting on pins and needles for the post office to call.

I really liked that I was able to have the chicks vaccinated when I purchased them, it's just one less thing to worry about.

All of my chicks turned out beautifully. They are great looking birds and we are very happy with the quality we received.

My only grumble is that it's near impossible to get all the chicks you want in the same shipment, and in most places the minimum order is 6 chicks...if i ordered 6 chicks every time they had something available that I wanted, I'd be overrun with chickens in no time.

McMurray (MM) is absolutely great. They have good customer service, and healthy chicks. During winter though they hatch less chicks then most hatcheries so ordering certain breeds can be a pain if you plan for spring eggs. Also some breeds can be expensive or hard to order, for example , guineas you need 35 or something like that to order, and you cannot add them to your chick order. Overall though their a great hatchery whom we're going to order from again (not that we've only ordered once so far! )