2014 Hatchery Chick Orders

[StewedMammal]

What is everyone ordering for chicks this coming year? Where are they coming from? What breeds are you getting?

 

[SlipsWife]

I have and order of 10 cinnamon queens and 15 EE coming from Cackle and should arrive on Valentine's Day.

We also ordered a Cackle Hatchery Surprise and it should be here in early March. We had a lot of fun with ours from last year!

I'm going back and forth on ordering from Ideal to ship out tomorrow. We have yet another cold front coming in tonight but since Ideal is in Texas they should be here the next day and hopefully won't get to cold on the way. I had planned on ordering about 10 chicks and was leaning towards bantams but now I'm not sure. My husband said to stick with standard size chickens. We were wanting naked necks but they aren't due to hatch until the 10th and I'm just wanting to order some because I don't want to wait...Once I start adding it all up, we don't need that many!

We bought a total of 100 chicks last year and from selling the extras and predators (there were only a couple of 'natural' losses) we have 8 left...since we are probably only keeping about that many this year too do I really need to order 100 again...why yes, yes I do

 

[SlipsWife]

I was looking through a few pictures on my phone and thought these might be useful for people looking to put in orders for this year. These are all from our 2013 chicks, our first chicks, who were all hatched February/March. The eggs are from October.

1-Red Sex-link from Privett (I believe they are listed on their site under 'Gold Sex Link'), bought at local TSC, we have one girl that lays eggs a littler larger than the other. They average around 2.4 oz . They lay almost daily, sometimes one might take a day off but it is very rare. Laid all winter, no extra light, friendly.

2-Bantam Easter Egger from Privett (listed under Ameraucana) bought from private order, laid almost daily, taking off maybe once a week, STOPPED cold turkey in October and hasn't laid an egg since. She is the first one in the coop in the evenings and I kept saying I was going to put a light in the coop to see if it would jump start her again but I haven't...she is 'wild' and wants NOTHING to do with us. I think its because we didn't spend much time with the chicks from that order and lost 80% to predators.

3-Turken/Necked Neck from Cackle, private order. Very friendly! Both girls lay almost as well as the Red Sex Link girls but have smaller eggs. Their eggs are pinkish/tan. Laid all winter without extra light, average egg weight 2 oz.

4-Partridge Plymouth Rock from Cackle, private order. Both girls pretty much took off for the winter, one had a very hard molt, but both laid last week one day, haven't since, so I'm hoping they are about to pick back up again. Extremely friendly. Their eggs are around 1.8 oz.


We did have an issue with dry pox this past fall. The Partridge girls seemed to have had it the hardest, plus the one went through a hard molt around that time, she looked horrible.

There are so many breeds out there and so many wonderful layers and beautiful chickens I just figured it might help someone looking into a first time order or adding something different to their flock to see the eggs. I would suggest the Red Sex Link girls to anyone for a first time, they aim to please.

 

[SlipsWife]

I was finally able to track my shipping info from this morning. They were accepted at the post office in Lebanon, MO at 11:15 this morning, Wednesday...and aren't suppose to arrive here until Saturday?! Out of all of the 4 chick orders I've placed for this year, this is the one that was the responsible order...

 

[wendychicklawyr]

Well i called the Dept of AG and yelled at them. I asked the customer service chick if it even made any sense to her. its just to keep corporations in business. Here is what i include with my egg order now:

These eggs are produced daily from my small flock of hens. Our hens are fed home cooked food and veggies daily and are allowed to free range every day. You will find that our eggs have a brighter yolk and are much better in taste. The store-bought version is a sick pale comparison to what eggs should taste like. Research has proven that hens that are treated with respect and allowed to live like chickens were meant to produce eggs that are higher in beneficial nutrients. With all of that said, the Florida Department of Agriculture does not allow small farmers to sell farm goods without inspections and fees. Therefore these eggs are not for human consumption. We do not even wash our eggs after they are laid because there is a protective coating on the eggs that keeps bacteria out as eggs shells are porous. Please wash them before use. Please write your legislator to tell them to get out of the pockets of backyard farmers. Lets all go back to common sense.

 

[kenzier093]

My little chicks are getting so big! They are already one week old today.




I think she likes getting her picture taken









So cute!

Nap time!

 

[Gingersnap722]

cholmberg, wendy, praying your little ones arrive safely!

 

[popsicle]

How much will you figure per chick? $3? I was thinking if there are a lot of losses, around half, I will contact them. The low here was the same as what they are forecasted when my order of 10 bantams and 7 packing peanuts shipped from Ideal and we lost 6 of the bantams (4 during shipment and 2 with in 24/48 hours) and 1 of the packing peanuts so that's why I'm worried about the 8* they are having in Lebanon. Even though we are in Texas like Ideal, it was still a 2 day shipment. Luckily it looks like things are warming up tomorrow and since we are expecting more than 17 chicks in our surprise, I'm hoping there will be strength in numbers.

I'm a little concerned there's going to be a number of bantams (though I'm hoping for a few silkies so I don't have to order any and can stay away from TSC assorted bantam bin) because there are so many available for today on their list. I know some breeds are taken off due to preselling as many as they allow but there's usually 'extras'.

I also believe I'm over thinking this...

I would figure up the value of the remaining birds by counting them and looking at how much they cost. This may involve some guesstimates as to which breeds they are. You know, like if there were 25 chicks (or more or less depending on breeds) or 15 ducks or 7 turkeys, then they are still worth more than the cost of the surprise

 

[wendychicklawyr]

Oh no they are from mpc. I just 37 from Mcmurray last week, all alive. Mpc had a bunch of breeds I wanted so I have 42 coming from them. It's just stressful waiting. I have them going to a 24 hour main distr center. I really don't think it's any of the hatcheries, I think all problems come from the postal service.

 

[jc12551]

Sure...rub it in that I didn't pre-plan this very well...If I had your address you would have a surprise hatchery surprise at your door...

Seriously though...I did not plan this out very well...

Wasn't my planning. My hubby didn't want to build ANOTHER brooder lol. I almost succumbed to chicks at tsc but then realized I would have to buy a light and a tote and stick them in the laundry room. Made it easier to walk away!