Are all hatchery birds pet quality?

[WalkingWolf]

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I am very happy with my ideal birds, they are exactly as Ideal represented them. I have bought both brown egg layers and meat birds from them. I use most of the eggs for part of the feed for my gamefowl, and out of 11 hens I get 8 eggs a day. OTOH the supposed SQ eggs I hatched from a breeder of RIR turned out to be nothing more than production reds. And I always have a hard time with a ford dealer putting down a Toyota or a Plymouth, it is sorta like listening to one political party talk about another.

 

[Krys109uk]

I love my hatchery girls, and get very tired of breeders not understanding that people can be perfectly content with them if they don't conform perfectly to show standards. It just about has me convinced not to ask questions about my hatchery chickens in this part of BYC...

I don't think anyone is suggesting that any chicken is not good enough to be a pet chicken or that anyone ought not to be very happy with any chicken they might have. Cross breeds are just a loveable as any pure breed. That is individual choice.
I think the damage is done to the breeds when people breed & sell on birds of hatchery origin.
I, personally, feel they do not do the actual breed any favours by selling birds which, in most instances, are not representative of the breed.​

 

[jossanne]

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I don't think anyone is suggesting that any chicken is not good enough to be a pet chicken or that anyone ought not to be very happy with any chicken they might have. Cross breeds are just a loveable as any pure breed. That is individual choice.
I think the damage is done to the breeds when people breed & sell on birds of hatchery origin.
I, personally, feel they do not do the actual breed any favours by selling birds which, in most instances, are not representative of the breed.

I think when people are honest about selling hatchery-origin chickens, there is no damage done at all. We can agree to disagree about this one.

The OP was very clear about her plans, and they sound like good plans to me. Go for it!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I think the general point is that purchasing directly from a hatchery (or feed store, which usually carry hatchery birds) is exactly what some people want--they want their birds for eggs or for meat. The hatcheries serve a purpose; I don't think anyone is denying that.

But when people purchase from an individual who is breeding them for sales, they expect to be getting a better quality bird, not a hatchery quality, especially if the bird is purebred (versus a mix).

There are poultry shows all over the country--not to mention state and county fairs and 4H clubs. Show season is starting up right now in most of the country. You can generally find birds through these sources in a wide variety of breeds, and the vast majority of them will not be overly expensive. (Top quality birds from renowned breeders excepted.)

A pair or two from some of the breeds you are considering will probably cost no more than a full order of chicks from a hatchery, especially when you consider the amount of time and the cost of raising them to maturity.

 

[CHIC]

What about people who want that breed, but can't afford SQ? Or, like me, don't really know what the particular standards are and don't really care if they aren't perfect?... Please don't take this the wrong way.... I would love to have a bunch of SQ birds but am not fortunate enough to have that right now. I think that there is nothing wrong with it as long as you are up front about everything. I mean, of coarse I wouldn't want to breed any obviously ugly birds but I don't think a few flaws is anything to fret over, especially not for "pets".

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

The reality is that in some cases a breeder quality bird is better for breeding than a show quality one. I've purchased breeder quality birds for $5 and $10 at shows. Usually a young or older bird, and usually with some faults, but a better representative of the breed than most hatchery birds.

To some people, unless a bird is perfect it is ugly

To others, every bird is beautiful, no matter how far from the standard for the breed or variety it may be.

 

[jossanne]

Quote:
Well said.

I'm one of those people who think they're all beautiful, and just love them all. And proud of it.

 

[CHIC]

While I do think some are ugly..lol I have a couple, I still love them just the same. I think there is a problem when these animals are made into something for big profits and when they aren't perfect people just throw them away.

 

[jossanne]

CHIC, I think if you talk to people in your area about their interest, or lack thereof, in buying chicks/chickens from hatchery-origin stock, you'll get the answer you're looking for. Start with your friends, maybe go visit with people at the farmer's market and the feed store.

I understand that breeders are looking to make their breeds better, and breed the best-possible quality chickens that they can. That is wonderful. What a great thing to do, and a fun hobby on top of it.

I'm trying to learn about a particular breed and get good ones so that I can do that with my own birds. I have been frustrated in the past buying hatching eggs on here that I thought were going to be the quality I wanted, and weren't. Colors were mixed, individual characteristics of the resulting chickens were frustrating, and I had to start over. Eggs were offered for me to buy when I specifically stated that I was looking for good-quality eggs to start on the road toward a breeding program.

I'm learning as I go. When I'm looking for breeder-quality birds, I will definitely not buy them from someone who said they were from a hatchery. But there are people out there who are looking for regular ol' chickens, for regular ol' eggs.

But you've said that you're not going to do that. You offer your chicks as hatchery-origin chicks who will likely be great pets and good for laying eggs, and you're in business.

I love my hatchery girls, and give lots of their mixed chicks away to people who are more than happy to get them. I will most likely have more hatchery girls in the future.

 

[ginbart]

Well I may as well tell you about my RIR’s. I bought my first eggs off of eBay. They were suppose to be heritage, I didn’t know the difference in heritage and hatchery. As a matter of fact I didn’t know there was heritage or hatchery, the thought RIR’s were RIR’s.

I hatched them and love them. They give me great eggs and they are over a year old. Then I found BYC and there was someone, I wish I could remember his name, selling RIR’s. Maybe he will read this and remind me who he is. Anyway, I ordered 12 eggs and he sent me 27. Such a wonderful man. I saw pics of his birds and they looked a little darker then mine. They are 5 months old and the cockerels I kept are almost twice the size as the one I kept from the eBay seller. The hens are bigger and they are starting to lay now. But the color is so much better in the one’s I got from BYC they are more of a mahogany.

I became a CPT to show the ones I got from eBay at the Bloomsburg Fair. I know now I can only show the one’s I got from the man on BYC because my hatchery ones are not show quality but I wouldn’t give them up for the world. They are my babies and they come running when I call them. All my birds are all spoiled rotten and I love them all. Maybe next year I will put them in the fair, they are too young now.