It does make a difference. I actually had a decent hatch rate from eggs out of Florida once, a couple years ago. But I also try to order chicks that aren't too far off, in terms of distance but also climate. Cackle, in Missouri, is the farthest I'm willing to order from anymore. My theory is if the breeding flock is from a climate that's not too far off from our own, then the birds may adapt better to our climate. So no eggs or chicks from Pennsylvania or anything like that. I tried ordering chicks from Hoover in Iowa once. When they were shipped the tracking number said they were shipped from Minnesota!! They all arrived dead. That really pissed me off. If you're not trying for a true dual purpose bird but just want nice eggs layers, I always suggest people to just get chicks from Privett in NM. It's a minimum 25 birds, but if you order pullets the extras are easy to resell locally. They don't charge shipping, it's a short distance, and the climate is closer to ours so their birds do well here.
Edited to add: If they are shipped close enough they are less likely to end up on an airplane, as I'm pretty sure high altitude and cabin pressure affects hatch rate.
, that is a little further than I can afford to go.. I might just have to wait till next chick season and then get pullets local.
