Best chick hatchery with good looking birds that look like the breed

[Tespi]

Hi Guys! It’s been a while since I’ve ordered from a hatchery and seems to be the best way for me to get chicks. I’ve used 2 hatcheries in the past
1.) Meyer Hatchery 2 times
2.) Ideal Poultry 1 time
The birds never really looked as good as in representing the breeds. Some with bad feathering/color. Maybe I got a bad batch? I don’t need show quality or anything, but just some fun.
I want a lavender Orpington, speckled Sussex, black Australorp, a polish chicken gold or silver? And maybe an Easter egger for my niece. Or open to suggestions. I want them for Eggs and pets. As I live in the city limits.
What are your favorite hatchery and chicken breeds? and what’s your experience with those 2? What is your experience with the hatchery you chose? Show your chickens off and inspire me thank you all!

 

[NatJ]

I have ordered from McMurray and from Ideal several times each, and from Cackle once. I was fairly well satisfied each time.

I've had a few birds from Ideal and a few from McMurray that weren't quite "right"--wrong leg color, missing muff/beard, a few feathers on what should be clean legs. I think Ideal had a little higher rate of not-right birds, but not by much. I have tended to order a wide variety of rare breeds (two of these, and three of those, and...) The chickens all looked enough like the right breeds for me to figure out which was which as they grew.

 

[Tespi]

Thank you so much! I am leaning more towards ideal I think based on the min amount of chicks I need and from your advice!

 

[orloffer]

My Dominique and Speckled Sussex hens came from Cackle (by way of a feed store), and both of them turned out nice. 2 pictures of Sussex attached:

 

[Folly's place]

The birds I've ordered from Cackle have been pretty nice! I've had SS and Australorps, also Buckeyes, bantam EEs, and my white Chanteclers, including my avatar.
There will be variations, and outliers, no matter the source, when you get chicks.
Mary

 

[The Moonshiner]

I've had birds from probably 7 or 8 different hatcheries.
Cackle has always had the best looking birds.
Ideal has had some of the worst.
Hoover's is just a complete mess. I wouldn't even deal with them again.
Privett, estes, Meyer, are pretty average.

 

[Folly's place]

I forgot; the French Marans from Cackle are also nice birds.
Mary

 

[SloughiGirl]

I am ordering from chickenscratchpoultry.com
private, small and hopefully excellent quality.
they have been excellent in answering my questions…my first chickens

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!

 

[Rm chickens]

I've had great experiences with cackle. I ordered their blue egger special lady summer and got 2 cream legbar, 2 lavender ameraucana, one black ameraucana and a blue ameraucana and they all turned out to be very quality birds. The lavender ameraucanas and the black are some of the prettiest ameraucana birds I've ever saw