Best hatcheries

[Ebove06]

Hi, I am looking into getting a few high quality chickens. And I don't want to get any at local feed stores because I know that they aren't quality chickens. Does anyone know of and "private breeders" that have high quality chicks?

 

[GitaBooks]

I've gotten chicks from McMurray a lot and they have awesome chicks. Their birds are for the most part healthy, friendly, and good producers (though I mostly keep them as pets and a hobby, so I don't keep a record of their egg laying or anything).

If you live in the western half of the states you could try one of the hatcheries over there. They have some great chicks. I've bought from Cackle and all the chicks except one did wonderfully.

At this time of year some of the breeds aren't available at many of the hatcheries. If you want specific breeds you may want to wait until next spring (that's what I have to do).

I hope you can find some wonderful chicks! Best of luck!

 

[coop-er]

I don't know where you are located, but I get mine from Meyer Hatchery in Ohio. They are always outstanding and of high quality.

 

[GitaBooks]

I don't know where you are located, but I get mine from Meyer Hatchery in Ohio. They are always outstanding and of high quality.

I was thinking of trying Meyer! Its nice to hear they are trustworthy. Thanks.

 

[Ebove06]

I don't know where you are located, but I get mine from Meyer Hatchery in Ohio. They are always outstanding and of high quality.

I'm in Arizona.

 

[Ebove06]

I've gotten chicks from McMurray a lot and they have awesome chicks. Their birds are for the most part healthy, friendly, and good producers (though I mostly keep them as pets and a hobby, so I don't keep a record of their egg laying or anything).

If you live in the western half of the states you could try one of the hatcheries over there. They have some great chicks. I've bought from Cackle and all the chicks except one did wonderfully.

At this time of year some of the breeds aren't available at many of the hatcheries. If you want specific breeds you may want to wait until next spring (that's what I have to do).

I hope you can find some wonderful chicks! Best of luck!

Okay, where is cackle hatchery located? And, I looked on cackle's website, and correct me if I'm wrong, from what I saw, you have to order in big batches, right?

 

[joshram]

Cackle Hatchery is in Missouri.

 

[GitaBooks]

Most hatcheries you have to order 15-25 chicks from (depending on the weather conditions). I few have special deals for small groups. You can buy hatching eggs in smaller numbers. I think Cackle sells some breeds only in large groups but others in small ones. I got 25 when I bought from them.

 

[AJ916]

Personally, my favourite to order from is Ideal Poultry located in Texas. They dont have a minimum of chicks to buy and instead have a minimum amount of money to spend which is $25. They emailed me the day they shipped my poultry, which arrived two days later (maybe one day depending on true hatch date) and all were healthy and are to this day are alive. I live in Alabama, so not too far shipping wise. The only downfall is to keep the chicks you order warm, they include males for warmth. Meaning they add sexed rooster chicks for free as packing peanuts. Last order I recieved, this month, I ordered 9 chicks and got 10 packing peanuts. However, they aren't hard to rehome if you put them for free or cheap on Craig's list. Other than that, Ideal is good to me, customer service is very easy to work with and they offer great services! At least thats my experience.

 

[rides2far]

You can request no packing peanuts from Ideal, that's what I did. There is a small fee, but it's worth it if you have limited space in your brooders or coop.