Best hatcheries?

[Raine530]

Somewhere else on this site someone recommended Mt Healthy Hatchery. I ordered from them and am completely happy. Their shipping charges were reasonable (around $10 for 15 chicks). They put in an extra chick, which I didn't even realize until a week later! They were all so busy and active, I just figured I was miscounting. We lost one at about 4 weeks of age. Not really sure why, she just kinda faded. The others are great. Also a REAL PERSON answers the phone when you call! Extra bonus points.

 

[mychickenbrood]

In my last post I said I ordered 50 "pullets," from Murray McMurray. That is not correct. I ordered their rare and unusual layer special of day old chicks. Sorry about any confusion.

As an update, my chicks from My Pet Chicken did okay over all. I was happy with the company and they reimbursed me for some lost chicks. In the future, I will give supplemental nutrition immediately in their water. I think that might have helped cut down on loss.

I would not hesitate to order from them again. They had some breeds that are harder to find, at reasonable prices and their shipping rate seemed fair.

 

[ProfTi]

I LOVE Cackle! The birds were great, the staff very helpful and friendly and the Cackle Surprise Package is the most fun and best deal I have ever seen. I have always gotten about 45 chicks for $40 with my orders and they are usually rare breeds, a couple of chickens and ducks. It is super fun. I have tried Murrary, Ideal and Meyer....I still would go with Cackle.

 

[chrisiscoolr]

Hi,
I was planning on ordering some chickens and I have looked at a few hatcheries. I can only order 6 birds so I need a hatchery that sells low minimum quantities, and has sexed birds. I had the following hatcheries in mind:
- My Pet Chicken
- Cackle Hatchery
- Meyer Hatchery
- Possibly California, but I'm not so sure about that one
What is the best hatchery out of these? Are any of them good? Any other recommendations? First time raising chickens, need help.

I know this is extremely lat but im just interested lol so what hatchery did you end up choosing and how where your birds?

 

[EpicBlueAcres]

For anyone looking for a small number of birds, I used Chickens for backyards and they were GREAT! got all birds live and in just 1 day, they were wonderful on the phone as i had alot of concerned questions after i first oidered from California Hatchery and got taken for $100 (ordered in dec and they kept delaying my ship date til July!)

 

[shadow rabbit10]

I know this is extremely lat but im just interested lol so what hatchery did you end up choosing and how where your birds?

Haha. It's been like a year since I made this thread! I needed up ordering from My Pet Chicken for their sexed bantams. I ordered 1 Buff Orp, 1 Salmon Faverolles, and 5 assorted bantams. I was a bit disappointed because 4 of the bantams were Easter Eggers. The one bantam was a barred rock, but it died an hour after arrival. The Faverolles was by no means quality though (not that i expected it to be) I think I would order from them again, because the birds were healthy aside from this. I just wouldn't order an assortment again.

 

[MoHillbilly62]

Have to go along with some of the others. cackle hatchery. Great service, will answer and questions you have, all around great folks to do business with.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Well, I won't be ordering any more chicks for a long time, but when I do, I may have to try Ideal. One of my birds was from Ideal (my friend have her to me from her order) and although my Polish isn't up to standard, I've seen some pretty nice birds from them. They also have a HUGE selection in bantams, which are the kinds of chickens I want to focus on.

 

[farmer dave]

Positive recommendation for Cackle Hatchery. In late February I called Cackle Hatchery after looking around for a vendor with good reviews. The service was great and I was able to set up a delivery of day old chicks born on April 1st. I ordered 25 sexed pullets each of two different breeds (New Hampshire Reds and Plymouth Barred Rocks). The chicks arrived alive and healthy. We had one die at day 3. This happened last year with the seven chicks we got from TSC. After that about nine got a case of pasty butt, which was remedied by a dish of play sand (as recommended here--THANKS!). The flock is almost two months old and there have been no issues. All are healthy and active. I also requested one rooster of each breed be added-again service people were very accommodating and did so. Of the 52 sexed pullets, only one turned out to be a rooster so they did better than their estimated 95% accuracy rate. Also, I live in Michigan so MO to MI was no problem. Thanks to them and to you for reading this. I am happy with our purchase and they deserved the positive feedback.

 

[MoodyBroody622]

The only one I have ordered from is Cackle. I ordered 25 Cochin Bantam chicks last August, they sent 29. I did loose 2 of them but both were my fault (one had pasty butt and one got crushed by the others because I didn't take them out of the brooder when adding shavings and they all freaked). The rest are happy and healthy and started laying on Christmas eve, and now 4 of them are broody. I did originally order Silkies but they were out since I ordered so late in the yr so the Cochins were my second choice. They did offer a wide variety of colors which was a big plus for me

When you ordered them, did you order straight run or can you order just pullets? I'd like to order cochin bantams from them but absolutley can not have anymore roosters.