Best Hatcheries?

[jzervas92]

Hi everyone, I'm planning on purchasing chicks soon and I decided to not use the local feed store. I'm new to hatcheries and I don't know which website is the best to use. I live in New York and I want to use a place that is relatively close to reduce the stress on the chicks. I'm going to be purchasing 20 chicks so a low minimum isn't necessary.

 

[sarahr0612]

Hi everyone, I'm planning on purchasing chicks soon and I decided to not use the local feed store. I'm new to hatcheries and I don't know which website is the best to use. I live in New York and I want to use a place that is relatively close to reduce the stress on the chicks. I'm going to be purchasing 20 chicks so a low minimum isn't necessary.

I used Ideal Poultry and loved it. But they are here in Texas. I would google hatcheries close to you and look up reviews

 

[jzervas92]

Thanks for the response! That is a little far but I'll definitely keep it in mind!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Feathersite has a list of hatcheries by state, surprisingly none in NY but a bunch in PA & OH.
http://feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKHatcheries.html

 

[jzervas92]

Thanks for the website it was very helpful! I found a few places I liked! I only found a few small hatcheries in New York on Google, and the websites I found didn't really seem to great.

 

[sparrker]

The poultry hatchery is in Fayette,NY go to thepoultryhatchery.com . I also live in NY and have got chicks from privett hattchery and meyers. I also drove to Macedon, NY and got chcks from Nature Berry Farm.

 

[hatcher88]

Moyer's Chicks is a great hatchery in PA. They pride themselves on handling every chick in their hatchery and are smaller than alot of other hatcheries. Therefore there is less chance for disease or illness. They offer layer, meat and multi-use chickens. Check them out.

 

[myfinefeatheredfriends]

Meyer Hatchery and Mt. Healthy Hatchery are both in Ohio. Meyer is better if you want pure breeds and Mt. Healthy Hatchery has quite a few hybrids that no other hatcheries have if you want chickens for eggs or meat.

 

[jzervas92]

Thank you for all the responses! I decided to go with McMurray Hatchery because they had a lot of the breeds I liked and had reasonable prices. I'm definitely going to keep the other hatcheries in mind to the next time I get chicks again. Thanks for all the help!

 

[One Chick Two]

Hi!
We ordered 50 P RIR twice from McMurray since last March, and we were very happy with our whole experience, especially their service. Healthy and hearty chicks (only two died immediately, one being an exotic free chick who seemed especially tiny and frail) but then they gave us a few extra chicks, so the count at that time had evened out. We have 83 total now, due to predators. We have one exotic chick still even now, who is a lovely Partridge Cochin roo, and actually it's possible after he's all feathered in, he's pretty enough, we might have to find him a few girls of his own. That breed takes a long time to mature though.

As for the overall quality of the birds... they've all had robust (overall) health, thankfully. But since our majority are a production hybrid, you can't expect showbirds. A few birds look surprisingly close to heritage RIR being dark and shaped like a brick, but others have odd mixes... one hen has pure white earlobes! (Like Leghorns) a few with very pale, faded coloring- definitely Leghorn coming through, and some of the cockerels have very red hackle feathers and faces like New Hampshires- actually I find some of these boys quite handsome, and all of 16 boys are very sweet and can be held. A few birds have pure white feathers on wings, and some have brittle feathers.

They are excellent winter layers, and we are getting egg colors from light beige, pink, peach, tan, and brown-- so colors all over the place, but actually making up a pretty egg basket. Our plan at this point is to add some quality dark egg layers and a blue or green egg layer to round our basket out. So, if you're looking for highest quality looks, it may be a toss up, but I believe the chicks to be mostly hearty though. Good luck!!!