Best hatchery to order chicks from?

[beccaWA]

What luck have you had with the various hatcheries when ordering chicks? Arrived healthy? Grew up with breed standard characteristics? etc.

 

[DobieLover]

I don't think you will find many hatcheries that breed for SOP. They typically breed for meat or egg producing machines.
All of the 11 chicks I ordered from Meyer Hatchery arrived healthy and all survived to be juveniles.
One developed a very strange cancer (vet and my opinion - no necropsy) and had to be euthanized at 23 weeks old.
All my birds are far from SOP but are beautiful animals nonetheless.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

What luck have you had with the various hatcheries when ordering chicks? Arrived healthy? Grew up with breed standard characteristics? etc.

If the question is which hatchery is the best hatchery then the best answer is which ever hatchery is the closest to you. If the US Post Office is not a great home for chickens. The quicker your new chickens can get away from the USPS the better they tend to do.

 

[Folly's place]

There's no one correct answer; it depends on your location, what breeds you are interested in, how many chicks you order at one time, the weather, and what your goals are. Just some factors to consider.
I've had good results ordering from Cackle and MurrayMcMurray, several times from each.
For Michigan, I order from April through early June only, to try for safer shipping weather.
If there's a good hatchery within driving distance, so you can pick your chicks up yourself, that saves worrying about the mail service.
For SQ birds, show breeders are your best bet.
Mary

 

[ChickenLeg]

Ive had good luck with Ideal and cackle.

 

[Compost King]

I had good results from Hoover and Meyer, bad results from Ideal. Everyone else I know who dealt with ideal had nothing but great things to say about them. I must have gotten a bad batch and they screwed up the order. out of 25 chicks, 7 survived long enough to start laying, 4 of them haven't laid yet... but expected to this month. From Hoover and Meyer all birds arrived healthy and lived long lives.

 

[SomeChickinTN]

I'm a newbie to chickens. I bought mine from Meyer 6 days ago. They arrived the day after they shipped. Two were almost dead when they arrived, but they pulled through. I'm guessing that was less on the company and moreso on me because I only ordered 5. They seem to be doing great right now, though at least one of them has had pasty butt every day so far. I plan to let my hens hatch their own eggs in the future, but I would order from Meyer again if I had to.

 

[No More Empty Nest]

I ordered from the one closest to where I live. Shorter shipping, they arrived in 1 day all healthy. I think that makes a big difference.

 

[Compost King]

does anyone know a hatchery with online ordering in the South East (Near North Carolina) all the ones I know are in Iowa, Ohio, Texas and Connecticut. Maybe I should consider starting one if none exist.

 

[ATeacherChick]

I ordered from Ideal last Spring, I'm in Florida, so it was a Texas-to-Florida route. Chicks left Wednesday,, middle of the day, arrived on Friday 7am healthy and all members accounted for. The South overall tends to be warmer and I like the idea of chicks moving across the southern states because of that. To me that works for a "nearby" hatchery, especially considering it keeps the chicks out of most of the snow-heavy areas.

does anyone know a hatchery with online ordering in the South East (Near North Carolina) all the ones I know are in Iowa, Ohio, Texas and Connecticut. Maybe I should consider starting one if none exist.