Best large hatchery for true to type?

[FluffyChickenMama]

I have purchased from both Mcmurray and Welp.. I lost 2 chicks with McMurray and was credited for the loss the others were all happy and healthy.... I had no losses with Welp and my birds were healthy and hyper however.. I got wrong birds.. I ordered Welsummers and they turned out to be Speckled Sussex.. I emailed and let them know what had happened and they sent me a check for cost... The other birds were right and the BO are a gorgeous color way better than I expected.. I will still order from Welp again just because the birds were so healthy.. even though I didnt want the Sussex they are beautiful and healthy.. Oh and Welps sent 3 extras and they were all 3 females..

Just as a side note.. Welp refunded me after the birds were 2 mths olds when I finally figured out what they were.. I thought was really good..

P.S.
I had to edit this because I was sittting outside with my babies watching them play in the yard and realized that I was short one SLW.. then I remembered.. one of my SLW males had severe splayed leg when I got it and eventually DH had to put it down.. I called Welp and told them and the lady said they didnt refund for extras.. I told her it wasnt an extra and she said "did you get extra chicks" and I said yes but not of this breed.. and she said "well then we consider that an extra". But the guy, Brian, I dealt with was great she however was awful snotty..

 

[tiffanyh]

I purchased from Ideal--lost two chicks but was quite happy with what I did get and the customer service.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

I've ordered from Ideal, MM and Cackle.

MM has the largest variety, but I have experienced chicks with pasty butts and losses. Their birds are also not usually in line with show quality. Great if you want a variety, not so much if you plan to show competitively.

Cackle has awesome customer service but unfortunately do to USPS error, my chicks were DOA.

Basically they were cooked to death (along with several other peoples orders on the east coast). Customer service was great about refunding my money, even though it was the Postal services fault. I would order from Cackle again.

Ideal has been my favorite so far. They have hard to find birds (I looked for several years for La Fleche) and wonderful variety as well. My chicks arrived healthy and lively and I only lost one duck. My La Fleche are turning out to be beautiful birds meeting the breed standard. They are surprising calm for the breed and my DD has no problem catching one and carrying them around the yard. My Yokohama's are truly beautiful, and I am just kicking myself for not buying a rooster to go along with them. I highly recommend Ideal. Ideal was actually recommend to me by a breeder who shows and breeds only the best (he specializes in OEGB, Modern banties and Longtails) ...so that has to tell you something.

I am definitely ordering from Ideal again!

 

[Chelly]

I got my little girls from Ideal, the only issue I had was I was missing one - I ordered 9 and i received 8 - but they credited me for that one chick.

My chicks are all healthy, no problems at all!

(pic below of a few of the spoiled brats)

 

[speckledhen]

I bought my original flock through a feedstore that buys from Ideal in large numbers every year. They were all healthy birds, however, I saw one that was sent to the store that had a terrible neck deformity. I know because I pointed it out to the store owner. The poor thing should never have been sent out from the hatchery, but they are doing things fast and it was missed. The owner gave her to me, I took her home and put her down, poor thing.
All my girls are excellent layers. One Barred Rock has the most terrible barring and looks like a badly barred Cuckoo Marans hen. The only way I know she isnt is by her yellow legs. I have not reproduced her. My Lexie, another Barred Rock hen you all know, has better barring, but she is so small, that I would almost swear she was a bantam/standard cross. The girl weighs barely 5 lbs. My younger BR pullets I hatched from a friend's flock, are already much larger than she is. That friend's original stock came from McMurray.
I have two Brahmas from Ideal, one Lt, one Buff. Neither has much foot feathering and the Buff has almost NO feathers on her feet-not great examples of the breed. Not to mention that they are not as large as the breed ought to be, either.
I have never dealt directly with Ideal, as in having them send chicks directly to me, but I hear their customer service is excellent and it probably is. All my Ideal birds are excellent layers. They just are not great breed examples, especially the Rhode Island Reds. One is tiny, missing toenails and lays almost white eggs. They are also very narrow bodied, except for one of them. The difference in my breeder RIR pullet I hatched and the Ideal RIR's was like night and day.
In all this I'm only saying that if you want egg production, Ideal birds are fine. If you want birds bred to the Standard of Perfection, at least with some of the breeds, you probably need to go elsewhere. Their variety is great, however.

 

[Dustin Biery]

Hey guys, I just thought that I would throw my two cents in, even though I have never ordered from a hatchery. I usually buy my chicks from either the feed store or Atwoods, and they both get their birds from Ideal. The only problem that I had with them was when they feathered out. I know that sometimes you will just end up with off colors in the plumage, but I ended up with a buff bird with black in its wings, tail, and hackles. These were all things that you cannot catch at a young age. But the birds were all healthy and happy. I am please to see that ideal has actually created a name of IdealPoultry and isn't trying to hide amongst us. I am most certainly glad to see them here, and hopefully we can provide good feedback to them as to our satisfaction, or lack there of, for what ever the reason may be.

 

[herechickchick]

I have ordered from Ideal and Murray and I have had great luck with both. All of my birds have arrives alive and healthy! I have had a few losses here and there with both but overall I am extremely happy with both hatcheries. Ideal is easier to get on the phone than Murray and has a larger selection, but other than that there is not much difference in the two. As far as birds being true to type I think Murray is better. My Ideal birds are beautiful and I love them but I ordered 5 Red Pyle Modern Bantams and they all were roosters (which was fine because that is what I wanted) but only one feathered out to be the color it was supposed to have been, the others were pretty much white. My advice if you are looking for show quality birds, as these are the most pure and true to breed standard, I would seek out a reputable breeder.

Good Luck, Adam

 

[debashan]

I also ordered from Cackle, and was very satisfied. I oredered Salmon Faverolles, Cochins and Light Brahmas. They are extremely healthy and typey. they were hatched 4/23/07 and began laying 2 wks ago. I would w/o a doubt use tham repeatedly. Good Luck!

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

It really depends on the breed. We ordered buff laced polish from McMurrey that took best in show several times and almost always best of class. The buff laced from Ideal were weak and not very pretty. Ideal does have many breeds that none of the other hatcheries have. They have cream brabanters which were unheard of before Ideal got them, same with the Norwejan Jaerhorns. I have seen alot of great birds from Ideal and from McMurrey. I havent heard anything about strombergs yet. If you want something good to type, go with sandhill or a private breeder. I know that there are several great breeders in eastern Washington and Montana.

 

[Aun <HIS><]

I ordered from Ideal and all of the day old chicks and ducklings arrived healthy with no extras. My order was to add to my flock, with the intention of showing. Out of the 17 chicks, I ordered 15 different breeds. These birds are so far from the standard of perfection that I feel like I wasted all of my money, over $80.

The white leghorn has gree.n tinted legs

The SLW doesn't have ANY lacing anywhere on her body except a little bit on her chest.

The "Ameraucana" is an Easter Egger.

The welsummers have muted colors in the neck, none of the bold gold which is the standard. And blurred overall coloring.

The partridge wyandotte rooster, has a beautiful overall color, but none of the patches of colors, none. Nothing at all.

The barred rock, has muted, blurred black and white bars. I'm not even saying it's not a show bird. I'm saying it's a bad representation of an average bird.

Actually I guess that's what I'm saying about all of them, if I detailed every single bird from Ideal. There isn't one bird out of the 17 that are even remotely above average. And most of them are below average. I'm so disappointed!

I wish I had known then that you can't get good quality birds from a hatchery. At least not from Ideal Hatchery.