Buying day old chicks

[tdmason]

Has anyone had really good luck buying day old chicks? I saw that Mc Murray Hatchery.com will sell them at a day old just didn't know really how they ship those. I had incubators and all of that but got out of hatching so sold everything but would like to get a couple more hens. Where I live, it's kinda hard to get chickens in the area especially the kind that I am looking for.

 

[chickorama]

I suggest Mcmurray. They are good about refunding you for sick chicks.

 

[Laskaland]

Quote:
First:

McMurray is good! I have ordered three times (i think?) from them and never lost one. There are other hatcherys, too. You may want to decide which beed you would like and figure out which hatchery has the best of what you want. If you are going for Iowa, there is Welp and Hoovers also. Maybe another one I can't think of at the moment.
Good Luck!!
Christina

 

[tdmason]

Thanks, I looked into those other ones and they have a minimum order way over what I am looking for. I might just try that McMurray and see how they do. I am going to try to get some silver laced cochin since some have said my rooster looks like he may be that so gonna give it a shot.

 

[jhmoore]

I used My Pet Chicken in the fall. It was my first time ordering chicks, and I was worried (it still seems odd that those little fuzzies can be delivered in the mail) about choosing the right place too. I didn't need a ton of chicks, so decided they were a good option. I ordered 8 for me and 12 for a friend (so 20 total). They all arrived alive and well, and almost 20 weeks later, they are still thriving. I think My Pet Chicken is preparing to take orders for spring now, and they have a wide variety of breeds, both standard and bantam. Their customer service was great! Good luck with whomever you decide to go with.

 

[columbiacritter]

Quote:
MyPetChicken isn't taking orders until February (darn it). I'm ordering from them because they all THE only place that sexes bantams and they have small minimums. I've not ordered from them before but I've heard very good things about them.

I've gotten day olds form McMurray and was very happy with them. They are all thriving out in my yard at this moment. Beware the free exotic chick from McM is almost always a rooster.

My grandfather ordered from Ideal and got some deaders every time, but he ordered hundreds of meat type birds at a time so not surprising to get 1 or 2 dead out of 200-400 chicks.

 

[PortageGirl]

Meyer sells in small quantities and they are a good company too. They care about their chickens and their customers. They don't have the vast selection that McMurry does though.

[edit to add link] http://www.meyerhatchery.com/

 

[jossanne]

I've ordered from McMurray twice and Ideal once. I've had great success with all three orders. I prefer Ideal, though, because their minimum order is $25 as compared to 25 chicks at McMurray. Their shipping prices seem more reasonable too.

With my first McMurray order, we ordered 36 pullets, and we got 47 chicks, two of whom had died during shipping. With my first McMurray order, we ordered 25 pullets and got 26 chicks with the free "rare and exotic," who turned out to be a pullet. One of the rainbow layers that we ordered turned out to be a cockerel. All 26 survived shipping, and are now almost 6 months old. I sold the 5 RIR's from that order, as they seemed racist and picked on everyone else.

With my Ideal order, I ordered 10 bantam cochins, and they added 15 BR "males for warmth." One of the extra males died during shipping. The other 24 are strong and healthy, 10 week olds.

At Ideal, you can pay a small fee for shipping insurance and opt out of extra males for warmth. I am kind of sold on that hatchery for future orders.

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

Ideal's is also a $25 minimum but they shipped me 15 EE chicks and all made it...even in a blizzard.

 

[debilorrah]

all you new people!!! WOW!!!! I just wanted to mention that my feed store has chicks 50 out of 52 weeks a year, so you may want to try there. I like buying mine that way because they guarantee them to not die in one week and they will re-home anyroo's we may get (we haven't had any yet)..... Good luck!