Cackle hatchery's Hatchery Surprise- Anybody got this before?

[Tribul]

Got my chicks last Friday, 45 in total, 40 still kickin':

2 white pekin ducks
6 white silkies
2 black silkies
1 white crested black polish (died 3 days after arrival)
34 other various (1 arrived dead, 3 others died 1-3 days after arrival)

Wish I knew what breeds all these other chicks are but, half the fun will be in discovering. Must say I am quite pleased with my surprise, one of the best purchases I've ever made!

 

[Bullitt]

Got my chicks last Friday, 45 in total, 40 still kickin':

2 white pekin ducks
6 white silkies
2 black silkies
1 white crested black polish (died 3 days after arrival)
34 other various (1 arrived dead, 3 others died 1-3 days after arrival)

Wish I knew what breeds all these other chicks are but, half the fun will be in discovering. Must say I am quite pleased with my surprise, one of the best purchases I've ever made!

It is not uncommon to have a few die. I am glad that you have 40 that survived. Maybe if you post some pictures the people here can help you identify what breeds you have.

Welcome to the board, Tribul.

 

[elibar90]

I just ordered a second surprise to come the same time as mine for a friend seeing as they are for 4h for my daughter she thought it would be a good idea to make sure she got enough of each kind.

 

[SlipsWife]

I just ordered a second surprise to come the same time as mine for a friend seeing as they are for 4h for my daughter she thought it would be a good idea to make sure she got enough of each kind.

When will you be getting yours?

 

[elibar90]

I asked for the week of April 1st. So not a set date yet.

 

[littlekatzz]

My shipment hopefully ships Monday...I can barely wait, which is why I got six more banties from tsc last nite. Hubby just shrugged and said I was crazy, but he paid for them lol

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

After all of the issues we had with our Surprise this year I'm not sure I would order it again. Out of 2 ducklings and 47 chicks we had 9 losses. We have a number of chicks that are having health issues. Trying to keep them healthy got almost to the point of ridiculous. At first I thought it might be the feed we were using because it was a different brand than what we usually use but we fed it to our other chicks who were a week older and they are fine. We did go back to our normal feed. It could have been the weather, but I know of 2 other Surprises from the same time, 1 had issues, 1 didn't...so frustrating just not knowing...I also had a couple of breeds that seem to make up most of my losses. I'm not knocking Cackle as a hatchery, we ordered from them last year, our first Surprise, and had an order this year and our chicks were all healthy and did great. The problem with the Surprise is you can't 'recover losses'. Yes, with the ducklings we skated in at the 40 chicks but honestly, when you hear of people getting larger Surprises and not having issues, its hard not to be frustrated. There are many factors that could have contributed to the issues we had but if we had at least ordered something different we would have gotten credited back something for our time/stress/trouble. Remind me of all of this when I order another one... ETAis is a picture of one 'issue' we are dealing with. Our turken has a round mass, at its vent, feels like a crop. Its had a golf ball shaped body since we got them in. The vent it NOT blocked, it has pooped fine...

I know this was from a few days ago but I wanted to let you know that that is normal on turkens. They have less feathers so the weird chicken anatomy shows up better.

 

[SlipsWife]

I know this was from a few days ago but I wanted to let you know that that is normal on turkens. They have less feathers so the weird chicken anatomy shows up better.

Thank you! You would THINK that since we've had turkens before I would have noticed it before. I don't feel as bad since my husband and kids didn't notice it before either.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Thank you!  You would THINK that since we've had turkens before I would have noticed it before.  I don't feel as bad since my husband and kids didn't notice it before either.

I pretty much ALWAYS think something is terribly wrong with my turkens. It can be jarring to pick them up and feel bare spots of skin!! Lol!

 

[LooseyGoosey]

I got my surprise and I'm dissappointed in myself that I can't even tell what most of them are. I thought this would be easy but I have no idea. I don't even know if I got any turkeys cause I don't actually know how to tell turkeys from chickens... hahaha...