- Jan 9, 2010
- 121
- 1
- 111
I would be very interested in knowing what others think about these breeders. I have some issues with them. I am praying this situation resolves itself.
Firstly, a year or two ago I had a conversation with the woman/owner who claimed they sex their chicks by "feather sexing". She absolutely proclaimed to me that she had a chat with Townline Hatchery in Zeeland and they had told her that is how they sex their chicks. I am absolutely certain that Townline does not sex by feathers. I have also spoken to Townline about their sexing of chicks, and I got an entirely different story from Townline. I do believe there are SOME sex linked breeds of chickens that can be sexed by feathers at hatch, but by no means does that rule apply to all chicks, and this grinds me. To this day this urban myth prevails. Feather sexing IS NOT by any means a reliable method of sexing chicks, UNLESS those chicks are certain sex link varieties. And people continue to believe that there is some mystical easy way to sex chicks. The ONLY truly reliable method of sexing a chick at hatch is by vent sexing and even that is not 100 % reliable, but it is a whole lot more reliable that "feather sexing", unless you are specifically speaking about specific breeds bred for feather sexing.
So that day that I spoke with her I felt I had been lied to. On subsequent attempts to visit their farm, I was turned down. Once she told me that I would probably not be able to get any of the chicks I wanted from them because they could get more money for the eggs selling them online. I was like... REALLY????
Not much for customer service.
I wonder how many years of experience these people have?
I wonder what other peoples experience with them have been? Will an order from them give the sort of show quality birds they are proclaiming they have to offer?
I really want to know what others experiences have been? I have seen several posts here about what great people these folks are but one thread also pointed out that this hatchery shares the same name as hatcheries in at least two other states, so there was some question about whether the threads were addressing the folks in Twin Lake Mi?
Has anyone gotten more roosters from these folks than hens when they have ordered only hens?
This note is from someone who has raised, hatched and been in the poultry industry for well over twenty years. I don't get on here very often because I am not necesarily interested in chatting about how cute this bird is vs. that bird and what I have got vs. what you have got. I prefer to get down the facts and this is much more than just a hobby for us here.
Firstly, a year or two ago I had a conversation with the woman/owner who claimed they sex their chicks by "feather sexing". She absolutely proclaimed to me that she had a chat with Townline Hatchery in Zeeland and they had told her that is how they sex their chicks. I am absolutely certain that Townline does not sex by feathers. I have also spoken to Townline about their sexing of chicks, and I got an entirely different story from Townline. I do believe there are SOME sex linked breeds of chickens that can be sexed by feathers at hatch, but by no means does that rule apply to all chicks, and this grinds me. To this day this urban myth prevails. Feather sexing IS NOT by any means a reliable method of sexing chicks, UNLESS those chicks are certain sex link varieties. And people continue to believe that there is some mystical easy way to sex chicks. The ONLY truly reliable method of sexing a chick at hatch is by vent sexing and even that is not 100 % reliable, but it is a whole lot more reliable that "feather sexing", unless you are specifically speaking about specific breeds bred for feather sexing.
So that day that I spoke with her I felt I had been lied to. On subsequent attempts to visit their farm, I was turned down. Once she told me that I would probably not be able to get any of the chicks I wanted from them because they could get more money for the eggs selling them online. I was like... REALLY????
Not much for customer service.
I wonder how many years of experience these people have?
I wonder what other peoples experience with them have been? Will an order from them give the sort of show quality birds they are proclaiming they have to offer?
I really want to know what others experiences have been? I have seen several posts here about what great people these folks are but one thread also pointed out that this hatchery shares the same name as hatcheries in at least two other states, so there was some question about whether the threads were addressing the folks in Twin Lake Mi?
Has anyone gotten more roosters from these folks than hens when they have ordered only hens?
This note is from someone who has raised, hatched and been in the poultry industry for well over twenty years. I don't get on here very often because I am not necesarily interested in chatting about how cute this bird is vs. that bird and what I have got vs. what you have got. I prefer to get down the facts and this is much more than just a hobby for us here.