Demand that the hatchery you order your chicks from this year:

[EweSheep]

I've gotten Welsummers from various breeders and never had any issues with any of the problems you mentioned earlier.

Most of the chicks I got from hatchery wise are from ideal hatchery. Crooked toes and cross beaks were the common offender but I am scratching that off from incubation problems because the next batch, no problems onceforever.

Cackle was the worse, with their sex links and Aussies, man they are brutal canalablistics!

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

Speaking of other breeds and canabilism, when I worked at the store we ordered many chicks and for some reason the production reds (but not rhode island reds) and the australorps were nasty canibals for pure breeds and also the red sexlinks always pecked. Never any other breeds or colors, just those. We always ordered from Privett

 

[Spangled]

 

[EweSheep]

Sandhill Preservation is a bit of both hatchery and breeder. I've ordered three times from him and the common breeds are good but the rare ones, less so. There is much work to be done on his end. IMO. Would I buy any more? Depends on the breed I am looking for if I can not find it elsewhere. Right now, nope! Not even his Welsummers either.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Or consider this option: if you really care about the living conditions and diet of the breeding stock, then buy from a serious hobby and show breeder. Then you can speak to the person who buys the food, feeds the birds, checks the health daily, and collects the eggs.

You can ask about diet and get detailed answers. You can ask about housing. You can ask about treatment and living conditions. The person you are asking will know the answers because they are the person who is doing it all.

Gotta say, though. It is not nearly as convenient.

 

[Resolution]

Sandhill Preservation is a bit of both hatchery and breeder. I've ordered three times from him and the common breeds are good but the rare ones, less so. There is much work to be done on his end. IMO. Would I buy any more? Depends on the breed I am looking for if I can not find it elsewhere. Right now, nope! Not even his Welsummers either.

Yeah- they've been having a serious time with their feed quality. Many more males are born then females and this is generally an issue of nutritional deficiencies of specific amino acids- again- symptomatic of a soy protein based feed. Unfortunately I know many people who refuse to buy chicks from Sandhill any longer but they are my favorite choice due to the genetic quality stock and the model of their family business. If you plan on purchasing from them in the future get Glenn on the phone and tell him you've been a long time customer but the quality of his chicks are declining. Tell him he needs to take soy out of the diet of his breeding stock because the chicks of the rare heritage breeds are either all males or too weak to compete later in life- or whatever you specific problems are- these are the issues I most hear about. He's smart and ethical but he needs more feedback. All the hatcheries do.

 

[Resolution]

Or consider this option: if you really care about the living conditions and diet of the breeding stock, then buy from a serious hobby and show breeder. Then you can speak to the person who buys the food, feeds the birds, checks the health daily, and collects the eggs.

You can ask about diet and get detailed answers. You can ask about housing. You can ask about treatment and living conditions. The person you are asking will know the answers because they are the person who is doing it all.

Gotta say, though. It is not nearly as convenient.

Absolutely- but for the most part, only the concertedly serious poultier even knows where to start on this trajectory. The two facets of our community dealing with this issue is the family egg farm that procures new stock every year and is having more and more issues with their chicks due to the increase in certain soy products in the diets of breeder stock and the novice who had either decided to feed their own family with their own eggs or- are younger kids getting started with poultry/gamebirds for the very fist time.

 

[kathyinmo]

Yeah- they've been having a serious time with their feed quality. Many more males are born then females and this is generally an issue of nutritional deficiencies of specific amino acids- again- symptomatic of a soy protein based feed.

Can you direct me to scientific studies on this subject?

 

[Stacykins]

I am also in the 'no hatchery stock' crowd. A brinsea incubator was a great investment, and has done very well. Sure, I only get strait run, but excess cockerels make for some very tasty meals. And I help support small time breeders through purchases of hatching eggs. Not to mention, you can't get true Araucanas from a hatchery!

 

[Resolution]

Can you direct me to scientific studies on this subject?

There have been quite a few papers published on the subject. I think most consensus is amongst animal managers without hard science review but pretty accepted theory nonetheless.
For example, there was a common consensus amongst aviculturists for decades that Mearn's Quail, Green Junglefowl and Congo Peafowl, amongst other species, must have been inbred because of the highly skewed number of males hatched consistently and year after year. DNA studies finally came about with some of these species and it was determined inbreeding was not the issue. Ellen Dierenfeld and Christine Sheppard determined that diet may be a primary factor in this serious issue. Once the diets of these species were tweaked, accordingly- based on careful analysis of crop contents of wild specimens collected over several hundred years and over the widest span of each respective species natural range, a more balanced ratio of the genders began to hatch. Today, the reproductive numbers of these three species are significantly higher, mortality lower and more robust genetic diversity of captive stock has been reached because specimens that had never reproduced or only produced males became more reproductively healthy- and successful parents.

Here are a few peer-review papers on the subject of maternal diet as it relates to skewed gender ratios amongst different animals, not just avian vertebrates.

Maternal Diet Reference # 1

Maternal Diet Reference # 2

Maternal Diet Reference # 3

Maternal Diet Reference # 4

Maternal Diet Reference # 5

Maternal Diet Reference # 6

Maternal Diet Reference # 7