extra chicks with order???

[mjlabs]

Been reading some post people have been leaving on ordering chicks and extra chicks they have received. Some said they were "mystery birds". Was just curious if you could post what extra birds you received and who you ordered your chicks from. Thanks!

 

[hdowden]

cackle had a jersey giant and more of the breeds that were ordered

 

[erinszoo]

McMurray sent what they called a "rare" bird. Yeah, whatever. It was an EE. Never gotten any other "extras" from McMurray.

 

[Cowgirl71]

I've ordered from McMurray three times. First order they sent along an extra couple of what I had ordered, plus an Easter Egger rooster.

On the second order I ordered Rhode Island Red pullets, Buff Orpington pullets, and Barred Rock pullets. They didn't send the Barred Rocks, but sent an extra RIR pullet. They also sent 5 extra yellow chicks (as an apology for not having the Barred Rocks I suspect), which I as a newbie thought were Buff Orpingtons for the longest time, but several months later learned they were Buff Minorcas (at least they were pullets!). They also sent along a Blue Cochin which didn't ship well and died that evening (the rest of the chicks did fine).

Third order they sent along an extra couple of what I ordered, plus a White Crested Black Polish rooster.

I also ordered from Ideal earlier this year and they sent me exactly what I ordered, no more, no less.

All of the chicks I've ordered from both hatcheries have been sexed 100% accurately (100+ chicks from McMurray and 20+ chicks from Ideal).

 

[rebel-rousing-at-night]

Last years orders:

Welp:-0- extra

Ideal: 2 extra males for warmth.Turned out to be EE's.

Cackle:Ordered 10 EE pullets got one extra EE. One of them was a cockerel for sure. I called them and asked if it was possible the extra one sent was out of the roo bin but they said no it would have been out of the pullet bin as the other EE's I bought were sexed pullets.I could tell it was a boy by 10 days.I had ordered extra EE pullets just so I would have a nice selection from which to choose the amount I wanted to keep.

By about a month of age, 2 other EE in the Cackle group appeared to be boys and they were 2 I really liked for myself. I couldn't have any more boys so I sold 2 of the four I had picked out for myself.

When I showed the ones I would sell to a couple I pointed out that the 2 may be boys although I had bought them as sexed pullets so I could not say for sure they were pullets. They bought them anyway because they looked the prettiest to the wife the same as they did to me.

I never did find out what they were.

Also with the same order from Cackle I ordered 15 rare breed assortment straight run. I loved having this assortment of 5 breeds as it turned out and they sent 18 chicks instead of 15.

 

[Mahonri]

It's all a crap shoot I tell ya. Wish I could order 'sexed' hatching eggs...

 

[Cowgirl71]

Oh yes, I ordered from Welp also. Last summer I ordered 50 Cornish Rock males and they sent 53 Cornish Rocks.

The extra exotic/mystery chick is almost always a rooster by the way.

 

[Vina8]

Quote:
Good information, Cowgirl. I have an order of 25 (plus one free "mystery" chick I have assumed would be a rooster) coming from McMurray in February. I am surprised they have been so accurate in sexing the chicks. I assumed some of my pullets would end up being roosters, therefore, didn't mind ordering more than I really need. I am also getting Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpintons, and Barred Rocks in addition to some Red Stars.

 

[mjlabs]

Vina8-

Did you order them last year for february or do you have a pending order for this february?? If you ordered these birds last year how do you like them? I am ordering basically the same birds, only through Meyers.

 

[Cowgirl71]

Quote:

My friend who got me started in chickens three years ago always orders from McMurray because she says they're the best hatchery for accurately sexing chicks. She's ordered hundreds of chicks over the years and only ONE was mis-sexed. A few years ago she tried a small order from Cackle and got two roosters, so now she uses only McMurray.

That's funny that you're getting the same breeds I did, plus the Red Stars!!! I started out with Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons, and Barred Rocks because these three breeds are my friend's top favorite breeds, in that order. The Red Star's customer reviews sound really really good, I'm sure you'll be very happy with them as well! That should be a colorful and productive flock!