Favorite Place to get Chicks

What is your favorite place to get chicks?

  • Big hatchery by mail (if so, name which one/s)

    Votes: 12 54.5%
  • Small local breeder

    Votes: 2 9.1%
  • TSC/other farm store

    Votes: 7 31.8%
  • Poultry swap

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Craigslist/Facebook market etc

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Buy hatching eggs & hatch your own

    Votes: 3 13.6%
  • From your own flock

    Votes: 4 18.2%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 1 4.5%
  • I don’t get chicks, I buy older birds

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    22
That is related to the breed of the chicken, not where it is hatched. A leghorn, or other Mediterranean breed will be more heat tolerant than something like an Australorp. Being Mediterranean breeds they generally will also be more aggressive to the other birds.

That being said, I live in a cold winter climate and any heat hearty birds I've had did fine in the sub zero F temps. And the not heat hearty birds have been OK with the summer humid 90's we get.

I got my first 12 from Ideal, everything from heat hearty Anconas and Cubalayas to not heat hearty Black Australorps. They all did fine here.
My Cornish are the only ones that did not great during winter. But it got like -30 for nights at a time and the male we lost was by himself so he didn't have any chance to huddle (yes, my birds huddle and share heat, but they have to here)
 
That is related to the breed of the chicken, not where it is hatched. A leghorn, or other Mediterranean breed will be more heat tolerant than something like an Australorp. Being Mediterranean breeds they generally will also be more aggressive to the other birds.

There are breed characteristics and individual characteristics.

I have had Ideal Brahmas do quite well in our 95-95 summers despite their not being a breed recommended for heat. I would not trust Brahmas from a hatchery in a cool-summer area to do the same.

Since all breeders select birds that have thrived under their local conditions it is inevitable that birds from a southern hatchery would tolerate heat better and birds from a northern hatchery would tolerate cold better. :)
 
Growing up my grandparents always ordered from Murray McMurray and I would just pick what I wanted from there but since I've been buying my own I've only gotten from TSC. Recently though I did get some from My Pet Chicken and I'll probably continue to use them unless they don't have what I'm looking for.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom