Has anyone ever ordered chicks or waterfowl from hatcheries online?

[MamaBird89]

I am super curious because I have looked at a few sites and some have such a large selection. All seem to be legit with positive reviews. 48 hour shipping guarantee to ensure the birds health. I currently have 3 ducks, 2 hens and a rooster and I am IN LOVE with my birds. Really wanted to expand my birds and add some unique additions! I bought my current babies locally at TS and none of them turned out to be what they where sold as. My “Rhode Island Red” hen is a Red Star, my four white meat birds was all supposed to be laying hens, but all except one was a rooster. My “Pekin” and “Khaki Campbell” turned out to be Indian runner ducks, and my “male mallard” turned out to be a female just looking for a more reliable source to buy from! Here’s some pictures of my babies for you all to enjoy ignore me in the last one, me and “Mama” are super close She was sitting beside me fluffling her feathers the other morning on the arm of my chair and I look over and she looks at me and gently grabs a strand of my hair, pulls alittle and stares me in the eyes it surprised me. she thinks she’s a human

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I think the majority of poultry/waterfowl keepers have ordered online.

 

[Tre3hugger]

I have had good experience with JM Hatchery and Ideal Poultry.

 

[Parront]

I have ordered online or from a catalog (Pre-internet) for all of my birds, except 2 from a local BYC member. No complaints. I liked ordering from the small breeder the best. There is a list of breeders here somewhere.

 

[Parront]

Thought you might like some chick pics. These are 4 week old Barred Hollands from from a breeder who is a member here @rjohns39 . He sent them by mail and all arrived alive -- and I know what breed they are! Order your next birds by mail, and from an independent breeder if you can!

 

[MysteryChicken]

I order my chicks from Meyer Hatchery.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I haven't ordered from very many hatcheries but I don't see a problem with it.
I think I've gotten chicks from Cackle, Freedom Ranger Hatchery and Sandhill Preservation.
I've also gotten chicks by mail from a breeder.
I have a closed flock now and sell birds by mail order.

What are your primary concerns with ordering online?

 

[RevlisRemmah]

I got 15 from Townline Hatchery and they have been amazing.

 

[333113]

Speaking as an independent breeder....I had to start somewhere, and so I started with Murray McMurray in 1997, 25 Crevecoeurs. They were all definitely Crevecoeurs. I selected my current show stock out of those birds over many generations!

I don't think you can count on getting show-quality stock directly from a hatchery, but it can happen. I had a Missouri State Fair best-of-breed Delaware hen directly from Ideal Hatchery through a local feed store (Fenton Feed Mill, Missouri) around 2008. Mostly, hatcheries deliver the breed you are looking for. I personally have had good luck with Murray McMurray, Ideal, Stromberg, and Cackle Hatcheries.

However, hatcheries will sometimes fill out your order with extra chicks of different breeds they have a surplus of. Murray McMurray used to (and maybe still does) include an extra free chick of an unidentified breed, usually a rooster. In cold weather, extra chicks of a different, unidentified breeds are sometimes added free to your order to keep the entire group of chicks warmer during shipment. This is an inconvenience to a serious breeder, and also to the backyard raiser who has counted out the exact number of chicks their local regulations allow. It's not so bad for someone who can use a few extra birds for the table.

To find independent breeders, I suggest the breeders lists for the various poultry clubs. Search for the breed you are looking for, then add "club" and "poultry" to your search. Many of these clubs sponsor shows, and you can get very good birds from their members.

For more general lists, try the Livestock Conservancy's poultry comparison charts, which compare mostly rare breeds on their conservation list. This is the one for chickens:
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/chicken-chart

Then check their online breeders directory, which includes only members of Livestock Conservancy:
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/breeders-directory

The hatcheries mostly have descriptions of the breeds that they sell, but be aware that some descriptions are more accurate than others.

Another great place to look is feathersite.com's poultry pages, which are an impressive compilation of photos, links, clubs, supplies, housing, for a lot of breeds, including baby chick pictures that can help when you are trying to identify that TSC chick. Feathersite is a one-person show, so some links are out of date. It's not like backyardchickens.com, no blog-type features, no individual ads.

Another good site is Poultry Show Central. They maintain lists of shows, swap meets, breeder directories and classified ads for poultry, all free. I advertise my birds here. The classified section is a good way to advertise to a mostly poultry keeper audience.

Hope this helps. I left out some, because in my experience the national clubs want you to buy their breeds book, which is expensive but totally worthwhile if you show. I also left out the shows themselves, because we probably won't be having any for a while. When they start up again, attending a show is a great way to learn about and acquire good stock. A lot of the Juniors and 4-H entrants are ready to move on to a new type of bird after the show, and you can get some great birds that have already been shown and handled, and are NPIP-certified.

 

[keesmom]

We've had baby poultry shipped from some of the major hatcheries - Ideal, McMurray, Cackle, Meyer and Metzer - and were happy with the chicks and ducklings we got. An occasional loss here and there. Some weren't stellar examples of their breed but they were okay to great layers.

I've also had chicks and juvenile/young adult birds sent from private breeders. Those did well also but were much more costly.