Has anyone worked with Welp Hatchery or Urch/Turnlund poultry?

[Richie299]

I am wanting to buy some baby chickens to expand our small flock on our mini farm and i was looking for 25-30 chickens and first of all we started looking late we talked with McMurray hatchery and they were out of quite a few breeds and they had a wait of about 2 months. We were hoping to get the chicks in April and sooner the better so we can raise them inside and have them outside as soon as the snow goes away here in Minnesota. We have a subscription to Backyard Poultry and in there was a ad for Welp Hatchery that like Mcmurray was in Iowa. But they could get the chicks here in the later part of April and not late May. So we spoke with them and it sounded like they were the better choice even though they had a minimum of 5 chickens per breed. Then as i was looking at the back of the magazine and i saw a small ad for Urch/Turnlund Poultry, and they operate a hour from me, and they have many breeds. But.... They had no website and they have no email, the only information they publicly displayed is their phone number. And after looking for their website on google i saw another ad for them and they only want calls between 7-9pm. I thought all of this is very strange because normally if you work with the internet you think its a scam but this is dealing with chickens so i doubt thats likely. What i am now thinking is they are just a family farm, be all that as it may while i was looking around for any information on them, i really couldnt find any information on them except that there were brief references to them in someones journal on saving a chicken breed. Has anyone worked with them before? If so how was the experience and how were their fowl? If you have worked with any other breeders or hatcheries in the midwest, how was your experience? And who did you work with?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I can answer the Urch question. They breed show birds, they dont sex chicks. Their email is [email protected] They are Duane and Phyllis Urch, they are nice people, for some breeds they have a wait list for them, others like the gold pencilled hamburgs they only have a couple hens laying. I recommend them because they are good people and have great birds.

 

[billson1]

give duane urch a call he has excellent birds and he is on the state poultry board and apa regional director i believe

 

[Richie299]

Oh they dont sex their birds, thats unfortunate, i asked around it sounds like they dont vaccinate their birds either. I guess i should work with Welp then since they do vaccinate and they do sex their birds, any thoughts? I requested a price list and they have already sent it to me, they sound like a nice family to work with but it may not suit my purposes. I guess i will need to see their list and see whats what.

 

[Double-T-Family-Farm]

i prefer duane urch i ahve boughten some of my show quailty birds from him and tehy were just fine..

 

[Richie299]

Umm i got their price list and it looks like there chicks are $4.50................ plus shipping or gas in my case, which will be around $20............................ That seems incredible especially since i am paying Welp for 25 chicks for under $70 with vaccinations. Also They dont vaccinate their birds, we would have to do this ourselves. Does this seem unusual to anyone else? Not in a scam way i mean, just in a strange way that the cost of the chicks is so and the lack of vaccinating or even the ability to vaccinate.

 

[K&H Chicken Farm]

It comes down to do you want chicks that are cheep and mass breed, or do you want quality chicks with great breeding. I am looking at paying over $200 for a Sumatra roo that I am looking at for my breeding lines. You can bet that chicks from him and my prize winning hen will cost more then hatchery prices.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

Ditto what K&H says, you can get gorgeous show birds from Urch which would be awesome, or you can get lots of birds that will resemble the breed in one or two ways, but thats about it. It comes down to quality vs. quantity.
K&H, I sent you a PM about it.

 

[ebonykawai]

I bought eggs from Duane and they arrived in excellent condition. I have 10 out of 12 growing at day 14, which is pretty amazing for shipped eggs. He's a terrific guy, too, shares his knowledge and experience, answers questions, is very helpful. He has amazing stock, but why wouldn't he? He's in the APA Hall of Fame and a Master Exhibitor.

 

[Pidgey104]

I ordered form welp.I order 25 RIRs and 15 Black Sumatras. My chicks didn't come in on the week they were said to come in. So I called them and found out my Sumatras were back order. So I asked if they chould send me a assortment of Pheonix. They sent the next week. I ended up with 35 RIRs and 25 Pheonix chicks.All were healthy. I might order from them again.