Hatcheries

[kenzier093]

Can someone please tell me some hatcheries' name that sell chickens?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have ordered from McMurray, Cackle, Mypetchicken.com, Welp, and of course bought them from the feed store and been pleased.

Another two are Ideal and Meyer.

You may have to wait until the season starts up again, depending on the place.

 

[kenzier093]

I was just looking ahead of time for next year

What hatchery did you order from and did you order sexed pullets and if you did were they correctly sexed?

 

[ChickenManTN]

I ordered from Efowl about 15 years ago. I ordered straight run and the male / female ratio was about fifty percent. This summer I decided to get back into raising chickens. I have ordered twice this year from Murray McMurray. I chose them because they are the oldest hatchery in the country, having started in 1917. Hatcheries are notorious for poor inbreeding practices (whether they deserve that reputation or not, it seems to be a consensus.) It seems to me that the hatchery with the most experience is more likely to use good breeding practices, if for no other reason than having learned the hard way if they had ever tried to cut corners in the past.

I ordered 18 pullets and 6 cockerels back in July (day-old chicks), and again in September. Both times the sexing was right. The ones from September are only about six weeks old now, but they are Buff Orpingtons, easy to sex at this age when you see a cockerel and a pullet side by side. I am glad that I ordered a few extra males. Hatcheries don't really breed towards the "breed standard" so the chicks will vary. At least that was the case with my Speckled Sussex. I'm no show bird breeder, but out of those six roosters I have one that looks enough like a proper Specked Sussex to be a breeder in my SS plan. One in particular strays pretty far from the standard, but he is so cool and beautiful that he will be part of my "forget the standard" breeding plan!

McMurray also throws in a free rare chick with each order if you want it. My first rare chick turned out to be a Cuckoo Marans. The second was a Blue Andalusian. They don't tell you what the breed is. You have to dig through the rare breeds section of their online catalog and watch chick videos to compare their appearances, then watch the chicks grow and see if you guessed right. It's actually pretty fun. I will warn you though, this is a clever scheme. It worked on me. I now have plans to order more Cuckoo Marans and Blue Andalusians!

 

[kenzier093]

Thank you! I'm looking for a hatchery with the best reviews about the correct sexing part because I don't want any roosters.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Thank you! I'm looking for a hatchery with the best reviews about the correct sexing part because I don't want any roosters.

There is only a 90% accuracy on sexing. So they do their best.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/597401/vent-sexing
see post #10

 

[RareDuck]

If you want to be certain of getting all pullet chicks order sex links. I got 15 Black sex link pullet chicks from Ideal. All were alive and healthy(lost 1 to a predator) and are 9 weeks old. I am very happy with them. They do not all look alike. One is all black and the others have varying amounts of orange and some have penciling in their feathers.

 

[pattersonml]

Like was earlier posted, most hatcheries have shut down processing until the 1st of the year, but Mt. Healthy is still hatching, I just received a shipment of 50+1 BO's and they are also including 25 bonus chicks as well, I received 25 RIR's. These were all straight run, but everyone I have come across on here have stated that their sexing is 90% accurate as is with all hatcheries. All chicks were hatched on the 19th, shipped the 20th and I received them on the 21st. They also have no deformities, crook bill or missing toes that are evident at the moment. Mt Healthy also vaccinates upon request at a reasonable price, I believe it was ten dollars for all 75 birds which I will always gladly pay as I have seen the results of Marecks on flocks in my local area and do what I can to keep my own flocks safe.