Hatchery/farm store vs breeder

[pennyJo1960]

Opinions are like Ahhmm holes we all have them best to do is what we as people have choices there is no wrong or right

 

[Xerocles]

I lived around the corner from Egg Well for almost two year.

If you feel comfortable doing so, would you PM me your name? I will be going to egg well next week. I would like to use your name and tell her what a glowing recommendation you gave. If you don't feel comfortable, I understand.

 

[ki4got]

I suppose my question is twofold. 1, can someone explain in explicit terms why I should "never" buy Hatchery chicks & 2. Can someone establish a member-driven directory for those of us who want pets and not necessarily the best of the Best of the BEST, but still want quality Birds.

In a nutshell, if you want quality birds (breeding and show quality), buy from a breeder. If you just want pretty egg layers, hatcheries are great.

The longer version is...

Breeders breed their birds with specific goals in mind, whether that's body type and color conforming to the breed standard, specific egg color or production goals, personality of the adults, etc.

Hatcheries breed with one thing in mind. Maximum chick production. So the hens that lay the most will have more chicks hatched. They are not concerned with how close to the breed standard the birds are. Nor are they concerned with personality of the birds.

In my experience, hatchery-bred cockerels tend to be more aggressive, the birds smaller and less 'correct' in body type or coloration. Yes, they lay better, but are also less likely to be broody.

If you think you might ever want to breed and potentially show, then look for a breeder. One who shows, knows what the breed standard is and breeds with specific goals in mind. The difference in cost between breeder and hatchery is, IMO, slight compared to the long term costs. If you start with hatchery birds and decide later to breed or show, you're out feed, time, etc that you could have spent growing birds that are more capable of doing well.

I've met people over the years who thought "well i'll just breed my hatchery birds to the standard and select the best". What they don't realize is, it would take YEARS of dedicate breeding, culling hard, etc to get their birds up to standard, where they could have started with birds from a reliable breeder and been at the shows in a year or less potentially.

BUT! If you decide you want to go the breeder route, choose your breeders carefully. Do your own research. Find someone who breeds for show quality, even if they don't show. Ask questions, attend any shows you can, and ask more questions. In my experience, talking with breeders at shows, the good ones are more than willing to explain the finer points of their breed and help out new breeders.

A good breeder will not sell "show quality" eggs or chicks. There's no guarantee that chicks or eggs from show quality parents will, themselves, be show quality. In my experience, less than 50% of all chicks will be show quality. In some breeds or lines, that percentage is even less. So if you can, purchasing started pairs or trios will give you a better start. You're saving yourself the time, feed, etc you could have spent on raising 20 chicks, to find out that you have mostly cockerels and only 1 pullet that comes close to the breed standard. Take that first pair or trio and hatch everything you can from them and start selecting your own chicks to add to the breeding program.

 

[wiscochicks]

I raise standard bred chickens for show and research, but I also have purchased many birds from hatcheries. One of the major concerns of any poultry breeder is infectious diseases. Like humans these are most efficiently controlled with vaccines when available. The nice thing about the high service hatcheries is that they can provide chicks vaccinated for more common diseases such as Marek's and coccidiosis. For those of us who have shown chickens for several years we have brought home a bird with Marek's. This virus seeds through the feather follicle and the inactive virus lasts for years in housing and runs. Bringing unvaccinated birds onto the property can lead to disease and death. We eventually started vaccinating our day old chicks and have been able to maintain a flock. Note this vaccine is based on Turkey Marek's virus and allows the injected chicks to have a viral infection without having disease symptoms (1). Sound familiar.

1. Imperfect Vaccination Can Enhance the Transmission of Highly Virulent Pathogens Plos Biology 2015. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002198