Hatchery/farm store vs breeder

[333113]

As a breeder, I have to say that there is a big difference between raising and breeding chickens.
Raising chickens is often more focused on producing more chickens of the same breed or type as the parents. That's what most of the hatcheries and some breeders do.
Breeding chickens is often focused on getting a bird with a certain look (as in those who breed for show) or egg color or meat/size. So, when you are buying from a breeder it's good to know what the breeding goal is.
If you buy from a breeder who shows, you will likely get a bird that is show quality, or comes from a line that's show quality. The breeder may be less concerned with laying, long-term health, egg quality, etc.
A breeder who is conserving heritage breeds will perhaps focus less attention on show quality and more on selecting for health, vigor, and egg quality.
That said, the hatcheries are in business to make money and will ship chicks on schedule whether or not it's too cold or hot for survival, kill excess chicks, and (usually) not spend the money or time to select for breed characteristics. However, they are reliable, annd you can get (mostly) sexed birds. Several of my flocks had their start in hatcheries, many years ago.
On the other hand, we breeders are a mixed bag. Ask us about our birds to see what our priorities for selection are, and how long we have been selecting and breeding them.

 

[Shadrach]

There are couple of questions you might consider asking people when they post recommending hatcheries.
1) How old are your chickens?
2) What breeds are they?
Lots of comments on show bird quality and lots of comments on whether, or not the chickens you get from hatcheries are proper breeds.
Not many will comment on the hatchery death rate through miss sexing and the disposal of unwanted male chicks.
They probably won't mention the disgusting practice of packing chicks into boxes and putting them in the post, often providing spare chicks as packers.
Not many mention that although unresearched for now, there is enough anecdotal evidence that suggest hatcheries are shipping chickens they know carry disease, most commonly Mareks.
If you don't care about good genes, long term health prospects and chicken welfare in general then hatcheries will be happy to take your money.

 

[cmfarm]

Hatchery birds and show birds both have their pros and cons. As far as egg laying hatchery birds are bred more toward egg production, while show lines are bred toward esthetics and often times are poor layers. If you like to get chickens based on color/breed show lines can be better because they will have proper coloring and have better lacing and such. Both are good in their own ways, it really depends on what your goals are. As far as a directory for breeders/hatcheries, that can be hard because everyone has their own experiences. If you go to the breeder/hatchery section you will see all kinds of mixed reviews for different hatcheries.

 

[amanda1]

Most of my chickens have come from a local, reputable farm store which gets them from a hatchery. I suspect if you’re showing your birds, you may prefer finding a breeder, but if you’re just looking for pets and eggs, most hatcheries can provide what you need. Unfortunately, I thought it was great when a different local farm store started carrying fascinating breeds from a local breeder. I felt if they were local thar would prevent them having to make the trip through the mail, this being healthier. I was wrong. As nice as the local breeder is, a lot of his birds died young, or ended up with terrible conditions as they got to be a few years old. I guess I’d recommend talking to other chicken owners who are happy with their birds and find out where they got them. Good luck and enjoy your feathered friends!

 

[Criticalicious]

If you don't care where your birds came from or how they got there or whether they might have who knows what random disease or genetic condition along the way, by all means go to the farm store/TSC or buy online from a hatchery. These are all risks we take when we buy chickens. I hope no one will fault you for giving them a good home. Personally I prefer to buy from a local breeder who puts their sweat and tears into raising happy, healthy chickens and who clearly cares for their welfare.

It could be a coincidence, but I've noticed a clear difference in temperament between the birds I bought as chicks versus those I incubated from eggs (same breed from the same source). The incubated chicks were more confident and the three chicks being broody-raised right now are even more relaxed than those were. Maybe because they're growing up with the flock and spending their days outside "learning" all the time instead of being bored in a brooder?

Do also keep in mind - for those lambasting the hatcheries for slaughtering chicks - a breeder growing to meet SOP will cull (i.e., kill or give away but usually kill) a majority of the birds they raise (~ 80-90%), because so few will meet the standard. Hopefully they cull humanely so much as possible. Some breeders give or sell the culls.

 

[ShannonR]

Most of my chickens have come from a local, reputable farm store which gets them from a hatchery. I suspect if you’re showing your birds, you may prefer finding a breeder, but if you’re just looking for pets and eggs, most hatcheries can provide what you need. Unfortunately, I thought it was great when a different local farm store started carrying fascinating breeds from a local breeder. I felt if they were local thar would prevent them having to make the trip through the mail, this being healthier. I was wrong. As nice as the local breeder is, a lot of his birds died young, or ended up with terrible conditions as they got to be a few years old. I guess I’d recommend talking to other chicken owners who are happy with their birds and find out where they got them. Good luck and enjoy your feathered friends!

This is why I support hatcheries. While many (but not all!) Breeders do their best to raise healthy birds, the hatcheries have much more of a vested (financial) interest in making sure their stock is disease free. I just hear of sooooo many folks who bought local, ended up with sick birds, who then went on to infect the rest of the buyer's flock. Because there is no standardised health and biosecurity protocol for private breeders (except for NPIP, which only some breeders pursue), the risk has become too great for me. Even in closed flocks, sometimes diseases can be spread thrpugh poultry shows and whatnot. I am in no way condemning showing poultry, but I am emphasising the inherent risks in buying from private breeders.

 

[Shadrach]

The problem is finding good breeders. It's worth bearing in mind that most hatcheries get their eggs from breeders, so just finding a breeder isn't going to guarantee a better quality chicken. It's much like any other livestock purchase if you are serious about the task; you find a breeder that has a track record of breeding good genetic stock.

 

[333113]

I am a breeder, and I totally agree that chicks raised by chicken moms and dads grow up to be much calmer and healthier chickens than brooder-raised. No matter how attentive I am as a substitute mom, I am not there every second to say, "Hey, don't eat that, it's poop!" Hens and roos provide that valuable service, as well as having heat and refuge always available, a perspective on who's the feeder and what's the predator, and the best coaching team ever for a growing bird: "Eat! Eat!"

But I don't totally agree with the idea that breeders kill 80-90 percent of their birds. As a small breeder, I can't afford to produce a huge volume of chicks, so there just aren't any volume of birds to kill. Perhaps because I focus on heritage birds, I sell my chickens in pairs and trios, for breeding. I don't sell volumes of layers, so there are not volumes of males to cull. When I show, I show both males and females. I find that sometimes I have more males than females, and sometimes more females than males. It all evens out in the long run. Chickens who don't meet my standards have other "work" to do, raising chicks, producing eggs or the black gold of well-composted chicken fertilizer, cleaning up the garden, entertaining family and friends, providing the "grandma and grandpa" advice from the adjacent cage to our younger chicken community. We have about 300 chickens and ducks, on average, so a lot of work gets done on our three acres!
We don't eat our chickens, but I am not opposed to people who do. As Temple Grandin said (of cows), if we didn't eat them there wouldn't be so many of them.

If you don't care where your birds came from or how they got there or whether they might have who knows what random disease or genetic condition along the way, by all means go to the farm store/TSC or buy online from a hatchery. These are all risks we take when we buy chickens. I hope no one will fault you for giving them a good home. Personally I prefer to buy from a local breeder who puts their sweat and tears into raising happy, healthy chickens and who clearly cares for their welfare.

It could be a coincidence, but I've noticed a clear difference in temperament between the birds I bought as chicks versus those I incubated from eggs (same breed from the same source). The incubated chicks were more confident and the three chicks being broody-raised right now are even more relaxed than those were. Maybe because they're growing up with the flock and spending their days outside "learning" all the time instead of being bored in a brooder?

Do also keep in mind - for those lambasting the hatcheries for slaughtering chicks - a breeder growing to meet SOP will cull (i.e., kill or give away but usually kill) a majority of the birds they raise (~ 80-90%), because so few will meet the standard. Hopefully they cull humanely so much as possible. Some breeders give or sell the culls.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

It's a matter of preference.

Once you've been familiarized with breeds and how a bird should look, most people want those. They may not have the patience to research and truly search out a breeder of the breed and variety or they may find the initial investment too much. But deep down, once you've seen a flock of birds that are at least near the standard of perfection, not show quality mind you just good stock, you covet them to at least some degree.

There is no comparison of hatchery "breeds" to quality stock. It's that simple. So it's up the the individual as to if their desire for them warrants the research and time and cost to obtain. For most it's not.

I'm not talking about show birds. Those are exceedingly rare and of obvious high price. I'm talking about quality stock that needs work. There are few breeds that don't need serious work. For me, it was about using the time raising chickens more worthwhile. I'll likely always have birds so why not pick a breed and variety I want to work with and just raise those. Learn more about them and attempt to improve my stock. That's what I did.

I don't puppy mill a poor product under the guise of "breeder". I simply enjoy learning about and attempt to improve two varieties of an American Class breed in need of work. I started with good stock and it took a long time to find and obtain them but in reality didn't pay much at all.

 

[NHMountainMan]

I can't speak to breeder birds vs hatchery birds as all my chicks have come from hatcheries via USPS. My flock is for eggs and meat, and hatcheries are efficient.

But I can challenge the snobbery assertion. This thread alone shows that there are breeders and hatchery fans and all are giving pros and cons without a hint of snobbery from my pov.

I'm a new chicken owner and have been honestly amazed at how positive this group has been. I absolutely hate social media because of the negative and conflicting opinions. BYC has many opinions but I've yet to feel looked down upon by anyone on this site.

I've honestly been shocked by how supportive the group has been.