Hatchery or Feed store?

[Campine Lover]

Whenever I get chicks from breeders/feedstores, they seem to grow slower. If i get them straight from hatcheries they grow really really fast! Anyone else notice this?

 

[flowerchicks]

I have only ever gotten chicks from the feed store, but they get them from a hatchery, I'm pretty sure. I am sure it also depends on the breed of chicken. Are you referring to how long it takes them to lay?

 

[twentynine]

Feed store chicks come from a hatchery.

Difference could be your impression or it could be the added attention you give the chicks in the first few days.

 

[speckledhen]

Good breeder quality birds do tend to mature more slowly, lay later, but they also tend to have better longevity. I've lost six hatchery girls to internal laying/ecoli ovarian infections and they've all been hatchery girls. Have three others with similar ailments and only one of those did not come from hatchery stock. I hope my breeder types will live longer lives. Early maturity/fast growth also means they can burn out faster and have more egg issues.

 

[Ozark Chicken]

Just got my 50 golden comet pullets and 25 golden laced wyn from ideal. 5 days now and all seem alert active and healthy. Is there a point that I can feel like I'm out of the woods so to speak?

 

[speckledhen]

Usually, failure to thrive starts showing in dead chicks within four to five days, so you're probably out of the woods as far as that goes. Failure to thrive in chicks means their yolk runs out and they are not eating and drinking on their own.

 

[Chicken Paradise]

You would have to make a direct comparison with the same breed to tell for sure...one thing I have noticed is that different hatcheries have different strains of the same breed, so that the quality of bird from each is a bit different. This is especially true with the Cornish X...there are a couple different strains and some grow faster than others.

 

[catdaddy66]

I have 30 from Ideal hatchery and 4 from my local F&S and the F&S birds (EE's) are a little bigger than mine from Ideal, which are very big at 5 weeks now. They are about the same age as each other. Failure to thrive isn't in their vocabulary!