Hatchery Poll

[The Phantom]

I use MY PET CHICKEN for a hatchery.

 

[Folly's place]

I've never used MPC, because I've never ordered fewer than 25 to 5o chicks at once. Usually two or three of us combine an order, saving money and brooder space.
Mary

 

[keesmom]

I've ordered from McMurray, Ideal and Meyer. I wouldn't hesitate to order from any of them in the future (have another order coming from McMurray this year). I lost 3 in a shipment from Meyer but they refunded me quickly, and all chicks were sexed correctly. Same happened with a shipment from Ideal. Every chick I've ordered from McMurray has arrived alive and has done well. I have had a couple of oops cockerels from them though.

Cackle has the white Chanteclers that appeal to me
Mary

Me too. I finally have an order in for some of their Chanteclers this year. Looking forward to their arrival.

 

[Kacey Elle]

@Acre4Me Your links were incredibly helpful but now they've muddied the waters just as it seemed like I'd narrowed the hatcheries down to two options! One of the places that I considered visiting also apparently does shipped chicks. If I ordered from them, it should definitely only be one day shipping and if I *really* wanted to I could even drive there to pick up chicks and drive back. Counting traffic, it'll probably be a six hour drive, round trip. So now I'm really considering seeing if my school is willing to make it a field trip!

Anyone ever heard anything bad/good about Belt Hatchery? Or, even better, have any personal experience there? I did a search but most members posting about it were several years ago. What I could find wasn't positive but I thought I'd check since it is drivable.

 

[Acre4Me]

@Acre4Me Your links were incredibly helpful but now they've muddied the waters just as it seemed like I'd narrowed the hatcheries down to two options! One of the places that I considered visiting also apparently does shipped chicks. If I ordered from them, it should definitely only be one day shipping and if I *really* wanted to I could even drive there to pick up chicks and drive back. Counting traffic, it'll probably be a six hour drive, round trip. So now I'm really considering seeing if my school is willing to make it a field trip!

Anyone ever heard anything bad/good about Belt Hatchery? Or, even better, have any personal experience there? I did a search but most members posting about it were several years ago. What I could find wasn't positive but I thought I'd check since it is drivable.

I did a quick search and came up with generally positive reviews (Google, fb, Daves Garden). They sound like a smaller hatchery with a small staff. You should call ahead to see if you can make it a field trip - many hatcheries have biosecurity measures in place, and you cant see much more than inside the front door where you pick up chicks. If you want it to be a more educational event, you might need to arrange it with Belt in advance. But, what a great opportunity! If this is one of the places you mentioned that offers classes on gardening or similar, they might be able to offer a short class for the field trip.

Good Luck!

 

[Kacey Elle]

@Acre4Me Awesome! I think you must be an internet whiz--I only searched on BYC and barely found anything, probably because they are so small compared to the hatcheries originally posted in the poll. I did email them regarding field trips so it'll be wait and see until I hear back. I really appreciate all your help!

Thanks again!!!

 

[CannedMonster]

Same! The nice thing is that our school flock rotates out every year so I've gotten to play around with breeds a lot. This makes it so I can tell which are my "favorites" without actually committing to them myself. Personally, my home flock of four is colorful, I get consistent eggs, and their personalities are adorable! I don't think my personal flock would be that great without getting to test out many breeds at the school flock.



Thanks! I hadn't even considered finding more hatcheries. But one message does seem to be that the closer the hatchery is, the less shipping stress. I'll look into Dunlap.

I'm scared of exactly what you post about: having chicks for weeks (or even months) and then having them die. Since this is for a school flock, I think it would be disheartening for the kids if "their" chicken (we assign kids to care for various chickens so they learn responsibility) suddenly dropped dead. These aren't farm kids--we had one pullet die on day one last year and kids were crying....



Can I ask which hatcheries those were? Are any of them listed in this poll?

Death is a part of life isn't it?
I feel like young people these days are unable to cope with anything because they aren't taught coping skills.
We need to cope with things that we have no control over and death can sometimes be one of them.
As many BYCers have told me...sometimes chickens just die no matter how well we take care of them.
Perhaps a different animal?

 

[Erikj84]

I have ordered from Hoover, cackle and Meyers. All have had great experience. Hoover's I ordered 30 hens was 36 in the box counting 2 doa(was in December cold) and had 1 rooster rest so got my full 30 hens. Cackle I ordered 25 got 27 had 3 doa and was straight run and I ordered 100 just last week and got 104 this morning and all warm, full of life and extremely loud on the 30 minute car ride back to my home. Can not complain about any of them. Each hatchery has better deals of different breeds and different assortment packages. I have an order placed with cackle coming for March for 2 sets of "surprise" mystery boxes (40-60 birds on average no less then 40 seen reviews with over 70 and can come with any breed they carry including ducks and turkeys) can't wait!

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

I've had success with Ideal and McMurray.

 

[Kacey Elle]

Death is a part of life isn't it?
I feel like young people these days are unable to cope with anything because they aren't taught coping skills.
We need to cope with things that we have no control over and death can sometimes be one of them.
As many BYCers have told me...sometimes chickens just die no matter how well we take care of them.
Perhaps a different animal?

While this is true, and I agree that some young people can't cope with things, my school is not one of those places. I teach in a place with high gang activity and at least 50% of my kids hear gunshots at least once a week. My students have seen relatives gunned down before their eyes (the most traumatic in recent history was a student of mine who's cousin was shot at his birthday party, in front of relatives and his own children). Believe me, they know death is something they have no control over.

The school garden/flock is a place for them to get away from this--I want it to be as positive an experience as I can make it. This should be a time for them to get to nurture and help things live!