Hatchery Poults Die More Easily Than Local Bred?

[DarkWingDuck]

I've bought poults from local sellers and from hatcheries and have noticed a huge difference. When buying locally, I've never had a single turkey poult to die. However, I've bought from hatcheries on two occasions and had large losses each time. I got 19 poults (royal palm and bourbon reds) from a hatchery around 2 months ago. They all showed up alive, but have steadily died one-at-a-time. Even at their current age, I've lost around 3 this week.

I can already imagine that shipping would be rough on the poults, but could it somehow cause them to die weeks or even months later? I find it a bit strange that the locally bought ones have had a 100% survival rate while the ones from hatcheries drop like flies. They were all given the same diet and brooding conditions.

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

I've noticed that when I purchase hatchlings, some breeds are more prone to die than others. I attribute it to the farm the hatchery bought it's eggs/chicks from. It's kind of depressing when an entire breed dies off, but eberyone else is chipper and happy. I usually let the hatchery know to check the supplier of that breed.

Sorry for your babies...