Hatchery Preferences - Opinions?

[DonnaBelle]

I just ordered my chicks from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon, Mo. I live in NE Oklahoma, so they are close to me.

I also had them vaccinated for Mareks disease.

I have ordered from them before and had good luck. They give me an exact shipping date...April 1, 2013 so I know they be here a day later.

I ALWAYS notify my post office that they are coming. I will stop by and tell them on April 1 that they are coming.

DonnaBelle

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I've ordered chicks from McMurray (April) and Ideal (February), and both batches arrived in excellent condition (and with more birds than expected). They were healthy and ended up being pretty decent layers. One of the things I was NOT happy about was the inconsistant quality of the birds. Some of them were exceptionally nice for hatchery birds (IMO) and some of them weren't anywhere close to breed standard. But, if you're just wanting some good layers, then that may not be a problem for you. Beware though, both of those hatcheries have a 20-25 chick minimum, and since it's winter they'll more than likely give you alot of "packing peanuts" (which will all be roosters, by the way). I've started buying all of my chicks locally now, bc I want to be able to see the breeding flock that produced them. However, when I was just getting started, hatchery birds brought me alot of joy. Good luck with your chick search (and I understand not being able to wait until spring, which is why I have eggs cookin' in my incubator right now!)
Nikki