Hatchery recommendations

[Silly Indie]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I can’t wait to order the little fluff balls!

 

[ChickenWhisperer101]

I definitely agree that ideal and McMurray are good hatcheries! I love my birds from them! Bantams and standards!

Some of my birds from them…

Ideal


McMurray

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have no personal experience with Banties. Cackle, McMurray, Ideal are all well respected in the undustry, generally. I have a bunch of birds from Hoovers, by way of TSC . Like many, I started my flock at the beginning of the pandemic - you either took what was on display, or you went home with nothing - and often they sold out before I could make the 40 minute drive into town.

Hoover's, in my very limited experience, produces a tolerable bird at best - but you can work with them, if you have to.

I've been following comments on the various hatcheries (purely anecdotal "evidence", as I'm thinking I'm going to need some new genetics, Spring 2023. Currently, Cackle is top of my list - for large "meaty" birds. That's what I've been looking for, and posters are putting up very impressive weights from Cackle's birds this year. I've not been following reports on Banties. Its possible Cackle's exceptional performance extends to them as well - but its equally possible, in fact, more likely - that it doesn't.

You might consider using the search engine and skimming for recent posts using Bantam/Bantie/Banty etc and the name of a particular hatchery, to see if it has some useful info, in addition to your general request for aid in this thread.

 

[mbrobbins]

Standard please! I tend to like the heavier breeds as well- cold hearty as I am in NY

I have the lavender orpingtons, and now I'm adding the black orpingtons to my flock to improve the feather quality. Have you considered hatching eggs rather than buying from a hatchery?

 

[Silly Indie]

Thank you the recommendation! Yes I’m in the USA in Oregon. Also thanks for the ordering tips, very helpful.

 

[Poodlemum]

I ordered 10 Wyandotte from TSC and they shipped from Hoovers. It had the smallest minimum, nicely packaged, and only one died in transit. For a first time buyer, I was so anxious reading about everyone’s DOAs from various hatcheries

 

[Silly Indie]

I've had good luck so far with Ideal. I don't know about bantams because I only have full-size birds.

https://www.idealpoultry.com/

Thanks for the suggestion I’ll check them out

 

[mrskenmore]

McMurray was actually the first hatchery I ordered from, (earlier this year) and they were great about customer service, only had 1 out of 33 chicks not make it (which they gave me another free one, because I had an order coming the next week, and they are all amazing birds!

Ideal is good with customer service as well, and have a very good selection of bantams available!

If you want any breed recommendations please let me know, as I have plenty of good suggestions if you need them.

I will take you up in breed recommendations! I am looking to place an order this winter for spring!

 

[mrskenmore]

Standard please! I tend to like the heavier breeds as well- cold hearty as I am in NY

 

[Dovethesilkie]

Some of my favorites are Cochin, Icelandic’s, appenzeler ,salmon favorelle, and Sumatra’s ( but I don’t think they are very cold hardy)