Hatchery~Show Quality?

[Poulets De Cajun]

Cheep a'lil Talk a'lil :

I'm wondering if Cackle Hatchery delivers show quality chickens?

There are SO many things wrong with this sentence.... LOL Putting the words "Hatchery and Show Quality" in the same sentence, is like trying to get oil and water to mix.​

 

[Chickenmaven]

Poor Poulet, You are offended.

For sure, I hate to see people getting all geeked up thinking that their hatchery birds can show. My daughter asked me why her hatchery birds are not show birds. (She has one ugly Silkie roo that she ADORES...) The way I explained it to her is that if a hatchery has 3 roosters and 10 hens, they think "Yee-haw, we can have 100 chicks by next month." If a breeder has the same birds, he or she might consider mating one pair - maybe. That's the difference. Selectivity over production.

 

[DiVon80]

Quote:
I have to agree w/ you. Got some hatchery babies long time ago. My bantam cochins would give any other bird a run for the money. Every breed I got was fairely represented. Right now I have 2 groups LF and Bantams and they are all very pretty. I also bought babies from a breeder and had issues missing toes ect...Silkies. I reccomend if you are knew to poultry get you some hatchery babies gro them out. If you really like the breeds you chose you can always improve. If after a while you are really interested in poultry then look in to Quote show potential birds. If you really want show you will need to get older birds not chichs or eggs. What concerns me is getting birds from all different places and disease. I got all mine this year from Ideal out of 55 chicks I had 1 doa and lost 1 bantam cochin. All my little sikies have beards, topknots,blk skin and 5 toes. I got some blk frizzels cochin, blue cochins and some Mille Fluer D'uccles, I tell you, you won't be un happy with what Ideal has. In the large fowl I got some Dorkings,Whyandotts and Buff O's. In general hatcheries do get there birds from breeders. There will always be room for improvement. Remember whenever adding new birds or taking birds to shows you will have to quarantine the birds to make sure you do not bring stuff home.

 

[DiVon80]

Quote:

 

[Msbear]

Quote:
I have to agree w/ you. Got some hatchery babies long time ago. My bantam cochins would give any other bird a run for the money. Every breed I got was fairely represented. Right now I have 2 groups LF and Bantams and they are all very pretty. I also bought babies from a breeder and had issues missing toes ect...Silkies. I reccomend if you are knew to poultry get you some hatchery babies gro them out. If you really like the breeds you chose you can always improve. If after a while you are really interested in poultry then look in to Quote show potential birds. If you really want show you will need to get older birds not chichs or eggs. What concerns me is getting birds from all different places and disease. I got all mine this year from Ideal out of 55 chicks I had 1 doa and lost 1 bantam cochin. All my little sikies have beards, topknots,blk skin and 5 toes. I got some blk frizzels cochin, blue cochins and some Mille Fluer D'uccles, I tell you, you won't be un happy with what Ideal has. In the large fowl I got some Dorkings,Whyandotts and Buff O's. In general hatcheries do get there birds from breeders. There will always be room for improvement. Remember whenever adding new birds or taking birds to shows you will have to quarantine the birds to make sure you do not bring stuff home.

Why don't you post pics of your bantam cochins and I'll give you that run

There is a HUGE difference that takes some actual comparisons to see if you don't have experience judging poultry. Proud mommas don't always like to face that fact... but it IS a fact. When breeding for show, there are many things experienced breeders look for to selectively breed their stock. FACT: Hatcheries DO NOT look for those things because that is not their first concern.

Meet my $30 rooster. He's a bit more expensive than a $2 chick but you get what you pay for.

Now, I'd like to see someones hatchery bird give him a run for his money. Im not trying to P anyone off... just trying to make a point. If you don't show, then you don't know.

eta: Im no expert, I'll admit. I've only shown a couple of times but have learned a great deal by chatting with other breeders and observing the winners closely. For now, I rely on expert breeders that I have grown to trust to lend me thier knowledge and help me learn. This bird is a cull bird from a reputable breeder. His show birds would be much much more expensive. But, I do know enough that I can see the HUGE difference between him and a hatchery bird.

I love this hobby because I can afford a darn good bird. $30 to have great lines is not too much especially when you take into consideration all the money we spend on our birds throughout the year. It all depends on what this person wants to achieve. A few extra bucks could really get a lot more bang

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

As a parent myself, I would say - do what is most convenient for you. The kids are not going to be judged on the quality of the bird, just their abilities in "showmanshi."

Very misleading!

True for showmanship, but that is only one separate portion of showing--even for 4H.

Breeders do not sell minimum quantities--they sell individual birds, pairs or trios, and often only adults. Hatching eggs are a huge gamble--you could end up paying three times the price of a decent bird and not have anything to show for it.

Don't set your kids up for failure, which is likely to happen if you show hatchery birds--chances are high they will be DQed or marked "Production" or place at the bottom of the breed. This would be memeorable, but not in a good way.

If you purchase individual or pairs of birds from breeders, you can ask all the pertinent questions of why one bird is better than another, what traits you are looking for, how to train the bird to show well, etc. Breeders by and large LOVE to talk about their favourite breed(s).​

 

[cybercat]

How to weed out breeders. SQ can mean anything and getting eggs or chicks that are SQ means next to nothing. I would perfer to know the parents show records before buying SQ. There are breeders and then there are show breeders. Show breeder stock will cost alot more than any other stock.

Ask questions of the breeders you are looking at here are some suggestions. How long have you been breeding? Where did you get your stock from? (If they say hatchery look at how long they have been breeding some breeders did breed up from hatchery stock but it took a few years to do it) How many shows has the parents place in? How many of the parents offspring have placed? Do you own those offspring or does someone else? ( major concern here for buying, many breeders will not sell there best to you so be warned ahead of time) May I contact another that has you offspring? Get contact and do it they will be able to tell you how chicks develope and how transaction went ect.

One thing you MUST have is the Standard of Perfection. It is the only way you will know what good stock looks like and how to weed out good from bad. Contact the breed club to find those working with the breed you are interested in. When dealing with kids and showing it is better to place or win than not. Kids do not keep interested if they are not at least placing there first time. Too many such disapointments as in not at least placing will get them out of poultry all together. This is true for younger kids not the older ones as much. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

 

[lildinkem]

Hey CYBERCAT I noticed too, that some of the breeders here do not sell their best. I have bought from one or two who do sell their best lines.
Those are the real breeders you want to know. Those breeders will tell you of other breeds best breeders. This will cycle into alot of nice healthy birds. And healthy birds make happy owners.
CYBERCAT you can write a book for me far as I am concerned. Right on! Everything you said is excellent advice. I like to call it " touch it, smell it feel it " type of horse trading sense.

 

[pipermark]

When friends ask me about showing birds , I always suggest the following:

Go to the type of show you will be showing your birds at and see what is there, take pictures of the breed your interested in so you dont forget.

Things to pay attention to (get pictures if possible).
1. comb
2. over all body side view, rear view
3. Leg color and feathering
4. toes.

Its important to go to the same show type, for example, our local country fair, if you had a good condition hatchery bird, you could actually win with it. The judges are not looking to match APA standards, ( I haven't figured out exactly how they chose the winners).
If you were to bring the same bird to an APA registered show , you may stand out, though the ones I have been to , as long as the bird didnt have any immediate disqualifications (Judges can be a little rude if you bring in a bird that should have green legs and has yellow), you would still learn alot an meet some nice people.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

No breeder sells his or her best birds--they would quickly run out of quality stock if they did so.

That said, they will sometimes sell older birds as they switch to younger ones, or will sell excess birds that are very good quality, just that they have too many.

My experience is that those who breed to sell rather than to exhibit lose their sense of perspective and purpose. It is one thing to produce extra birds to sell and help offset the expense of the hobby; it is another thing entirely to become a mini hatchery.