Hatchery stock owners unite!!!

[SlowMoneyFarm]

Thanks - they're almost 3 months old - well feathered out but am guessing as to breed.

 

[dretd]

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If you go the the hatcheries color catalog you can at least narrow down the options for the babies. It can be really tough for folks to ID chicks without seeing them in person and knowing what hatchery they came from can be really helpful. It should become pretty obvious as they get their adult plumage and comb development. Have you noticed that everyone always says any chupmonk colored chick is an Easter Egger??

Good luck with our chickies!

 

[dretd]

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I totally agree! I

my Hatchery/feed store chickens. I can see why breeders are protective of their breeds since they have invested a lot of time and $$ into their given breeds. But they do come off as pretty snobby sometimes about hatcheries having poor quality birds. They may not be as purrrty, but they are usually pretty hardy and lay really well!

 

[stilldeb]

Just got a ship date on my five Sultans (5/18) and I'm so excited!

deb g

 

[Domestic_goddess]

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Congratulations

 

[Domestic_goddess]

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Can you post some pics? maybe we can help! What hatchery did you order from?

 

[gryeyes]

Although it is fun to know the supposed breeds, and also to be able to say the breed combinations, I am at the stage in my life when I sometimes look out and just see chickens.

Gee, I don't know what that grey one is, but it's pretty and I think its a pullet. Hmmm, wonder if that one next to it is an orpington mix of some type?

Ahhh, Cochins! Pretty, huh! Dunno if you call that "mottled" or what, but it's awfully pretty.

And what are you, sweetie? Lovely chestnut color, not a single comb, though, so probably not a Rhode Island Red.

And here's my little Silver Sebright girl, Alice! Beteer get out of Bartholomew's way, sweetie, that Jersey Giant's gonna mow you down!

 

[HHandbasket]

I've got both hatchery birds and breeder birds in my flock, and I have to say we've been well-blessed on both fronts. We have 2 birds that have crappy attitudes, and we have not had them very long. It's a 9-week-old pair of cuckoo marans x FBCMs (they have the cuckoo appearance with feathered legs & feet). They have real lousy attitudes, and the cockerel is a little on the aggressive side. Our big mottled black java rooster (flock leader) keeps him in line, but he spends half his day policing this "badditude" little cuckoo cockerel. I can already tell he's gonna head to freezer camp in a few months cuz he's creating stress in my flock & I ain't gonna have it. His ornery sister is gonna be heading there with him if she doesn't mellow out when she reaches POL, lemme tell ya. And these 2 troublemakers are from breeder stock... go figure!

I have a FBCM that came from fancy lines & is breeder stock. She reached POL, laid very tiny pullet eggs for about 10 days in April, and then just stopped laying. She just keeps eating an getting bigger but isn't producing any more eggs.

Interesting that the only chickens I have issues with are breeder birds & not hatchery stock.

The other 29 birds in our flock are a mix of breeder stock and hatchery birds and are all nice-looking, healthy, robust birds. I do have some that are show quality and came from a breeder, and I may end up showing them (definitely going to breed them). Most of my hatchery stock aren't exactly show quality, but I do have some that--despite what some breeder "purists" will tell you--do meet the Standard Of Perfection and would be show-able birds if I were interested in that sort of thing. Most don't, but some do & I have some excellent hatchery chickens.

I love 'em all the same anyway.

 

[hennyannie]

I have been getting chicks from the local feedstore since I was a little girl(They have been ordering from the same hatchery for 20+ years). I just enjoy the eggs and fellowship with the hens. Don't have to be special on this farm, just have to pull your weight!!!LOL

 

[NYREDS]

People have chickens for a variety of different reasons. One is not more valid than another. If hatchery birds meet your needs then they are right for you. They don't meet my needs which is why I don't buy them.
I guess the only problem I do have with hatchery stock is the fact that not everyone realizes birds you get from a hatchery aren't generally good representations of the breed. Very often at shows I judge there's someone, usually a child, who's very upset when the chicken they took such good care of is disqualified because it doesn't meet the standard for the breed. They bought the bird in good faith w/o realizing the shortcomings of hatchery birds.