Hatchery vs. Local Feed Store

[prose15]

I have an order placed to Meyer Hatchery that is set to arrive the first week of June. The hatchery is about 530 mile north of where I live. However, there is a feed store near my house (Orschelns Farm and Home). I don't remember what breeds they have carried in the past. Should I cancel my hatchery order and buy from the feedstore, or stick with the hatchery? The Orschelns is in Murrya, KY if that helps. Any idea what breeds they might carry?

 

[minnow]

Last year, I bought all of my pullets from the local feed store. This year, I tried my hand at ordering from McMurray Hatchery.

Their minimum order for this time of year is 25. I only wanted 7 or 8, so I decided to order a variety of pullets and simply sell the extras on Craigslist for a reasonable price. I didn't get rich or lose any money, and I got exactly what I wanted, in regards to breeds. If you care to know more, read on.

I ordered 6 cuckoo marans, 6 silver laced wyandottes, 6 Columbian wyandottes, and 7 araucanas. They sent 1 "exotic" chick of their choice (unsexed), which is typical of this hatchery. They also included 1 extra silver laced Wyandotte for free.

I got an email ahead of time, telling me when to expect my shipment (approximate window). Then I got another email, telling me that they shipped. I already had my makeshift brooder (a wooden crate with newsprint flooring) set up with a heat lamp, water, and some chick starter (feed), so when I got a call from my local post office around 7:00a Monday morning to tell me that I could come pick my chicks up right away, I came running!

I opened the box of chicks there at the post office and could see that all of the chicks arrived safe and sound. Keep in mind that they sent an email to me Saturday to tell me my chicks shipped, and then they arrived on Monday morning! They travelled from Iowa to Florida over two days, and were all alive and well.

I got them home and took time to dip their beaks in the water dish as I placed them in the brooder one by one. McMurray took the time to label the shipping box with the exact numbers of each breed of chick that was shipped with my order. The big downside of ordering a mix of 25 chicks from McMurray is that they don't segregate the chicks for shipping, so you get one box of 25 chicks, all mixed together, and you have to use pictures and videos on their website to determine which breed each chick is. Thankfully, all of the breeds I ordered looked distinctly different from one another.

That first day, I took some pics and posted an craigslist ad to list the extra chicks I wanted to sell. I also posted on the Facebook page of the local chicken swap group here in my area (Santa Rosa Chicken Swap). Within 5 days, I had sold all of the extra chicks. I sold the chicks for between $5 and $6 a piece. It seems that there were lots of people in my area who didn't want "typical" breeds sold by the local feed stores, or that they were, like me, only interested in getting a couple of each kind.

When all was said and done, I ended up paying $119 for the 27 chicks, including Mareck's vaccination and shipping. I sold 19 for $98. I only had one die (on day 3 with me).

What did I get out of all of this? Seven pullets for a net price of $21. That's not much less than I would have paid for 7 pullets from the feed store. However, I got the EXACT breeds and quantities I wanted. I got the satisfaction of seeing my two daughters completely melt as they watched and played with 27 baby chicks. And I got to meet a local sheriff's deputy, a farmer and his wife, a maintenance supervisor, and a banker--all fellow chicken herders!

Be encouraged. Sniff around on here and find out which hatcheries have great reputations for successfully mailing chicks, then decide if it's worth the adventure to order 25 chicks of your choosing, or if nabbing a smaller quantity from a local feed store is more your cup of tea.

 

[DanEP]

The odds are that your local feed store is getting their chicks from a hatchery too so either source would be the same maybe just different hatchery. The main advantage of buying from the hatchery is a bigger variety to choose from. That being said if your feed store has the breed you want you will save shipping cost and if you only want a few chicks most feed stores around here will sell as few as 6 at a time while a lot of hatchery's have a 15 minimum.
I'm gone all day to so I just make sure they have food and water before I go to work,I also set my heat lamp up on one end of the brooder so that if they want the heat they can get to it and if not can hang out on the other end. They are real good at regulating the heat for themselves.
Good luck with the chicks Dan

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I am VERY new to all of this. We are getting our babies next month. What are a few ' common breeds" and a few ' heritage' breeds ? What is a good book to read on breeds ?

I recommend looking at the next 2 breed comparison charts:
http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/chickenbreedcomparison.pdf
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html
First select all the breeds that can handle your climate. Then from that list, narrow it down by your needs, wants and personality. Think about whether they'll be foraging all day or need to be adaptable to confinement. Think about the number, size and color of eggs you want. Size of the bird, large fowl or bantam. Feather color, aggressiveness, docility, calmness, flightiness are other characteristics to match to your personality. Both charts will have that info.

For books:
Gail Damerow's 'Chicken Health Handbook' is a must for any chicken keeper's library.
For small urban/suburban flocks 'City Chicks' by Patricia Foreman is good.
A little more in depth is 'The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market' by Harvey Ussery.

Tractor Supply #1: Cornish and Straight Run Pullets (not joking) that's what they said
Tractor Supply #2: Cornish and Straight Run Brahma
Feed Store (Orschelns): getting in Friday, they have no idea what kind
Both tsc stores are getting more tomorrow

Excellent example of why getting advice about poultry or other livestock from the feed store is probably a bad idea.
Even if they have raised chickens, that doesn't make them experts. I don't know any that have been to vet school either. They may be smart people but they are mostly expert at what aisle the oyster shell is in.

My Rhode Island Red is from orcelens and I got her when i was 5 and I'm 13 she's still laying eggs but also I got some hatching eggs from Meyer hatchery.com and 3 hatched just a little while ago 1 died 1 had a hairline crack and broke but I still have 2 in the incubator and 2 Rhode Island Red chicks next to me peeping like crazy I recamend getting chick from tractor supply or orcelens

It's good to hear you have an 8 year old hen laying.

I am a first timer so my criteria was lots of day old chicks in the breeds that I was looking for, and vaccinated for only Mareks. I ended up going 45 minutes away rather than local place. All the chicks came from Ideal and all looked VERY healthy. I got to pick out of around 50 of each breed. In order to get all 4 on the same day only made one breed change. I am at one week and VERY happy.
I have: 1 Buff Orp, 1 Blk Aust, 1 Ameracauna, and 1 Barred Rock HAVING A BLAST!
In terms of Roos I would be afraid to sell them here in fear they might end up as cock fighters..........

I don't think any cockers would buy an Orpington or Australorp for fighting. If you sell them, they'll most likely be soup within a week. I have sold some on craigslist for breeding. I know they were used for breeding because no one would pay $25 for a soup ingredient.

Last year, I bought all of my pullets from the local feed store. This year, I tried my hand at ordering from McMurray Hatchery.

Their minimum order for this time of year is 25. I only wanted 7 or 8, so I decided to order a variety of pullets and simply sell the extras on Craigslist for a reasonable price. I didn't get rich or lose any money, and I got exactly what I wanted, in regards to breeds. If you care to know more, read on.

I ordered 6 cuckoo marans, 6 silver laced wyandottes, 6 Columbian wyandottes, and 7 araucanas. They sent 1 "exotic" chick of their choice (unsexed), which is typical of this hatchery. They also included 1 extra silver laced Wyandotte for free.

I got an email ahead of time, telling me when to expect my shipment (approximate window). Then I got another email, telling me that they shipped. I already had my makeshift brooder (a wooden crate with newsprint flooring) set up with a heat lamp, water, and some chick starter (feed), so when I got a call from my local post office around 7:00a Monday morning to tell me that I could come pick my chicks up right away, I came running!

I opened the box of chicks there at the post office and could see that all of the chicks arrived safe and sound. Keep in mind that they sent an email to me Saturday to tell me my chicks shipped, and then they arrived on Monday morning! They travelled from Iowa to Florida over two days, and were all alive and well.

I got them home and took time to dip their beaks in the water dish as I placed them in the brooder one by one. McMurray took the time to label the shipping box with the exact numbers of each breed of chick that was shipped with my order. The big downside of ordering a mix of 25 chicks from McMurray is that they don't segregate the chicks for shipping, so you get one box of 25 chicks, all mixed together, and you have to use pictures and videos on their website to determine which breed each chick is. Thankfully, all of the breeds I ordered looked distinctly different from one another.

That first day, I took some pics and posted an craigslist ad to list the extra chicks I wanted to sell. I also posted on the Facebook page of the local chicken swap group here in my area (Santa Rosa Chicken Swap). Within 5 days, I had sold all of the extra chicks. I sold the chicks for between $5 and $6 a piece. It seems that there were lots of people in my area who didn't want "typical" breeds sold by the local feed stores, or that they were, like me, only interested in getting a couple of each kind.

When all was said and done, I ended up paying $119 for the 27 chicks, including Mareck's vaccination and shipping. I sold 19 for $98. I only had one die (on day 3 with me).

What did I get out of all of this? Seven pullets for a net price of $21. That's not much less than I would have paid for 7 pullets from the feed store. However, I got the EXACT breeds and quantities I wanted. I got the satisfaction of seeing my two daughters completely melt as they watched and played with 27 baby chicks. And I got to meet a local sheriff's deputy, a farmer and his wife, a maintenance supervisor, and a banker--all fellow chicken herders!

Be encouraged. Sniff around on here and find out which hatcheries have great reputations for successfully mailing chicks, then decide if it's worth the adventure to order 25 chicks of your choosing, or if nabbing a smaller quantity from a local feed store is more your cup of tea.

A good story.

Many breeds and varieties in one box can take a while to sort out. I once got 54 birds of 18 breeds/varieties. Some I could tell right away, others took a couple months.

I would add to go to your local post office a day or two before they arrive, talk to the manager and get the phone # of the sorting room. They won't answer the business line before business hours. They will answer the sorting room phone though. If they don't call by 6 AM, call them and go pick them up. You don't want the chicks bouncing around in the delivery truck all day. They're usually happy to have that chirping box out of there.
I also recommend taking a camera and open the box there just in case there are fatalities.

For the first couple days, paper towels are better than newspaper. Slick hard surfaces, including newspaper don't provide good footing and can cause splay leg and other leg problems.

 

[WaterfowlWierdo]

I have worked at a small town feed stores for three chicks seasons now, Most stores do order from hatcheries, some may from a local breeder but unlikely. Chances are there is one person in charge of all chick orders, at my store we do special orders where we order anything the customer wants that the hatchery offers. Sometimes there is a 5 bird minimum but not always.

Check your local feed store, dont go off of what they have right now or are getting next week, Ask the person in charge of the orders to see if you can place a special order to get exactly what you want. We loose so much sales because people think they can only buy whats in front of them, not whats in the catalog from the hatchery.

 

[WaterfowlWierdo]

At the feed store I work at we hold the chicks a mandatory 24 hours before any can go home, this helps drastically with the loss rate as they become stressed when being moved alot. Also most of the losses with chicks are happening between hatch and abt 3 days old and usually they are 2-3 days old at the feed store, therefore not nearly as many die is you yourself were to order through a hatchery

 

[gander007]

That is more of a personal call

 

[McCoysOrps]

CANCEL THE ORDER NOW!!!!!!!!! Hatchery chicks die easily and you can get chicks sooner so they grow and lay faster for you!!

 

[Craftygirl]

This is my first time raising chicks. But I would suggest to get your chicks on a Friday night and be home with them for the weekend so you can monitor the heat.

I've had to raise my lamp twice today to keep the temp steady. They are all happy campers though. I already see their little personalities coming out.

Good Luck to you.. I'm already in chicken heaven.

 

[clankeyes]

Feed store gets them Friday. They probably won't have the variety I want though

I went to two feed stores in my area. The first one gave me a sheet of dates of when the different breeds would be available for adoption. I was told to get in line early for what I really wanted & there would be no special orders taken. I had two types of chickens I really wanted. Both were arriving 7 days apart at feed store #1 . I was not very excited about that being a first time chicken owner. I wanted my baby chicks the same age. I visited the second feed store. Without hesitation they took my order for the two breeds I want and said they would have them ready on the same day for pickup. I did not have to pre-pay or anything. They just took my name and number. I was even asked if I was interested in any other breeds. I told them since I was only getting 4-5 chickens that what ever they had available I would be happy with. Sort of like Christmas morning Not only are they getting the my business for my chicks but I will be buying all my start up supplies from them as well. Shop around and ask your local feed stores.. see what they say. I was to nervous to order long distance. My shopping paid off. Good Luck .