Hatchery with the "Best" Saipan Jungle Fowl?? PLEASE READ!!

[Gresh]

Hey, all. I suppose you're getting sick of my frequent topics, but this is a chicken website, and I like chickens--correction, I LOVE chickens.

Particularly, I love Saipan Jungle Fowl (though I don't currently own any

). Love their Oriental body frame (i.e. long neck and legs, short tail, upright posture).

But I cannot afford to get Saipans from any breeder at the present moment. However, I know of three hatcheries that sell Saipan Jungle Fowl (whether the birds are pure or not, only God and the hatchery know). I was wanting to know if anyone has purchased Saipans from the following hatcheries:

1. Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon, Missouri
2. IDEAL Poultry in Cameron, Texas
3. Purely Poultry (somewhere in Wisconsin, I believe)

I would like to know what you thought of the Saipans you purchased. It would be helpful if you analyzed them according to these questions: Were they relatively healthy throughout their lives (including state of health on arrival)? Did they reach the generally accepted weight of 12 lbs. (males) and 10 lbs (females) at maturity (roughly 3 yrs. old)? Were they drastically different in color than a purebred Saipan? Did they grow well on commercial feed, or did they need some supplemental protein? Given enough human interaction, did the males turn out docile even when you came near their females? Did they have the correct Saipan/Shamo body structure? What weights were they in their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years, respectively? Lastly, though they were probably mutts, did they seem to meet the unofficial Saipan Jungle Fowl standards promoted by breeders?

I know these are a lot of questions, but if you can answer as many as you can, I would be very appreciative. I am not intending to breed perfectly pure stock (otherwise I would buy from a breeder), so please do not lecture me about the impurities/infirmities of hatchery stock: I am well aware of them. I just want to know if these hatcheries sell a chicken that looks like a Saipan, is built like a Saipan, is roughly as tall as a Saipan, and weighs roughly as much as a Saipan.

Please bear with the details, and if you don't know yourself the quality of these hatcheries' Saipans, but you know somebody who does, please ask them to post here with their answers.

God bless, and happy chickening!

 

[Illia]

I know you mentioned your situation with breeders, and you're looking for the best hatchery Saipans, but I must ask, have you considered ordering hatching eggs? They're relatively cheap especially compared to ordering chicks, and although most gamefowl breeders don't do eggs, the ones who do usually have excellent fertility in their eggs. I don't have Saipans, instead I have O-Shamos, but I do offer, like others out there, very nice hatching eggs when the girls are laying.


Course, if you don't have and don't want to purchase an incubator or broody hen, I understand.

 

[Gresh]

Quote:
I once considered hatching eggs, but, unfortunately, I do not currently have a broody-prone hen (just a couple Production Red mutts, a Wyandotte, and a "single-combed" Wyandotte mutt), and I am hesitant to slap down $300 or so for a good incubator. Plus, I really wouldn't want to be shammed by someone: I recently heard of a man who purchased six Naked-Neck hatching eggs from somebody, only to find that five of six never hatched, and the one that did looked like a Leghorn-Old English cross. I have considered the inexpensiveness of hatching eggs, but the only chap I could find on the internet who lives even remotely near me sells five eggs for like $50, and to my knowledge he isn't approved by the NPIP or any other national poultry organization.
Thanks for the suggestion, though.

I wish Saipans were more popular: then maybe it would be easier to find an NPIP-approved breeder who had an honest reputation. If you ever hear of one, would you mind contacting me here on the forum? I'd appreciate it

God Bless!

 

[Illia]

Of course! I always keep an eye out on rare Gamefowl breeders. I'll keep you in mind when I see such.

PS - My incubators I use cost me $160 each and never fail for me. I will admit any higher is indeed very pricey but for what I paid, I call it worth it.

 

[Gresh]

Quote:
Thanks! I definitely appreciate it. $160? Wow, that's a good deal cheaper than the ones I saw (of course, the ones I saw were sold by hatcheries and had shipping-n-handling tacked onto them).

I know that you're a breeder, but have you had any experience with the hatcheries I listed, or perhaps, do you know someone who has? I understand that hatcheries are far from the best if you want good stock, but I do know that some hatcheries are better than others.

Also, Cackle Hatchery sells Saipan Jungle Fowl chicks for a very high price ($40 for 5, $80 for 10, and a whopping $120 for 15). To some that may sound cheap, but when you compare it to IDEAL ($37.35 for 15) or Purely Poultry ($41.55 for 15), it's a good deal more. I was wondering: do you think Cackle's higher prices (and relatively low year-round stock) might indicate that they get their hatching eggs from a genuine breeder? Cackle also sells Old English Standard size Games for the same prices and has a relatively low stock on those throughout the year as well. The reason I ask is because someone once told me that, the higher the price/the lower the availability, the more probable that you might be getting purer stock.

Thanks again for your advice!

 

[mexitex]

I got some from cackle, I got 10 but 4 came dead and I call cackle they send me 5 more now they are 12 month old 3 females and 3 males the rest just didnt make it I dont know they weight but they are darn big right now 2 of them are sick cuz some flu they r doing well anyways this are good and they dont show any sings of trying 2 fight so I have them all in the same place. Hope this help u on someway.

 

[Mrs MIA]

I've not ordered Saipans, but I've never been disappointed by Ideal. I haven't ordered from Cackle, so I can't say, and I've only ordered Cornish Cross from PP, though from what I understand they do not raise their own birds, but are a distributor for those who do. Not sure that helps much, but for what it's worth...

Good luck.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I haven't ordered chickens, but I got some hatchery ducks this spring (to butcher) and I called them "the mutts" and my son called them "the nut cases", to differentiate their flock from my purebred show birds.

If you are going to pay $37 plus shipping to buy hatchery birds, consider instead just spending that money to purchase a pair of show quality birds. You'll get what you want and with a pair of birds, you can have a huge flock of quality birds hatched out by the end of their first year. Chickens lay alot of eggs and each egg is a potential new bird for your flock.

 

[Oregon Blues]

By the way, if you post where you are located, it helps. Maybe someone knows of a source, but has no idea whether it is near you ar not.

 

[wvcooper]

Hi Gresh,

You probably already have them, but I ordered some from Purely Poultry and plan on keeping a picture log of how they turn out. I'm new to this chicken thing, but got the fever bad after getting my kids some chicks at Tractor Supply. Like many newbies I got on the web and came across pics of the Mythical Saipan Jungle Fowl and ordered some. I realize after reading many posts here and other sites that they are truly Mythical. Never the less, I'll take pics and post. I'll let the experts be the judge as to what the really are. Good luck on your quest!

WV-Cooper