healthier chicks.. local farm, hatchery or feed store?

[farmerlor]

I've only bought chickens from the feedstore once. No prob. Bought turkeys there and they all died. Now they get their poultry from the same hatchery I do but it seems like all the people who come to me to buy chicks have had chicks die after they buy them from the feedstore. They come here, look around at my setup, I tell them all about care and feeding and let them know if they have deaths I'll gladly exchange and they can email me anytime with questions about development or illnesses. I have a long list of people waiting for my next birds.

 

[cubalaya]

i would buy locally or raise and hatch my own. sometimes you might go to a hatchery or breeder from another state to get what you want.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Quote:
Well said

And congrats on the new christmas present, it sounds awesome!!!

 

[hollyk]

I have ordered from Ideal and the chicks were great! I then bought 3 dozen hatching eggs from a local guy from craig's list. 29 of the 36 hatched, being my first time I was very pleased. He showed me all around his place, breeding pens, where he mixed his own feed, etc. Now that I have an established flock, I will probably stick to incubating my own. I used our county extension agents bator the first time to see how I liked incubating. I loved it! So, I will put a bator on my Christmas list- do think Santa will deliver in the Spring?

I have never bought from a feed store, I, too, have been displeased with the care I have seen locally. Good Luck!

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
Well said

And congrats on the new christmas present, it sounds awesome!!!

I can understand why a farmer would not want a stranger on the farm. Things like theft and safety of the family. Not to mention the tactics of some animal rights groups. You could show your farm and the next day have your yard full of police with search warrants because of a erroneous report. Or worse a home invasion in the middle of the night.

A lot of farmers will not sell locally for the reasons above, you see it posted in listings all the time. Do not sell locally.

 

[Wifezilla]

Visit the farm and get to know the farmer and his and her practices with his/her flocks and all the animals. You will know if they are well treated and properly cared for by the way they are housed and taken care of.

I got to see Lana's pen, all her flock mates, the new chicken pen the kid's mom was building, their turkey pen....

All animals were healthy and well cared for.

My other ducks, I got free, they were in a dog carrier, and I had no idea how they were raised. But, there were healthy and free...so no complaint.​

 

[IN-farmgirl]

I wish there was a hatchery for me within driving distance. For me, that would be the way to go because you can have them sexed and vaccinated. If you pick them up, they don't suffer stress of shipping. Some hatcheries allow pick up...just gotta find one that's a one-tank trip away and try to site-see on the way over!!

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
If there is one close they are moving the same distance whether you drive them or the post office does. The chicks are good for 3 days after hatching, you may save one day on a close hatchery but depending on the distance the fuel mileage of your vehicle it could cost a whole lot more that letting them ship.

BTW Ideal gets mine to me in 24 hours they are in Texas. They are happy and vibrant when I get them, with time to spare. I should be receiving some tomorrow. With Ideal's reputation I don't need to see their hatchery.

Disclaimer: I do not work for Ideal they just treat me very good and on my first shipment the girl spent over a half hour on the phone with me.

 

[ametauss]

If there's a local stockyard/auction house, look there. Ask a lot of questions from the seller... Sometimes the seller bought from a hatchery and due to the minimum # that you have to buy will sell the extras that they don't want.....

I like this method since you get to do a little dickering over the price and socialize with folks and get to know the seller.... Great way to network for help when needed.... Caution must be taken if you want pullets and not roosters....

I bought straight run chicks from a guy and it turned out all 4 were roosters....

 

[kycklingmamma]

Hi there.

just noticed your post and I have to give you my 5 cents worth of knowledge.

We made the huge misstake of taking in 7 pullets right after Ike, last fall, and bad it was. All of the 7 newbies seemed fine, but a few days into it they all were acting "funny", low and behold of course all of our older 7 pullets came down with whatever the newbies had ,and we almost lost all of them. Unfortunately we decided to medicate and it helped, they are all fine now.
Next time we won't medicate, just natural remedies, and hope for the best......and where did we get these newbies...local craigslist. Next time we will order from ideal hatchery (because it is close by), or from a reputable source like a chicken lover on here.

Petra