Since the rest has been answered I'll just respond to this part...
I've had better experiences (3) from private breeders.
One was a box of chicks sent from a member here, with Ameraucana and Genetic Hackle chicks. All arrived very perky and grew into good examples of their breed.
Another time I drove to another town to a listed Ameraucana breeder and picked up four of her 2 year old hens in a rare color (Isabel). It was a good experience. They were low cost and still had good egg production for another year and I still have one old girl at 7 now who tries to contribute an egg or two a week, currently.
One year we drove to Louisiana for Mosaic chicks from a breeder on FB. They were all healthy and good examples of their breed. But I had followed her for a while and was confident that's what I would receive.
Oh, I almost forgot about the 4th experience... there was a local guy, who I've since learned is more of a chicken trader, who I bought English Orpingtons from. I don't know that I would call the experience bad, because they were good examples of their breed in type. But many had poor immune systems, it seemed to be genetic, as I lost them slowly over time before maturity. Just one made it, and was a very healthy rooster so I used him to make some mixes
In summary:
I've lost more hatchery chicks, for sure. And over time found myself dissatisfied with their adult type and performance.
I had hatchery Speckled Sussex who were far underweight and laid barely medium eggs.
Faverolles who often arrived sickly and delicate, Wyandottes with barely any bulk and bad color, etc.
Just going back that far in my memory jogged a couple more with breeders, sorry...
There WAS an Ameraucana lady I had a bad experience with. The chicks were mixed age which she didn't warn us of, and several that were supposed to be Lavender turned out Blue. One had bent toes. We were very new to chickens way back then, and my Mom made the mistake of posting to a shared chicken group about the problems, where she was piled-on by cult-like supporters and the breeder posted several defensive litanies that totally turned my mom off of socializing in the chicken world.
Hatching eggs: I've had a few not-awesome experiences... less concerned with hatch rates (expected) and more what they grew up like. My first ever hatched Chicks were Silkies that were supposed to be Splash, but were White.
Some WFBS that were true to type but not vigorous. I'm raising some WFBS chicks now that seem more healthy. So it's a mixed bag.
Whoever you go with, just do some research into them first. Sadly, most info is on FB now, which makes it awkward IMO. But maybe you have a friend or kid who might search on there for you? I follow a group called "good egg / bad egg" which is good for finding out about bad breeders.
