I changed my hatchery order!

[ESofVA]

I have read on here everywhere that hatchery chickens are just run of the mill chickens, and not really good for anything. Well, that was after I had already ordered! I just joined here!
Anyway, I had ordered 5 dark cornish, 5 salmon faverolles, and 5 buckeyes. After reading for hrs and hrs...every day,...I changed my mind about what I had ordered. Soooooo....I just called the hatchery and changed my order. Cancelled my buckeyes. Had to have a total of 15 lf so i ordered 5 more cornish. Now...I added 15 mixe3d breed bantums. (Is that the correct word for designating more than 1???) .
I have 2 Silver Sebrights and just love them. They are about 4-5 weeks old. So, I decided to add some more banties. (or is this the correct term for meaning more than one??)
I also designated that if subs had to be made, a partial sub only could be done on my LF order (I still need some of both of those breeds) and to make them Cochins. I currently have 1 Cuckoo chick/pullet? at what age do they become pullets instead of chicks??? When they start laying eggs? I can't remember everything 50 years back to my grandfather's farm!!! Anyway, I love her, too and wouldn't mind having another.
I am soooo looking forward to seeing what I get.
We have retired and a small chicken is fine for the two of us to eat but I will keep a few LF hens for eggs.
I can only keep 8-9 chickens over winter. That is the largest # that I think can stay locked up in their house comfortably during the coldest days/nights in winter. (I blanket my horses in winter, too if it gets below 20 for more than just a day or so, or if the wind is really blowing hard and it is below freezing!)
Well...I figure if I keep a few banty's (another way to express more than one...someone please tell me which is right! LOL!

) instead of the same # of chickens..I can keep more!

I mean if I keep 6 LF chickens instead of 9 I could maybe keep 5-6 banties instead of the other 3 LF. That way I would be able to keep 11 chickens total!! Does that sound right?????
Oh well....most of my mouth flapping for today. My 4 yo granddaughter wants to go outside. I want to go back home sometime this week!
Debbie
grandma x 4 now!!

 

[BlazeJester]

I'm sorry to hear the message you got from this forum is that hatchery birds are no good! I have hatchery layers and I like them all very much. They're great at what they do - hang out in the backyard and lay an egg a day. You didn't really order any laying breeds, but the ones you choose to keep will lay well enough for a couple people. I am drowning in eggs right now - I get five a day and hardly even eat eggs!!

As for the designation with bantams, it doesn't really matter. Banties or bantams is common; banty's is grammatically incorrect as the apostrophe indicates the possessive (Sally's egg), but that's technical and you will find all three used on these forums as there are people from all education levels and ages... and just because someone misuses the possessive doesn't mean they don't know a whole lot more about chickens than I do!

 

[hdowden]

i think when people around here state that they are no good its for showing them as they are great for eggs and meat. dont under estimate a chickens ability to live in cold/hot harsh weather i live in louisiana and its really hot right now i had my chicks adjusting to 60 and below by 2 months of age not to mention the broodies that raised chicks when it wasnt getting over 65 and down to the lower 30's if not colder and they were out their in their baby fuzz at a day old...people really do underestimate the survival skills and all of chickens. i have never had any die due to heat nor cold

 

[CarolJ]

Decide what your purpose is in raising chickens. If it's to take to chicken shows and the breed in order to sell chicks or hatching eggs, then buy from a private breeder. However, if you're looking for eggs and/or meat, then hatcheries are a great place to get them. I'm not interested in competing in chicken shows. So most of my chicken are hatchery. They do a wonderful job of providing me with lots of colorful eggs. Plus, they're beautiful! They might not match the breed "standard of perfection" - but usually the difference is something minor (to me) like leg color, type of comb, etc.

And the best thing about hatchery birds - you can buy all pullets, if that's what you want. The prices are good, and you can get a good variety - even one of many different breeds. Just my opinion about it.

 

[hdowden]

Decide what your purpose is in raising chickens. If it's to take to chicken shows and the breed in order to sell chicks or hatching eggs, then buy from a private breeder. However, if you're looking for eggs and/or meat, then hatcheries are a great place to get them. I'm not interested in competing in chicken shows. So most of my chicken are hatchery. They do a wonderful job of providing me with lots of colorful eggs. Plus, they're beautiful! They might not match the breed "standard of perfection" - but usually the difference is something minor (to me) like leg color, type of comb, etc.

And the best thing about hatchery birds - you can buy all pullets, if that's what you want. The prices are good, and you can get a good variety - even one of many different breeds. Just my opinion about it.

sometimes its not miner like when it involves the actual pattern such as my silver laced polish shes no wheres near being able to even compete because her lacing is so horrible, and my mille he has way to much white it would take several years just to get their color proper with selective breeding and all (this holds true for all other problems for the most part as well)...but like it you said it depends on what you want the chickens for

 

[ESofVA]

I have wanted chickens again for years. I had a few RIR and BR. One RIR rooster was great, the other as mean as a snake. The 2nd one wound up in the pot.
I have no interest in showing. We want meat for the freezer and eggs for ourselves and maybe some to sell to other people for eating.
I bought 21 chicks the middle of April when I was out of town at our old house...YEA!!! Chickens again. Also bought a small house and pen from TSC. I had a conference to go to and found that the lamp I had just wasn't warm enough in the cardboard box they were in.
SO....I cut a smaller box and turned it upside down in the big box. It was about 1/5 the size. I put shavings in the bottom. Then I put a heating pad set on Med. (don't

) over the top and down one side of the little box. I covered the heating pad with a towel. Inside of that little box was as toasty as could be and dark as well. the chicks loved it. was like getting under a hen! They lived in there for about a 2 weeks.
OK,,,for my 1st chicks...I bought Buff Orpingtons, Marans, Wyandottes, Australorps. a Cochin, 6 banties, Araucana, Dark Cornish, Minorca, Brahma,Speckled Sussex, Delaware, Barred Rocks, and Jersey Giant. Can't remember which I bought where but they came from...Banties from TSC except for the Sebrights which came from a local breeder, 2 ?? LF from TSC. I bought quite a few from the old Purina place where I grew up, a few from a farm supply sortof place near my son's house, and after I got home, the rest from that local breeder. I think I bought 13 from him. As you can see, I ran the gambit!!! I wanted as wide of a selection as I could get. I figured I could then decide which breeds I liked best and the rest would go into the freezer this fall. About 1/2 are supposed to be pullets and the rest st run. I started with 3 gold laced wyandottes and noticed they were standoffish and not very sociable. While at the conference I gave those 3 to someone who had wanted chickens. I wondered if it was just those chicksm so I bought one more from the breeder which was younger/smaller hoping that would make a difference.
The day after I bought the last batch (those from the breeder one of his chicks started looking ill. Then the next day more, Then 1 lost a bantie and the sick one from him. I got REALLY worried that I would lose them all. I know they didn't have coccidiosis and figured a resp problem. I went to the local feed store and bought medicated feed, a vitamin mineral supplement, and Oxytetracycline...the spelling might be somewhat off. I read about putting molasses in their drinking water...I did that.
Man did I fix that water!!! I lost 3 more banties (all the banties were from TSC) and one LF chick before the rest of the chicks started doing better. They are fine now. Finally What a relief.

! I had to kill 2 of the banties to keep them from suffering..there was no hope for them and I can't stand to watch suffering. I broke their necks over to one side of my body while I looked toward the other side. I could't watch myself do it.
Needless to say, quite a few of my chicks are incorrectly identified. I don't know for sure what all I have but I do over 50%.

I will have more than enough chickens for meat and eggs. I can make decisions on which to keep. I am sure you can eat bantam eggs but never have. How many does it take to approximate a lg LF egg????
I think I will raise chicks from Cornish hens and banties for meat while selecting from my other breeds for eggs. I may even do some crossing to get what I want.
I am not sure what kind of LF rooster to keep. Maybe a Salmon Faverolle? Would make nice colors anyway!

After all...I told my husband if I am keeping chickens, there is no difference in cost to raise "pretty"ones versus just plain!
I like having purebreds. I like knowing what I have. If it is not a purebred, then I want to know what the cross is. For showing, I could care less as long as they are nice birds.

 

[Aschenfire]

I don't think hatchery birds are especially horrible. I have various breeds and most of them are hatchery birds. I don't have anything that is "horrible", and actually have some pretty nice chickens. I'd not be afraid, for example, to take my Modern Game Bantams, Cuckoo Marans, or Buff Orpingtons to a show. I have SLW's that are just starting to molt into adult plumage, and I have one pretty faulty looking one with crappy lacing, but the other is gorgeous. I think it depends. Yes, you're going to get consistently better birds from reputable private breeders (hopefully), but there is nothing wrong with hatchery birds for meat, eggs, entertainment, and even small fun shows.