I made a HORRIBLE mistake ordering from a hatchery! (Graphic Photos)

[Chicken Heel]

Sadly there are no hatcheries even remotely near us. Our local hardware stopped 'chick days' several years ago (I don't know why). Our only option is chick days at local Tractor Supply. We have heard nothing but horror stories about them. Hubby worked a second job part time there just briefly, and he was appalled. He specifically decided on his own to care for the chicks when they were there. Now, they are out of all chicks anyway. Ordering online is our only option. We can't order a lot of chicks. We have a yard (not a farm or acres), and certain coop space. We normally order the 3 minimum to add to our flock when some pass, keeping it at 8-9 hens max. REALLY hoping this new shipment from Meyer arrives with healthy chicks!

I hope so as well. Speaking of Tractor Supply, I have also supplemented my flock with a few chicks (mostly bantams) from there over the years and have had good luck with them, including 14 that I bought a few weeks after the Blue Rosecomb fiasco in early April. All have done great and been very healthy.

 

[Chicken Heel]

My very first attempt at chicken keeping earlier this year was an order from Meyer. Due to a winter storm (it was February), they had to cancel all shipments for the hatch day in question, so I just canceled the whole order.

Then I decided to go the Ebay hatching eggs route, which had it's own set of stressors. Biggest being, again, USPS. Almost every one of my orders took multiple more days to be delivered than expected, and the very last one more than a week (not a single hatched chick on that one). Prior to getting one delivery from an instate seller, my hatch rate was a dismal 23%.

But, knock on wood, of all of the chicks that made it through the first day (two did not, assisted hatches, had to be euthanized). So bad hatch rate, very good survival rate.

Due to my mix and wanting more hens of certain types, I decided to go the chick route to fill in the gaps of my future flock. I picked up four Bielefelder chicks last Friday and by Sunday, two had passed. No warning on one (it was fine in the morning, dead in the afternoon) and I tried to save the one when I saw it was struggling Sunday morning.

Now, I am gun shy about chicks from other sources. I had 6 chicks ordered from Greenfire but decided to cancel after losing 50% of the local chicks I picked up.

Just my own experience.

I had ordered six Shetland Hen chicks from Greenfire in November 2022 and lost three a few hours after arrival. The remaining three (2 roosters and a hen) have been healthy and the hen remains a great layer. The two roosters have been healthy but are extremely ornery. I had gotten a nasty injury from being spurred in my right calf muscle back in late March by one of them. They both are only still alive because they 1) are rare, and 2) they were $50 each as day old chicks. I have three more hens and four roosters from mating the two devils and the original hen that have done very well both laying eggs and in not being human aggressive. Thankfully so.