ideal hatchery

[mycountrycabin]

Quote:
The high temperature we have been having, the extras are for heat.

oohh ok thanks

 

[RhodeRunner]

Happy that all your chicks are appear to be well. I myself, ordered from Ideal and I was very pleased with the Old English Game Bantams. They are beautiful and some of the nicest chickens I have ever owned. They fly right up on my shoulder when they see me, and chase me around the yard. At night, they sleep in the trees.

However, their Silkie and Brahma chickens are much to be desired. The Light Brahmas have to be mixed with dark. Their Dark Brahmas were the evilest little devils I ever had, ever since they were babies. Their Buff Brahmas look all right, but they aren’t very special. None of the birds are friendly.

Their Silkies are okay, but nothing speical. Pet Quality, but none of mine look that great, nor do they have great tempers. They are just yard birds.

I would be happy to work with them again, but will not buy their Brahmas.

 

[Drafthorsegal]

I love Ideal. All my favorite individual birds came from there.

You'll be happy.

 

[worldwidechick]

Our order from Ideal was not great, just okay. They are super nice people though and refunded any dead on arrival chicks. The quality of their RIR's was mediocre, the eggs rather small and very light beige. They are though, the friendliest chickens ever. The 6 SLW and GLW are small, pet-quality birds. The silkies are so-so, and calm. Not really fuzzy, but as described. The naked necks were great though. Their customer service was super wonderful, the birds are just ok. I do prefer Murray McMurray, we' ve ordered from them multiple times and will go back again. They always send some extra, not packing peanuts for warmth, but a couple extra in case something doesn't make the trip very well.

 

[Tailfeathers]

Quote:
Hi, Could you perhaps better explain what you mean by that? Part of what it means to be SQ is that the breed "looks like their supposed to."

Now you may have a hatchery bird that looks pretty close to what it should but has faults or DQs and would still be acceptable to most. However, my experience has been that very few hatchery birds even come close to looking like what a breed really should. I guess it would really all depend on how "close" is to matter to you.

Personally speaking, it takes the same amount of money to feed a poor looking chicken as it does a really nice one. I have a few hatchery birds that I keep around basically for some variety and their eggs. I usually wind up selling them every year and trying some others. Once I found a breed that I really want to keep, I look for a breeder.

Oh btw, by "breeder", I am NOT referring to some backyard farmer that throws a bunch of birds in a pen and then sells the chicks to help pay the feed bill. I am referring to someone who is truly working on the breed, in all probability showing the breed, and is doing so for the protection, preservation, perpetuation, and improvement of the breed.

Having said all that, be happy with what you have. There is an awful lot of us, if not most of us, who started out with hatchery birds and graduated on later to becoming breeders of some fine birds. There's nothing wrong with having hatchery birds. Just keep your expectations low and you won't be disappointed.

Hope that helps.

God Bless,

 

[rancher hicks]

Well now I ordered my first time from Ideal and all the chicks arrived alive and survived. I order 8 different breeds.
Of the red frizzles 2 have black in them, not happy about that.
Of the Blk Austr, small, med, and large. I ordered 3 of each of these and the others.
Of the CM's one med. one large, one killed by coon.
Dominiques one is a runt.
My point is same breed considerable difference in size.
As for finding reputable breeders, I have found only two who reply to e-mails. One is for Dorkings in NH and may I drive there just to get them.
As for breeding good stock it seems to me that shouldn't be a problem for hatcheries as they would have money and access to chickens close to the standard right? Still it all depends on who's in the gene pool.

 

[rhodiegal]

I have only ever ordered from them b/c they are one of the few that don't make you order 25 at a time. All of mine have always been healthy and good layers. The only problem I ever had was the last order (and this really is not too much of a problem) - one died about 15 minutes after I took it out of the box. Another ended up being a cockerel instead of a pullet. No big deal.

Have ordered in past:

Orloff
Hamburg
Spitzhauben
Brabanter
Lakenvelder
Maran
Wyandotte
Amercauna
Barred Rocks
Buff Orpington
Light Brahma
Turken