Ideal help!

[blkpoodles]

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I've ordered from them over several years to get stuff for color projects. As to a correct answer from mine and many other post I have seen. They are extremely off on "SHOW QUALITY"

I got 50 or so silkies at one time, they werent blind thats for sure. No crest at all, no beards, many had normal hard feathers, 4 toes instead of 5, yellow or pink legs and skin (not black), single combs, wattles, etc.... This is as far OFF show quality as you can get with a bird.
I've gotten decent old english games, but many no where near the color they should have been and as Cuban said, some are 4 pounds when they should be 24 onces or so.

If you are wanting breeding stock, this is not the place to go. If you just want chickens for fun, they are great.

Dont go into this with them, or any hatchery and be expecting to get breeders out of it. Pet quality is all you will get, on a very rare occation some will be breeder quality, virtually never show quality.

Yes I am a breeder, but this is just the truth when talking quality and hatcheries. Yes breeders have this too, BUT the difference is, they are the exception and culled, most will at least be breeder quality with a few culls scattered in.

So the overall honest answer to how far off show quality to expect...is not even close to show quality. Most will some what reflect the breed, some are totally off all together.

im not trying to call you a lyer, and dont take this as i am cause im not. i ordered 6 silkies and they have 5 toes, black legs and face and skin. theyre still too young to get a comb and what not since they're only 3 weeks old. but im am sure they are pet quality thats why im gonna get show quality chicks from a breeder

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

I love Ideal, they have a great selection of birds for not very much money. For layers and barnyard birds, they are a great hatchery.

 

[SilkieBantams]

The feed store that I've bought my chicks from which is Quality Feed were from Ideal. I'm hoping that 1 of my Silkies turns out SQ or BQ

 

[al6517]

You did mention that you were more breed sensitive lately and just wanted a better bird but not SQ. Well the hatchery is the place for pet quality and that means people don't care what they look like as long as it has 2 leg's and lay's an egg. Folks will say they are happy with hatchery birds quality but that is because they don't know what to even look for as this site is loaded with hatchery mutt's and you can't get an idea of real quality, plus all their friends also have hatchery birds.

Now as far as the best of the worst in hatchery cases goe's Ideal is a little better than most but mainly in their customer service and shipping, their birds still look the same as all the other hatcheries though. Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[Oregon Blues]

[[[....how un-show quality are the Ideal birds? ....]]]]]

I bought ducks in my breed (for the freezer) from Ideal and they were close to the same age and raised the same way as my show ducklings, and they were so different that they could have been a completely different breed. You can't get much further away from show quality than that. I would never even consider using them for breeding.

Ideal sells nice healthy pet quality hatchlings and their custom service is top rate. Prices for birds and shipping is really reasonable. A fine place to get pets as long as you don't have your heart set on a certain look or behavior.


[[[[[[........Most of the time it's breeders telling you this. .....]]]]]

Just maybe that's because the breeders are the ones who actually know what the birds should look like. People with a couple of barnyard mutts haven't looked at the SOP, probably because they don't care. Which is fine if they are happy with a pet, but it hardly qualifies them to tell what is exhibition quality and what is not.

 

[gryeyes]

I've ordered from Ideal and been happy with what I got, extremely happy. For the OP's purposes, Ideal Hatchery would be ideal.

 

[al6517]

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X10 Blue is right............... Pet chicken folks will ask for oppinions on the quality of their birds but don't like honesty from people who actually know the difference, those post are then followed by the pet chicken folks who will continue to encourage the poor breeding the hatcheries by saying things like.............. awwww it's still so pretty and cute.............. yeah Ok but that is Ok cause that's all the pet chicken community want's to hear.

Breeders are not snob's it just so happens we just know chickens in the reality not the fantasy, and just like to improve our breeds through knowledge not emotions and hatchery support groups, that's all.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

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couldnt have said it better myself.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
X10 Blue is right............... Pet chicken folks will ask for oppinions on the quality of their birds but don't like honesty from people who actually know the difference, those post are then followed by the pet chicken folks who will continue to encourage the poor breeding the hatcheries by saying things like.............. awwww it's still so pretty and cute.............. yeah Ok but that is Ok cause that's all the pet chicken community want's to hear.

Breeders are not snob's it just so happens we just know chickens in the reality not the fantasy, and just like to improve our breeds through knowledge not emotions and hatchery support groups, that's all.

well said by the both of you.
Seems everytime I tell the truth, I get the replies like above. Theres a difference when you know what you are looking at, a major one.


And no, I wasnt lying (in reference to that post) I ordered quite a bit, reds, lavenders and a few of their other oddities in silkies. Honestly, they were mutts, they werent good enough to even be called silkies. I just wanted color project stuff was the only reason, but with what I got, I tossed them and started from scratch.
Ideal does have one of the best reps on customer service, but I always loose half the order in transit,(their bantams seem very fraile) and never get typie birds or the correct color that I was sold.

That being said, I order the off the wall stuff again for color work. The problem is, they do color work too, BUT they sell them immediately as it apears. The birds are no where near type and the colors are horrible. Ever asked yourself why they only have drawings of their birds and no real pics on their website. Now you know....the drawings look better than the birds...some they dont even have drawings on???

Now, the more standard colors, I have never ordered from them, no need to get standard colors from a hatchery in my line or bird work. SO, THE standard colors more commonly boght I am sure, or at least hope are more up to par. BUT, they are still hatchery birds.

To the poster above hoping for a breeder or show quality bird, good luck with that!

 

[Arielle]

OP, I have been fortunate to have access to a prominant breeder of chickens and his advice is start with what you have ! ANd honestly, while trying to acquire very good quality stock for a breeding project, I have had to turn to him for advice on which breeders to go to for stock.

Now having said this, I bought 10 chicks from a breeder, and not one of these are SQ. Many of the posts here would have you believe that breeders stock will always be better, in my experience this has not been the case. Not many birds are SQ; even a breeder needs to breed a lot of birds to get that one SQ bird. No one has a perfect flock of only SQ birds. However, many good breeds work very hard to work toward the SOP and on average have more birds that are closer to the SOP.

If you want to enjoy a back yard flock, that is free of disease, and you can get the breeds you want, go for hatchery birds. I've ordered from Mcmurray, bought Meyers and plan to order from Ideal. ANd need to wait until spring to get breeding stock from . . . . . the waiting is killing me . . . .

Enjoy the birds you get, learn about the care of chickens, and if you are moved to become a steward of the breed, then acquire good breeding stock. Just get started . . . we love chickens and wish we had bought them sooner!