Ideal Poultry Breeding Farms, Inc

[AlabamaChickenHead]

Well, if you can keep a roo (you have the space, and dont mind some crowing) you can replinish your own flock for free by letting the roo mate with your hens. Not to mention that a roo is the protector of the flock, and will give up his on life defending the flock from a predator etc. In fact a good way to tell roos from hens when they are young is to throw something over the flocks heads (stick, fresbie, football, etc) the roos will look straight up to see what the threat is, the hens will either run or squat and hold their heads down.

Just dont try to keep several mature roos, they will fight....to the death in some casses.

 

[the1much]

well ive ordered from them,, takes my chicks a half a day to get here,,lol,,, and ive bought 100 so far, 150 this week, and 250 the end of the month.
and prices on their hens i havent looked at, but i remember in mcmurray, they were like 10 or 15 bucks a piece,, which i ALMOST went for,, till i see what the shipping per bird was,,, was like 25 bucks per bird, plus the initial 15

 

[AlabamaChickenHead]

BTW......your brooder looks like the penthouse at Trump Tower compairded to mine. I just use a giant rubbermaid container (I believe its 50 Gal, got it at wal-mart for about $14), which works great for the first 5-6 weeks then they go straight to the pen with my mature flock.

I use a single 65 watt bulb (for 25 chicks) about 16-18 inches above the chicks, and I can maintain 90 degrees with no problem, also I hang the light just over one end of the rubbermaid, so if they get too hot they just move to the other end. It looks like you have a 250 watt heat lamp, I would be very careful with that thing, you can cook um with that.

Just a bit of advice, place your waterer on the same end as your heat lamp, it will help dry up the spilled water, becasue they will spill water everywhere jumping on the waterer.

 

[mjdtexan]

Quote:
Yep, I've wondered about that, the lamp is on a reostat and I've been experimenting with it to get at just the right tempature.

I never thought about the water spillage thing.

I went a picked up starter feed and the waterers and feeders today.

I also got a small package of "Vitamins & Electrolytes" made by a company called Durvet.

 

[Sukiyaki]

I ordered about eleven polish chicks and got FIVE light brahma cockerels as warmers. They were like twice the size of the other chicks.

I ended up having to find homes for them once I figured out they grew to be so large!

 

[the1much]

where was i ??????

 

[the1much]

doubled on me,,,,,hmmmm,,,, well,,,, where was i??????????? lol

 

[farmgirlshelley]

I ordered from Ideal. The chicks are beautiful and healthy, except one Ameracauna who has a severe cross bill. We call her Crooked Beak. Customer service is great. The important thing to me is that they are true to breed, and not a mix or mystery. I was told by a lady from 4H that one of my black australorps was beautiful enough to show. I love them! They are so sweet and friendly.

 

[Promiselandfarm]

Well so many like them and then there is me. I ordered from them it got messed up(*over charged not once but twice) and then the chicks all came dead. Then the resent chick and forgot to tell me they were also including my order which was to come later. They were not as lively or as healthy as chicks I ordered from another hatchery, they get the same feed and are not near the quality or size as those I ordered from Hoovers. Getting my money back was a pain until I just called my bank and told them all the issues.
However, if you think about it and you want pullets you will have the feed in them which will cost you almost the same as getting a started hen or pullet. Also the risk of losing it to death will be less. Not sure if you have local breeders to purchase from or can find pullets ready to go.

 

[AlabamaChickenHead]

I took a look at Hoover's website after someone above metnioned them. I don't understand how they came up with three differnt potential mature bird weights for their meat birds.

"....Our fast growing meat type bird...you can't equal them anywhere! Pullets can weigh 5.96 lbs. in 56 days. St. Run 6.74 lbs. in 56 days, Cox 7.57 lbs. in 56 days. Excellent feed conversion. "

They reference a "St. Run" weight (not sure I understand that logic or math)

Either they are referrering to a "Caponized Bird", but calling it St.Run, OR they are trying to give an estimate of mature bird weight when ordering just St.Run birds, either way it is very confusing and should have just been left at Pullet, and Cockerel weight.