Ideal poultry

[handrosilva239]

Just ordered my chicks from ideal poultry. So excited !!!! I ordered 15 cornish rocks, 3 americanas (pullets), and 5 buff orphington. Did i make a good choice for choosing ideal poultry.?

 

[lightchick]

Yes! I used Ideal poultry for my chicks and they are 18 weeks old now! I love the cheap shipping and fairly quick shipping!

 

[N F C]

You can read member reviews of some of the hatcheries (including Ideal) following this link:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/hatcheries-day-old-chicks

Seems to me opinions on hatcheries, any hatchery, will be a mix of good and not so good, it all depends on the individual's experience with them. We used Murray McMurray to get chicks back in April and had a wonderful delivery of great birds, but someone else might not have had that kind of luck.

Sometimes it's not so much a problem with the hatchery as it is with the delivery of the birds. Even healthy wonderful little chicks can't always survive a shipping issue (for example, being late getting delivered).

Be sure to notify your post office of the expected due date (at least a couple times) and if at all possible, drive to the post office as soon as they get that day's worth of mail so you can pick them up. That way your chicks won't have to ride around all day in the back of a mail carrier's truck...you'll be able to get them quicker and get them off to a fast start with food and water. Also, when you pick them up at the PO, you can open the box in front of a PO employee so if there are any DOA's (and hopefully there won't be), you'll have someone that can verify the loss.

Good luck and have fun with your new little ones!

 

[handrosilva239]

You can read member reviews of some of the hatcheries (including Ideal) following this link:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/hatcheries-day-old-chicks

Seems to me opinions on hatcheries, any hatchery, will be a mix of good and not so good, it all depends on the individual's experience with them. We used Murray McMurray to get chicks back in April and had a wonderful delivery of great birds, but someone else might not have had that kind of luck.

Sometimes it's not so much a problem with the hatchery as it is with the delivery of the birds. Even healthy wonderful little chicks can't always survive a shipping issue (for example, being late getting delivered).

Be sure to notify your post office of the expected due date (at least a couple times) and if at all possible, drive to the post office as soon as they get that day's worth of mail so you can pick them up. That way your chicks won't have to ride around all day in the back of a mail carrier's truck...you'll be able to get them quicker and get them off to a fast start with food and water. Also, when you pick them up at the PO, you can open the box in front of a PO employee so if there are any DOA's (and hopefully there won't be), you'll have someone that can verify the loss.

Good luck and have fun with your new little ones!

Thanks for the tip.!

 

[Michael OShay]

Just ordered my chicks from ideal poultry. So excited !!!! I ordered 15 cornish rocks, 3 americanas (pullets), and 5 buff orphington. Did i make a good choice for choosing ideal poultry.?

I've ordered chicks from Ideal Poultry on several occasions (including the three breeds that you've ordered), and have been happy with their birds and service. I've never lost more than 1 or 2 chicks in shipping, and since they put extra chicks in the boxes, I got what I paid for. There are a couple of things you should be aware of. You should wait no later than 8 weeks to butcher your Cornish cross. If you wait much beyond that time, they will begin to develop serious problems due to their abnormal growth rate. Also, your Ameraucanas are not true Ameraucanas (a true breed that lays only blue eggs), but they are actually Easter Eggers (I was aware of this when I ordered mine). The only large hatchery that I am aware of that breeds true Ameraucanas is Meyer Hatchery (they breed Blue Ameraucans). Easter Eggers are hybrids produced by crossing true Ameraucanas with other breeds to produce offspring that lay eggs in colors other than just blue (olive, green, beige, and occasionally even a pale pink or gold). EEs are typically better layers than their Ameraucana parents and they are my granddaughter's (pictured in my avatar) favorite chickens. She loves their different colored eggs. There is no standard type for EEs like there is for true Ameraucanas, and being hybrids, EEs will not breed true. There is a good article at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/09/ameraucana-easter-egger-or-araucana.html explaining the differences between Ameraucanas, Araucanas, and Easter Eggers. Good luck with your chick order.

 

[handrosilva239]

T

I've ordered chicks from Ideal Poultry on several occasions (including the three breeds that you've ordered), and have been happy with their birds and service.  I've never lost more than 1 or 2 chicks in shipping, and since they put extra chicks in the boxes, I got what I paid for.  There are a couple of things you should be aware of.  You should wait no later than 8 weeks to butcher your Cornish cross.  If you wait much beyond that time, they will begin to develop serious problems due to their abnormal growth rate.  Also, your Ameraucanas are not true Ameraucanas (a true breed that lays only blue eggs), but they are actually Easter Eggers (I was aware of this when I ordered mine).  The only large hatchery that I am aware of that breeds true Ameraucanas is Meyer Hatchery (they breed Blue Ameraucans). Easter Eggers are hybrids produced by crossing true Ameraucanas with other breeds to produce offspring that lay eggs in colors other than just blue (olive, green, beige, and occasionally even a pale pink or gold).  EEs are typically better layers than their Ameraucana parents and they are my granddaughter's (pictured in my avatar) favorite chickens.  She loves their different colored eggs.  There is no standard type for EEs like there is for true Ameraucanas, and being hybrids, EEs will not breed true. There is a good article at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/09/ameraucana-easter-egger-or-araucana.html explaining the differences between Ameraucanas, Araucanas, and Easter Eggers.  Good luck with your chick order.

. Thanks for the tip really helped me alot and how many extra chicks do they put in the order.?

 

[Michael OShay]

T
. Thanks for the tip really helped me alot and how many extra chicks do they put in the order.?

usually 2 or 3, but on rare occasion 4 or 5. If you ordered straight run as opposed to pullets, the extras (known in the industry as "packing peanuts") are likely to be cockerels. For the past two or more decades, I have only ordered pullets in orders of 25 birds, and even then I usually get a couple of cockerels in the order.

 

[handrosilva239]

usually 2 or 3, but on rare occasion 4 or 5.  If you ordered straight run as opposed to pullets, the extras (known in the industry as "packing peanuts") are likely to be cockerels.  For the past two or more decades, I have only ordered pullets in orders of 25 birds, and even then I usually get a couple of cockerels in the order.

Thank you so much for the info

.!

 

[Michael OShay]

Thank you so much for the info

.!

You're welcome.

 

[lightchick]

Yes, when we ordered we only ordered 9 chicks and 6 of those were bantams so we got ten extra roosters. The roosters were Rhode Island reds.