Is Ideal Hatchery a good hatchery?

[gamefowl-layers]

SKIP TWO PARAGRAPHS FOR MAIN QUESTIONS.

Late May I ordered 50 Easter egger Pullets and received 51. I managed to save 40 of them since the first 11 died of pasty butts but now I obviously know what to do the first 2 weeks of life. I sold 35 pullets and 5 males at 3months and 4months age. (Just recently).

I really enjoyed breeding them, especially since they all grew with very unique colors and their little beards. I wanted to order again but unfortunately they do not ship this time of year. Fortunately ideal hatchery/poultry does.

MAIN QUESTIONS:
1) Ideal Hatchery experiences? How many chicks did you order?
2) Any Easter Egger pictures from ideal hatchery?

I am looking to order at least 100 so I can sell most. A lot of people near me would rather buy them for $15-$20 at ages 3-4 months rather than raise them from chicks since they run a lot of risks. (Health, males in the groups, etc.) So if I can make money doing something I really like, I figured why not just order more? Please let me know anything helps thank you.

 

[QueenMisha]

I actually work at a place that does basically what you're trying to do - order a hundred (or in our case, a few times that), raise them to an older age, and sell them. Based on these experiences I would not recommend Ideal hatchery.

Good points: Their customer service and prices aren't bad. They would probably be a good hatchery if, you know, they had good birds.

Aside from the fact that their birds are of pretty awful quality in terms of type and color (example below), they are not very healthy. While none usually appear outright sickly, they are very slow to grow in comparison to other hatchery's birds, and have poor overall conformation. In a recent batch, multiple breeds were practically dwarfed by Easter Eggers of the same age from Belt hatchery. We still have three Silkies from that batch, who are currently at around eleven weeks and are the same size as three week old standard chicks.

Here is a photo of a supposed "Salmon Faverolles" sold by Ideal Hatchery. Look at some photos of real Faverolles (note their combs, legs, and overall shape) then compare to this fowl. It becomes clear that she is nothing but a mutt. Ironically, this bird was the largest and healthiest. Goes to show how far their quality has dropped.

My recommendations would be Cackle or Belt hatcheries. Both have proven themselves time and time again to have solid quality birds. Cackle in particular I am a big fan of, their birds are always the healthiest and truest to type.

 

[gamefowl-layers]

I actually work at a place that does basically what you're trying to do - order a hundred (or in our case, a few times that), raise them to an older age, and sell them. Based on these experiences I would not recommend Ideal hatchery.

Good points: Their customer service and prices aren't bad. They would probably be a good hatchery if, you know, they had good birds.

Aside from the fact that their birds are of pretty awful quality in terms of type and color (example below), they are not very healthy. While none usually appear outright sickly, they are very slow to grow in comparison to other hatchery's birds, and have poor overall conformation. In a recent batch, multiple breeds were practically dwarfed by Easter Eggers of the same age from Belt hatchery. We still have three Silkies from that batch, who are currently at around eleven weeks and are the same size as three week old standard chicks.

Here is a photo of a supposed "Salmon Faverolles" sold by Ideal Hatchery. Look at some photos of real Faverolles (note their combs, legs, and overall shape) then compare to this fowl. It becomes clear that she is nothing but a mutt. Ironically, this bird was the largest and healthiest. Goes to show how far their quality has dropped.

My recommendations would be Cackle or Belt hatcheries. Both have proven themselves time and time again to have solid quality birds. Cackle in particular I am a big fan of, their birds are always the healthiest and truest to type.

Thank you very much for the information. I guess I'll wait on cackle hatchery just to be sure on their health. I'll look into Belt since they are closer to me and shipping might not be too expensive.

 

[Hemlock Hollow]

I ordered 8 chicks from Ideal Hatcheries including 3 Easter Eggers, but received 15. The rest were beautiful male Rhode Island Reds. They throw in the extra chicks to keep everyone warm during shipping. I didn't realize they would do that, but it was pretty neat. I really loved the variety of color, they all arrived healthy and happy. I wasn't looking for one breed, so I can't say about show quality, but the chicks have laid many eggs. One Easter Egger went broody one time and hatched and raised her own chick very well. The others have not gone broody at all yet.

Good luck!