Its time!!!!!!

[Silkie Chicken]

Hello, I was planning on maybe ordering some more silkies for next spring but I has going to put them on hold till april, But I was wondering is mypetchicken.com a good place to order silkie bantams from, or does anyone have pics of there silkies they ordered from there.

 

[Silkie Chicken]

Anyone?

 

[featheredmom]

My pet chicken uses Meyer hatchery for most of their chicks. So that might be a better way of getting more responses, finding out more info!

Our first silkies came from the feed store(not sure what hatchery they used) and our current batch came from Murray McMurray, so I have nothing to offer on Meyer of MPC(I just placed an order for eggs from MPC and chicks from Meyer, but they haven't arrived yet).

Good Luck!!

 

[Silkie Chicken]

Thanks

 

[RhodeRunner]

MyPetChicken is a drop shipper, whom gets their Silkies from other hatcheries. With them, I would expect normal hatchery stock fowl. In short, poor quality Silkies that look so ugly you will have to laughingly call them cute.

Health wise, the birds should be fine. They tend to also make dandy pets and brooders. But, as always, if you want quality fowl you must purchase them from a good private breeder. Silkies are very popular chickens, and there are many breeders of them on BYC!

 

[Silkie Chicken]

Do you know any breeders?

 

[Silkie Chicken]

Could i see pics of mypetchicken silkies?

 

[featheredmom]

Well, I have to disagree that hatchery stock is always "bad," we have 2 feed store silkies(undoubtedly hatchery stock), one is cute but nowhere near perfect, the other is close. She is not perfect, but she is not so far from breed standard that it is laughable either. I believe that she would be fine in a 4H type show but that would be about it.

I do have to say though, whatever hatchery our local feed 'n seed uses, is a good one. I actually have one Ameraucana that meets breed standard for white-while the rest are 100% EE, go figure. I know that my white is still an EE, but the fact that she meets the standard says something about their stock. I would never enter her in a show, but if I did, not even the most trained eye would be able to tell the difference, she has slate legs, muff/beard, lays the most gorgeous blue eggs, if I only had her I would argue with those that said hatcheries only deliver EEs(I have 17, the other 16 are the gold/black/red/brown of EEs)

We have many hatchery birds, so far we are pleased as punch with them for pets and a couple stand out as beautiful birds...I think that is the norm. We have a barred rock rooster that could compete any day of the week, he is gorgeous and perfect. I honestly started with hatchery birds only because I didn't know any better(and my daughter was not interested in show birds at the time), but as time has gone on and I have learned more, I will use breeders for my future stock, BUT that is not saying that hatchery stock can't produce a show bird, just that the odds are against you. I do not know what the statistics are, but maybe 1 in 20 hatchery birds will be SQ, but 1 in 2 breeder birds will be SQ(remember breeders cull and select birds too). So if you are like me and cannot stand the thought of culling a bird, you are best off getting breeder stock if you want to show your birds.

 

[RhodeRunner]

Do you know any breeders?

There are many!
you can try
CJ http://www.cjsilkies.com
Catdance http://www.catdancesilkies.com
Bobbi http://www.indigoegg.us/NewOwners.html
or even look locally. We have several Silkie breeders that sell chicks on Craigslist every spring.

 

[RhodeRunner]

Well, I have to disagree that hatchery stock is always "bad," we have 2 feed store silkies(undoubtedly hatchery stock), one is cute but nowhere near perfect, the other is close. She is not perfect, but she is not so far from breed standard that it is laughable either. I believe that she would be fine in a 4H type show but that would be about it.

I do have to say though, whatever hatchery our local feed 'n seed uses, is a good one. I actually have one Ameraucana that meets breed standard for white-while the rest are 100% EE, go figure. I know that my white is still an EE, but the fact that she meets the standard says something about their stock. I would never enter her in a show, but if I did, not even the most trained eye would be able to tell the difference, she has slate legs, muff/beard, lays the most gorgeous blue eggs, if I only had her I would argue with those that said hatcheries only deliver EEs(I have 17, the other 16 are the gold/black/red/brown of EEs)

We have many hatchery birds, so far we are pleased as punch with them for pets and a couple stand out as beautiful birds...I think that is the norm. We have a barred rock rooster that could compete any day of the week, he is gorgeous and perfect. I honestly started with hatchery birds only because I didn't know any better(and my daughter was not interested in show birds at the time), but as time has gone on and I have learned more, I will use breeders for my future stock, BUT that is not saying that hatchery stock can't produce a show bird, just that the odds are against you. I do not know what the statistics are, but maybe 1 in 20 hatchery birds will be SQ, but 1 in 2 breeder birds will be SQ(remember breeders cull and select birds too). So if you are like me and cannot stand the thought of culling a bird, you are best off getting breeder stock if you want to show your birds.

Hatchery stock isn't bad, it just has a different purpose. They are not breed to the standard of perfection, and a show quality hatchery bird is an exception. The odds being against you, is certainly an accurate statement. Statistically speaking, 1 out of 2 breeder quality fowl doesn't quality for the breeders pen, let alone the show ring. Breeders hatch hundreds of fowl, and select very few for breeding/showing. This selection (culling) is what makes their fowl better then a hatchery.