Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[Fryze]

speckled sussex is a good breed, look up breeds here and see some of the posts peeps have posted. We just picked up our little ones today! you can google hatcheries in your area,

 

[NotableNancy]

I'm just getting started on the preparation for some chickens for me & my grand-children to enjoy (and for the eggs). I'm researching. I've noticed a lot of post refer to Meyer Hatchery as being the main place to order chicks from?? I'm preparing to get some chicks for the first time and I have a few questions. First....what is the normal wait time on receiving chicks from Meyers? What can I expect when I receive the pkg? What would be the next best hatchery besides Meyers? I have my brooder already prepared. Just trying to decide which would be the best breeds to order. I want large eggs yet gentle, affectionate type which will also make pets for the "grands". Any suggestions there would be greatly appreciated. Thank y'all in advance.

It does seem like a lot of people order from Meyer but there are many other hatcheries as well. I ordered from them because it was the closest to my house therefore it would be less travel time in the mail for my chicks. But even though Meyer is only 1 state away they shipped on Mon and they didn't arrive until Wed which seems about how long it takes to get either 1 state away or across country. Not their fault, just PO travel time I guess.
Ideal may be closer to you. I would do a search for hatcheries in your area or even a Tractor Supply company may get them in near you and they will most likely be from one of the large hatcheries. If I had to do it again, I think I would go to my feed store and get them from there. They only have a 3 chick minimum, get lots of breeds and I could have seen them before choosing them. But every TSC or feed store has different rules, breeds, availability etc.
Also it depends on how many chickens you want. Murray McMurray is a popular hatchery but they have a 25 chick minimum. Many people order from My Pet Chicken but I hear they drop ship from Meyer and other hatcheries. But I think you only have to order a few from them. Wait time on chicks depends on what breeds you want. You have to go on the website and choose breeds and then see when they can arrive. Unless you mean wait time as in how long they take to arrive in the mail... in that case typically 3 days.

What can you expect when the box arrives in the mail? Hopefully all live chicks

Just a small box with adorable balls of fluff cowering in fear in the corner is what I found!

I am very new to chickens so I can't give you any advice as far as breeds and egg size and only let you know about my girls. None of mine are really mean to each other and all are nice to me. Some are a bit more stand offish like the Easter Eggers but they may get more friendly as time goes on and I wanted them for their green eggs and great looks! My Cuckoo Marans is the most talkative and follows me around chatting constantly. My White Cochin lets me hold her but that's the only one. They all come running when I approach the run but I think anyone with food would make them come running. Perhaps if you are only getting a few chicks and you can spend a lot of time with them and hold them etc, they will be very familiar with people and become more friendly. But I think it's just natural for some breeds to be more 'flighty' and run from hands etc. It could just be the luck of the draw personality wise and you may get an extra friendly one. I hear the Orpingtons are friendly and lay large eggs. Leghorns seem to be more flighty but will lay lots of eggs. All of mine eat out of my hands even though some don't want to be pet and cuddled. But, I hear they can change when they start to lay eggs and will become more friendly.
I'm sure others will chime in with more info than I can give since I'm so new. But they are just the cutest things and I can't wait to get outside to visit with them every morning!! Good luck and keep us posted as to what you decide!

 

[NotableNancy]

YEA!!!!! I got my 38 babies today!! they are soooooooo cute, I will get pics tomorrow and post them the mix is 11 partridge rocks, 1 meal maker and 25 of the pan fry mix, I think 3 of them areblue laced red wyandotte roos, but will post and see if anyone can help me with id of the lot

Pics??

We just got our notification that our 6 replacement polish shipped today. I expect to get them on Wed. Can't wait to see what we get.

I have 50 chicks out of today's hatch at Meyer. 30 Rare Layer Assortment and 20 LeAnn's Adopt Me Special. Fingers crossed. I'm looking forward to their arrival in the next couple of days. Squee!

GOOD luck!!! to both of you

Pip your chicks are always soo cute!!!

x3!!!

 

[The Howards]

I'm just getting started on the preparation for some chickens for me & my grand-children to enjoy (and for the eggs). I'm researching. I've noticed a lot of post refer to Meyer Hatchery as being the main place to order chicks from?? I'm preparing to get some chicks for the first time and I have a few questions. First....what is the normal wait time on receiving chicks from Meyers? What can I expect when I receive the pkg? What would be the next best hatchery besides Meyers? I have my brooder already prepared. Just trying to decide which would be the best breeds to order. I want large eggs yet gentle, affectionate type which will also make pets for the "grands". Any suggestions there would be greatly appreciated. Thank y'all in advance.

Hi and welcome to BYC! I originally ordered from Meyer because they had a low order requirement (3) and at the time that was all I wanted. Plus I watched a video of their set-up and read reviews.
1-All 3 of our orders have been shipped out on Monday and have arrived early in the am on Wednesday. We have been very lucky, all arrived alive and only 1 loss on the first order. She was weak and would not come around. It happens, even when they are hatched at home you will lose a few, plus shipping is stressful on any animal.
2- Besides the little balls of adorable fluffiness! They put straw padding in there and a heat pack if only a few are ordered.
3- I have only ordered from Meyer but I have heard good things from other BYC members about Ideal, McMurray, and My Pet Chicken (MPC). MPC is the only place you can order sexed bantams.
4- Affectionate birds?? All of ours will come up to us for treats and petting. Only the top of the pecking order ever dares to jump up on my shoulder. I also got the breeds we have because of the friendliness factor. The key to remember is that each chicken is an individual. There will always be some that are atypical and any chicken can be friendly. The main key is to spend lots of time holding and talking to them. Smaller groups of babies seems to work best for us, 2-4 birds. Our last order had 11 chicks, all are healthy and happy. It is hard to give each one individual time so they seem to be much more independent. The blue cochin likes being held. Here is an old thread about friendly chickens and as you can see it is all across the board. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/709969/what-is-your-friendliest-chicken-what-breed-is-it

 

[Fryze]

This is a group pic and it isn't very good but
I will be getting single pics later today and will post later

 

[timechicken]

An update. My chicks are almost a month old now, and for the most part doing well. They move around so much, it's really hard to get pictures now.

My Black Australorp has toes that curl inwards instead of down, which means she has more trouble perching than the others, but it wasn't noticeable until recently and she seems to be making it work. It looks like her beak is also growing in with an underbite, which isn't a problem for her now, and I'm hoping it stays that way instead of getting worse. You can kind of see her toes on the right, this is from last week, and they did not want to pose.

The silver laced polish is getting huge and feisty, but has a funny little extra toe nail on one foot.

I got two mystery color Silkies, one of which is white and looking very good, far better than I expected from a hatchery. The other is buff, and clearly not going to have much of a top knot. The buff also has lots of smut on the wing feathers, which I think is pretty, but definitely as pet quality as they come.

Saddest, my little Brahma Bantam passed away today. One morning I found her looking a little trampled, under the ecoglow brooder where they all sleep. I separated her, and helped her eat and drink. Some days, it looked like she was improving, but then she'd start getting shakier again, and the wings that she was never good at holding in tight got droopier. Today, she wasn't even interested in the cherry soy ice cream that was her favorite, so I want surprised to find her home a few hours later. She never feathered in like the rest, and she was always the most timid. I'll miss the way she would cuddle into my hand.

So, a couple of little birth defects, but my eight healthy chicks are a joy to watch and play with.

 

[dartfreak75]

My barred rock pullets from Meyer

 

[dartfreak75]

My bramhas from Meyer

 

[dartfreak75]

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

After a few BYC searches to compare pictures, it looks like I got one of the black frizzle Cochins in the 25% that does not inherit the frizzle gene. But I still have my cute little black Cochin bantam, at least.