New mixed flock straight from hatchery

[oldrooster]

I want to ask a simple question I see people posting they are buying 2,3,4 chicks of different bred, I realize that you are guaranteed those breeds if ordering that way so you know what you have but my question is to those whom do not care what breeds they have they want a diverse flock that all the birds look different, why not order what many hatcheries offer the leftovers of the hatches (thy set x many eggs subtract the least average number of birds that will likely hatch and sell those and any above that you can get at a slightly lower price it appears to be 5-10 cents per bird compared to the 25/50/75/100 price) Why i ask I realize you might order the special and get all of 1 or 2 breeds but for the difference in the inflated prices of the smaller # compared to the 25 intervals and boxing fees usually applied to such an order I have considered the assorted, not because I want lots of different but for the small discount realize its only a buck or two for me I have trouble understanding why someone would spend 20 dollars or more possibly to get essentially what I am thinking of getting. the only reason I am considering this assortment is because there are fewer breeds I don't want what so ever compared to the ones I want or are indifferent on do I want to save a buck or two since IDK what breed I get (I'm sure if I get a breed I'm not interested in or they become one I don't want they can be cooked the same as any roosters that are used as peanuts or wrongly sexed).

 

[junebuggena]

I'm ordering the surprise box from Cackle this spring. I'll be placing my order in March to get the most variety. That's the time when they start hatching ducks, geese, and turkeys too, so those could also be included in the surprise. I just can't decide what I want, so I'm letting the hatchery (and fate) choose for me. Anything I don't want will be sold. Most of the cockerels will be going in the freezer.

 

[oldrooster]

I am meaning by my previous post I really don't care what breed(s) I get. there are a few I don't want (or think i don't want) that's why i want to order the assorted because I don't want to pay more for "a" breed when I have a very low threshold to make me happy. and wonder why someone will spend much more to get the equivalent of the assorted....... the few breeds I decide to get rid of because I don't like them is not much of a factor to me because in my mind as long as I don't get a half order of something like that

 

[wamtazlady]

You will process any birds you don't want. However, many people get chickens as pets. They don't even want to think about eating their pets. So they order just the birds they want.

 

[oldrooster]

I'm ordering the surprise box from Cackle this spring. I'll be placing my order in March to get the most variety. That's the time when they start hatching ducks, geese, and turkeys too, so those could also be included in the surprise. I just can't decide what I want, so I'm letting the hatchery (and fate) choose for me. Anything I don't want will be sold. Most of the cockerels will be going in the freezer.

that is my 2nd option, but I am holding off because you can get water fowl i do not want in the mix and from what others have posted you are guaranteed to get at least a third to half males.....

 

[junebuggena]

With Cackle hatchery, if you put your preferences in the comments section of the online order, they will do their best to fulfill it. They also really try to give you a variety rather than all of only one or two breeds.

 

[oldrooster]

You will process any birds you don't want. However, many people get chickens as pets. They don't even want to think about eating their pets. So they order just the birds they want.

you can always sell or give away the ones you don't want.

 

[wamtazlady]

you can always sell or give away the ones you don't want.

Some people won't do that as they afraid, with good reason, that their chicken will go into someone else's pot.

 

[Harmony Fowl]

When it comes to casual chicken keepers, as best I can determine from reading here, they just differ from you in that they do care and don’t have the luxury of ordering so many chicks that they can expect to be happy with the results if choice is left up to the hatchery. If you are expecting 25 or 50, sure, you have space to give away a few you don’t like, but if you have space or regulation limits you to only a few, you want to be sure to like what you get, even if you have to pay more. It’s like a car dealership offering a sale. You save, but you take home the car on the lot, which may or may not be exactly what you wanted, which will matter to some and not to others.

I’m with you, I prefer a surprise, but I don’t think that we are very common. Most chicken keepers fall into either the above category with only a few birds or they are the more expert variety who would happily accept many birds but whose expertise and interest in chicken keeping lies in advancing a particular breed or enhancing a particular trait. Which birds they bring home is not something that group wants left up to chance, either.

And let’s face it, if you want meat birds and get ten bantams in your surprise, that’s a lot less meat for you. It’s a lot less eggs. Breeds set expectations for the traits of those birds. The breeds may not be the important part, but the predictability of the traits is important to most.

Even I, who enjoys the variety and did an egg assortment this fall (same pricing phenomenon exists there), I still like the variety only as a starting point. Intending to go in a particular direction with my flock, I can’t expect to make the same progress if I let the whims of nature and a commercial enterprise decide who I add to my flock in the future just to save a few dollars now. Think of how much I won’t make in eggs because I wound up with two bantam hens and several mixed bantams.

 

[oldrooster]

Harmony Fowl I should clarify, I was meaning many hatcheries require an order of at least 25 chicks, and if you order each breed in increments of 25 you get a much reduced rate if you order a few of many lets say 5 of 5 different breeds you pay much more per chick for 25 than 25 of one breed but I saw many of the same companies sell the left overs at a reduced rate if you want DP like I do there usually list 1 spacial for heavy breeds )DP) one for bantams, the meat birds are not usually put on those assortments and are listed as such some companies may have an assortment that would put DPs and leghorns in the same special and they state that. I was j\just wondering why some people pat a premium for something they could get at a significant savings, that's all.