...no show quality birds come from hatcheries EVER?

[Spongegirl]

Has anyone ever had a really beautiful show worthy chicken bought from a hatchery? Seems like it would happen.

 

[cubalaya]

depending on what breed and what hatchery, out of 100 chicks, you could probably pick 2 that were showable. why not just buy from a breeder and not waste all that time and money?

 

[Spongegirl]

Right. I was just wondering.

 

[BGMatt]

cubalaya might be generous in that estimate. It's not impossible, just really really unlikely. I have seen with my own eyes people that started with hatchery stock and with lots of hatching, and ruthless culling, had a decent flock after 5-6 years.

 

[cstronks]

BGMatt is exactly right. The chances of getting a winner from a hatchery are slightly better than winning the lottery. You can certainly start from hatchery birds, but in order to achieve show quality, you will need to do a few years of hatches and quite a few culls. It is much easier to pay the extra to skip all of those steps and have the breeder do the work.

Again, it isn't impossible, but you'll really have to devote a lot of effort in order to get a quality flock.

 

[BGMatt]

BGMatt is exactly right. The chances of getting a winner from a hatchery are slightly better than winning the lottery. You can certainly start from hatchery birds, but in order to achieve show quality, you will need to do a few years of hatches and quite a few culls. It is much easier to pay the extra to skip all of those steps and have the breeder do the work.

Again, it isn't impossible, but you'll really have to devote a lot of effort in order to get a quality flock.

Not to say to expect perfection from a breeder either though. Even the best breeders still get some culls. My mentor always told me to raise 10 birds for every 1 show bird that I wanted, even out of good stock. I know a lot of guys that will only keep 1 out of 25, or 1 out of 50, because that's how you make progress.

Personally I have found that once you have a good line established the top 10% or so is good enough to keep for breeding, the bottom 10% is just junk for the stew pot, and the rest is good examples of the breed, even if not ideal.

 

[cstronks]

Very true. All of the birds I got from the breeder in my area were birds that a combination of far from show quality to close to show but not a winner. The birds were great layers and since the breeder didn't want to cull of 15 or so birds she sold them for a good price. In the end, it all works out, but show quality birds are usually tough to come by.

 

[LTygress]

There is one exception...

The true actual RARE breeds come from hatcheries in show quality SLIGHTLY more often than others. And that is mostly because the hatchery had to get those breeds from limited sources to begin with. In order to invest in those breeds enough to resell, they most likely had to get at least SOME show quality stock.

But again, it's no where near the chances of getting good stock from an actual breeder.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Buying a show winner is rare in any case. This sport/hobby/fancy is all about making a winner yourself. That's the fun. Buying one? Well, that's never gonna feel the same as one you worked on and produced through your own passion, dedication and love for the breed.

$.02

 

[budsbirds]

Has anyone ever had a really beautiful show worthy chicken bought from a hatchery? Seems like it would happen.

I did once buy a 100 chick "special from a hatchery about 30 years ago. in that batch was one tiny chick that grew up to be a BBR Old English bantam pullet. She won champion bantam at the Oregon State Fair, back when that was a pretty good show. The only OEG I have ever owned, and I sold her to a breeder at that show. I also won 150 bucks in the lottery once. Pretty much same odds.