There's some really old topics about hatchery orientals. I feel that since that has not been updated in a while it's time to show some.
I bought some Malay, Shamo, Thai's and Saipans from Ideal. I'm not familiar with any of these breeds, never had any before or knew anyone who did. These are my experiences with hatchery orientals of the breeds mentioned above. I may have the Thai and Shamo reversed, both chicks look so similar. The chicks are about 2 to 2.5months old right now.
My order was
2 saipan pullets
1 rooster saipan
2 SR malay
2 SR Thai
2 SR Shamo.
As far as I know I have not lost a chick. There's been no carcass found. What ended up with is this..
2 Saipan roosters
1 Saipan pullet
2 Malay roosters
1 malay pullet(maybe she's shamo, but she's not black)
1 shamo
2 thai roosters
Saipans: I thought my interest would be in the Saipans so I tried to get a sustainable trio to breed with and play with. I actually am not interested in the Saipans at all except the pullet. The roosters are stand offish and not at all friendly. They are not as aggressive as I expected but not docile either! The pullet is sweet and will eat from my hand and allow me to pet her. I plan to pass the roosters on.
Malay: I was intrigued by the breed and wanted to see how this turned out. The two (three) malay I received are some seriously nasty birds. While they were all roughly the same size as the other orientals recently the 2 malay roosters had a growth spurt. With that spurt came game. Every morning I was seeing a lot of sparring with the malay being most aggressive. They even attacked their coop mates who have been raised with them and are slightly older(but smaller) than they are. My husband found them attacking some younger chicks I had out to free range too. The two biggest were sold on today. Too aggressive for me. The reviews on BYC from several years ago said the orientals from hatcheries had lost their game..I'm pretty darned sure someone found it and gave it back! Highly intelligent and a great climber. They like to be up high.
Thai: I have two who were black and yellow chicks and slightly smaller than the others so I assume these are the Thai and not the shamo. They are nice birds, but not to other birds. Both are very friendly with me to the point they will jump all over me for mealworms. They allow me to pick them up without much fuss. They are aggressive to other chicks when it's mealworm time or if one crosses the path in front of where they are heading. They are growing out to be beautiful with shiny, iridescent feathers. They are smart and will get into the mealworms. You can see their intelligence working behind their eyes as they ponder how to steal the worms.
Shamo: This is the only one I've named. He was the first one who would greet me for mealworms. He was first to let me touch him willingly and to get in my lap (for mealworms). In the beginning he seemed as if he was going to grow faster than the others but he's currently smaller than the Malay. He's heavy for his size. Intelligent and does OK with the other chicks he was raised with. He's not passive by any means. You may question his intelligence when you find out he took on my mature sultan rooster. At 2.5months old he's decided he was most dominate bird. The sultan does not have spurs and is only 6 months old so I let them hash it out. I was planning to keep the shamo Alfie and thought he needs to know he's not top rooster and to stick to his own side of the yard. I'm afraid it's going to be a bloodbath for the sultan rooster when Alfie gets older if I do not contain him. I had planned on keeping Alfie and even ordered him some shamo females, due to arrive tomorrow. Now I see that in order to keep Alfie I will have to build him a coop and run. He can not be allowed with the passive breeds of chickens that free range in the back yard. He's like a puppy and will follow me all over the place. I really hope I can keep him.
Thai roosters
2 Saipan roosters (2 serama in the background)
Alfie Shamo(?)
Fuzzy pic of malay in the bowl, saipan pullet behind, siapan roo and I believe a thai behind him
They may be hatchery mutts but they have breed the game back into them since old reviews. I would not recommend trying to run any one of these with a normal flock of chickens.
I bought some Malay, Shamo, Thai's and Saipans from Ideal. I'm not familiar with any of these breeds, never had any before or knew anyone who did. These are my experiences with hatchery orientals of the breeds mentioned above. I may have the Thai and Shamo reversed, both chicks look so similar. The chicks are about 2 to 2.5months old right now.
My order was
2 saipan pullets
1 rooster saipan
2 SR malay
2 SR Thai
2 SR Shamo.
As far as I know I have not lost a chick. There's been no carcass found. What ended up with is this..
2 Saipan roosters
1 Saipan pullet
2 Malay roosters
1 malay pullet(maybe she's shamo, but she's not black)
1 shamo
2 thai roosters
Saipans: I thought my interest would be in the Saipans so I tried to get a sustainable trio to breed with and play with. I actually am not interested in the Saipans at all except the pullet. The roosters are stand offish and not at all friendly. They are not as aggressive as I expected but not docile either! The pullet is sweet and will eat from my hand and allow me to pet her. I plan to pass the roosters on.
Malay: I was intrigued by the breed and wanted to see how this turned out. The two (three) malay I received are some seriously nasty birds. While they were all roughly the same size as the other orientals recently the 2 malay roosters had a growth spurt. With that spurt came game. Every morning I was seeing a lot of sparring with the malay being most aggressive. They even attacked their coop mates who have been raised with them and are slightly older(but smaller) than they are. My husband found them attacking some younger chicks I had out to free range too. The two biggest were sold on today. Too aggressive for me. The reviews on BYC from several years ago said the orientals from hatcheries had lost their game..I'm pretty darned sure someone found it and gave it back! Highly intelligent and a great climber. They like to be up high.
Thai: I have two who were black and yellow chicks and slightly smaller than the others so I assume these are the Thai and not the shamo. They are nice birds, but not to other birds. Both are very friendly with me to the point they will jump all over me for mealworms. They allow me to pick them up without much fuss. They are aggressive to other chicks when it's mealworm time or if one crosses the path in front of where they are heading. They are growing out to be beautiful with shiny, iridescent feathers. They are smart and will get into the mealworms. You can see their intelligence working behind their eyes as they ponder how to steal the worms.
Shamo: This is the only one I've named. He was the first one who would greet me for mealworms. He was first to let me touch him willingly and to get in my lap (for mealworms). In the beginning he seemed as if he was going to grow faster than the others but he's currently smaller than the Malay. He's heavy for his size. Intelligent and does OK with the other chicks he was raised with. He's not passive by any means. You may question his intelligence when you find out he took on my mature sultan rooster. At 2.5months old he's decided he was most dominate bird. The sultan does not have spurs and is only 6 months old so I let them hash it out. I was planning to keep the shamo Alfie and thought he needs to know he's not top rooster and to stick to his own side of the yard. I'm afraid it's going to be a bloodbath for the sultan rooster when Alfie gets older if I do not contain him. I had planned on keeping Alfie and even ordered him some shamo females, due to arrive tomorrow. Now I see that in order to keep Alfie I will have to build him a coop and run. He can not be allowed with the passive breeds of chickens that free range in the back yard. He's like a puppy and will follow me all over the place. I really hope I can keep him.
Thai roosters
2 Saipan roosters (2 serama in the background)
Alfie Shamo(?)
Fuzzy pic of malay in the bowl, saipan pullet behind, siapan roo and I believe a thai behind him
They may be hatchery mutts but they have breed the game back into them since old reviews. I would not recommend trying to run any one of these with a normal flock of chickens.
