I got my order from Ideal yesterday. I ordered 10 pullets, got 11 packing peanuts, all red, so a total of 21 birds. Although the website says they are unable to identify the breed of your peanuts, they had handwritten on my invoice "Production Red" and that is indeed what they all look like. My understanding is the number varies according to the weather they will encounter between the hatchery and you. So, it's mid-February, but I'm in north Texas, about 3-4 hour drive from Ideal. So if I order in March, it would probably be fewer peanuts, but if you're ordering from the Midwest, it might be more just because it will still be colder there, and they'll be traveling in that cold for a longer time.
I had thought that if you got 25 that would be sufficient for almost anywhere. I've heard before that McMurray often throws in a few extra regardless of how many you order. I wonder if that's to account for anticipated mortality regardless of weather. Hmm, not sure if that's a good thing or if it's a sign they're expecting disease... (heard a lot of bad things about McMurray, also a lot of good, trying to keep an open mind for now - I'll probably keep using Ideal just because they're so close that's got to be an advantage for the birds.)
