Quality hatchery?

[Andrea72]

I've been reading a lot on this site about hatcheries and the quality of birds you get from them. Seems like if you are interested/concerned with getting a pure bred chicken....stay away from hatcheries. When my shipment of SLWs came in I was really excited. That quickly faded as I noticed their plumage isn't what it's supposed to be.

So is the general consensus here to stay away from hatcheries? (for the reasons stated above)

 

[brahmabreeder]

Hatcheries are only good if you just want egg layers or your meat birds. If you want to show/breed chickens I would avoid them. They breed their chickens to be smaller bodied ( or larger bodied in bantams ) so they are better are converting feed into eggs and produce more eggs.

 

[KBlue]

Hatcheries are fine as long as you don't want to show the chickens. If you are looking to show, then go to a breeder.

 

[Andrea72]

Not looking to show but certainly expect that if I order a particular breed then it should look like the breed. Seeing a lot of stories about people being disappointed with their orders. My husband just ordered some cuckoo marans........now wondering if they will look right and if they will lay dark eggs.

 

[KBlue]

They'll probably look right, but, again, not show quality. Egg color on hatchery marans can be dark brown to regular brown. My mom got some several years ago from a hatchery and the egg color was only slightly darker than the regular brown egg layers....certainly not the dark chocolate brown that was advertised.

 

[stefan333]

I think it all depends on what your purpose for having chickens is and what's important to you. Too many people in these forums put down hatcheries in general and will state it as fact that breeders are better, when it's just an opinion based on what they value. Getting a breed that looks nothing like what it should is a different story, though. I've incubated a lot of eggs from hatcheries and breeders, and I've found that the hatcheries (efowl and Murray McMurray) send a much better quality egg than breeders. I always get a way much better hatch rate from the hatchery eggs, too. I can tell a difference in the veining and activity level of the embryos, and once hatched they seem more vigorous than from breeders. Once they grow, my breeder birds are way more beautiful, though. And their personalities are sweeter and more docile. I haven't had a problem with the hatchery birds being too far off standard, but I would think that would depend, too, on which hatchery you get them from. My Barred Rocks, Leghorns, EE's, and Buff Orpingtons from efowl are absolutely stunning. I doubt they are show quality, but they are beautiful representations of their breed. To me, I don't want a chicken that doesn't even look like its breed, but at the same time I've learned how important vigor, rate of lay, and feed conversion is, which is something many breeders don't breed for. So, pretty much I would say it depends on what you want out of a chicken and which hatchery you got them from.

 

[Andrea72]

We ordered from or local hardware store...who in turn ordered from Ideal. The SLWs look nothing like they should. And they are going on 8 weeks. Mostly black feathers. Heads are black and white...but the lacing just isn't present.

 

[stefan333]

I would give them some time to show their true colors. Some chickens at 8 weeks look nothing like their adult selves, and some breeds can change after they molt. I have 6 week old SLW's, and they aren't showing much of a pattern either. The mean one who I'm sure is the male is almost all black. It's way too early to assume they don't have a lacing pattern.

Edit: It might be a good idea to post some pictures here, because the feed stores are notorious for getting chicks mixed up. It is possible you don't have SLW and instead got some Australorps or Jersey Giants. Post some pics, and we can tell you just to be sure.

 

[Andrea72]

 

[Andrea72]