Satisfied with variety of "Hatchery Choice" orders?

Sitka

Songster
10 Years
Jul 7, 2009
543
23
131
Seattle, Washington
I'd be curious to know people's experience with getting "hatchery choice" or "surprise" orders from hatcheries, particularly if they were satisfied with the variety. Obviously if you want certain breeds you should order them, and the surprise packages are by their very nature a gamble, but it's tempting to order to see what you would end up with and to try breeds you might not have thought of before. I just wouldn't want "variety" to mean 10 EE's, 10 White Leghorns, and 5 Red Stars, or something like that. Do you get the sense that the hatcheries make an effort to include a good variety, or are you just getting the breeds that did not sell that well?
Better variety in the more you order, e.g., 50 chicks as opposed to 25?
Thanks!

EDIT: I probably should have put this in the Hatcheries section, but not sure how to move it.
 
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I ordered 25 rainbow layers from McMurray.

11 died in the first four days including the rare chick.

Of the remainder I had a black star (beautiful... now owned by Sam the Yam on here) , a white rock, a couple of partridge rocks, a BUNCH of Barred rocks and a couple of Rhode Island reds. so there's my promised five varieties.
 
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I ordered the Ornamental Layer Collection from McMurray last Spring and wasn't very impressed. I got 10 WC Black Polish, 2 White Polish, 5 Gold Pheonix, a Gold Pencilled Hamburg, 2 EE's that looked the same, a Crevecoer (that died), 4 Rose comb brown Leghorns. My rare free chick was a Blue Andalusian (that of course was a roo).

I had wanted way more colorful variety and ended up selling most of them. I only have 4 of the original group...a RIR (that they had thrown in extra since I ordered 3 for a friend), one of the EEs, the Hamburg (which is flighty and unfriendly, but pretty) and one of the WC Black Polish. So I guess I only really kept 3 from the supposed collection.

I really wish I had just ordered what I wanted and not left it up to them.
 
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Its been several years since I've placed a mixed order, but Dunlap (Caldwell, Id) would send a real variety. It was a good way to get introduced to the breeds and definitely educated us to what we more specifically wanted in the future. I noticed they sent an extra half dozen surprise chicks in the order I received last week.
 
We ordered 10 hens from mypetchicken and all 10 are almost a month old and doing great. We got 7 different breeds out of 10 chicks. We are very happy.
 
I must say - I am really happy with my order from mypetchicken.com And the customer service too.

I was told they get their stock from other hatcheries.

I wonder if it is like cosmetics and the chicks all come from the same hatcheries but are packaged differently.

I do wish that my golden laced Wyandottes were more like the picture - they are still young but I think if you post a picture of a certain breed - the chicks should grow up and resemble reasonably well that picture and not be a poor resemblence. We shall see if they are actually laced - they are still feathering out.
Caroline
Jax FL
 
I got my 2 surprise packages from Ideal and I was very happy with them.
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The first time, I ordered 12 very late in the season and got NHR, SLW, Autralorp, Prod. Red and Cochin.

The second time, I ordered 25 early in the season (lost 3 the first night) and got a much bigger mix. There are 3 Buff Orps, 4 RSL, 3 BSL, 1 EE, 1 SSH, 1 Partridge Rock, 1 Buff Rock, 1 Light and 1 Buff Brahma, 1 SLW, 1 Jersey Giant and 4 NHR.

I think it does help to order more chicks than less, and I also think that when you order makes a difference, too. By the time I ordered the first batch, most of the breeds were sold out for the season, so I knew my choices were limited. That's one of the reasons I made it a point to order early the second time.
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I just received my order from Mt. Healthy yesterday and I am extremely pleased! I ordered 25 "Hatchery Special- Assorted Pullets".
I received:
5 Hubbard Comets,
5 Buff Orpingtons
5 Rhode Island Reds
5 Easter Eggers
3 Barred Rocks
3 Speckled Sussex

for a total of 26.

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