Searching for good quality, heritage chick breeders

[lnhendrix]

I am in SE PA, Chester County. I have American Breese and will be hatching them in the spring, primarily for homesteaders looking for meat production. I am not as positive about them as some of the reviews, I find them to be more aggressive than I prefer and not as adaptable to conditions that are less than ideal. One day the feed ran out and the flock killed 2 of the pullets. I have never seen that in other breeds. Still if you want to try some I will have chicks.
My website is welbars.com. I have a number of heritage breeds that can make self sustaining flocks. I also have some unusual hybrids and color variants of the more typical laying breeds. I often help first time chicken owners, in fact much of my business is referrals from previous customers, or repeat business as people decide to grow their flocks. I love to help other breeders get started.

I am also personal friends with the owners of Sand Hill Preservation Center. Some of his stock originated from me. He does not have the resources of a commercial hatchery and can't operate with the same level of customer service. He is absolutely trustworthy though and if you have the patience to work with his "system", you can get breeds that are poised on the verge of extinction because no other hatcheries want to bother with them:
Barred Hollands
Erminettes
Javas
Chantecler
Buttercups
Catalanas
Cubalayas
Kraienkoppes
Jaerhons
Cuckoo Scots Dumpies
Iowa Blues
Penedesencas
Dorkings in many colors
. . . you get the idea.

 

[justsaying]

Hi everyone! I am (finally) getting chickens this coming spring and have been doing a lot of research into what sort of birds I want to purchase. I've come to realize that the "hatchery stock" birds aren't quite what I'm looking for. My long term goal is to have a self-sustaining flock of dual-purpose, heritage chickens, and I'd like to start this flock with some good quality birds. Not show-quality, but chickens that are bred to standard and bred to maintain their foraging, broodiness, and dual-purpose capabilities. So far the breeds I'm looking into are Speckled Sussex, Dominique, Buff Orpington, Rhode Island Red, and Black Copper Maran, but if anyone has additional suggestions for good heritage dual-purpose breeds, I'm all ears.

Anyway, the trouble is, I'm having a really tough time finding breeders that meet my requirements. One place I have found is Sandhill Preservation, which carries all the breeds I'd like and has a message and goal I really resonate with. However, 1) I've seen some scary reviews, and 2) it looks like you have to purchase a minimum of 25 chicks, which even taking the fact that they're straight run into account, is way too much for me. I would still love to hear a review of this place if any of you have ordered from them.

I'm hoping anybody who knows of some breeders that might work for me could help me out. I'm located in Maryland, if that helps. And as a quick side note, I would prefer chicks over hatching eggs.

Thanks in advance!

What about Deet Run Farm in Maryland?

 

[Miss_Lavransdatter]

What about Deet Run Farm in Maryland?

Thanks for the suggestion! I've actually happened upon this farm before and it seems really cool. In the time since I made this post, though, I did find a breeder for Dominiques so I'm no longer looking, but thanks again!

 

[KS_Chicken_Wrangler]

I am in SE PA, Chester County. I have American Breese and will be hatching them in the spring, primarily for homesteaders looking for meat production. I am not as positive about them as some of the reviews, I find them to be more aggressive than I prefer and not as adaptable to conditions that are less than ideal. One day the feed ran out and the flock killed 2 of the pullets. I have never seen that in other breeds. Still if you want to try some I will have chicks.
My website is welbars.com. I have a number of heritage breeds that can make self sustaining flocks. I also have some unusual hybrids and color variants of the more typical laying breeds. I often help first time chicken owners, in fact much of my business is referrals from previous customers, or repeat business as people decide to grow their flocks. I love to help other breeders get started.

I am also personal friends with the owners of Sand Hill Preservation Center. Some of his stock originated from me. He does not have the resources of a commercial hatchery and can't operate with the same level of customer service. He is absolutely trustworthy though and if you have the patience to work with his "system", you can get breeds that are poised on the verge of extinction because no other hatcheries want to bother with them:
Barred Hollands
Erminettes
Javas
Chantecler
Buttercups
Catalanas
Cubalayas
Kraienkoppes
Jaerhons
Cuckoo Scots Dumpies
Iowa Blues
Penedesencas
Dorkings in many colors
. . . you get the idea.

Just coming across this and it is just what I'm looking for. I've been looking to acquire some Barred Hollands and Sandhill seems to be the only place around I (at least that I can find) that offers them. They also have a really nice price on Swedish Flower and Garden chickens. My problem is they only offer straight runs. I don't mind getting a rooster with my hens, but I definitely don't want to order 5 chicks and end up with 3 roosters either. What would your thought be on the ratio a guy could get from Sandhill? Do you think it's just grabbing the first five chicks they see and dumping them in a box, or do you think they give some thought to what they're sending out?

 

[dheltzel]

Just coming across this and it is just what I'm looking for. I've been looking to acquire some Barred Hollands and Sandhill seems to be the only place around I (at least that I can find) that offers them. They also have a really nice price on Swedish Flower and Garden chickens. My problem is they only offer straight runs. I don't mind getting a rooster with my hens, but I definitely don't want to order 5 chicks and end up with 3 roosters either. What would your thought be on the ratio a guy could get from Sandhill? Do you think it's just grabbing the first five chicks they see and dumping them in a box, or do you think they give some thought to what they're sending out?

"straight run" is the only way Sand Hill sells their poultry. Even with autosexing breeds where the sexes are pretty obvious. Sexing black barred chicks like Barred Hollands is much trickier, so you will get a random mix of sexes.
I know that is frustrating, but this is the way that breed preservation usually works. Preserving a breed can be expensive, frustrating and just generally not for the casual chicken keeper. It is important to raise a lot of cockerels so you can select the best to breed with. If you maintain a flock of 10 pullets and a cockerel, that one cockerel has, effectively, 10 times the genetic influence of any of the hens. Careful selection of your breeding cockerel is very important to maintain strong genetics. Being forced to use an inferior cockerel will set your breeding efforts back years, and in some case there might be no real recovery of the genetics you want. When I am build a preservation flock (which I have done several times) I keep ALL the chicks from the original breeders and only cull off-type birds, or ones that fail to thrive in the flock. I even keep the mean roosters until I make the first "distribution" flock (the flock I plan to sell chicks from). The mean cockerels are not my first pick unless they are clearly superior to the others. Once I have a large flock established (15 to 50 pullets, usually) then I can afford to have a heavier hand with the culling, and keep only a few cockerels from the new generation to evaluate against their father/uncles.

If you want to preserve Barred Hollands (I and many others will applaud your effort to do so), consider getting 10 or 15 chicks and hoping for at least 4 or 5 cockerels. It will change your perspective and if you end up with 8 cockerels, you know you can use some strong selection criteria to build your first generation breeding flock.

I am currently in my first year preserving Cuckoo Scots Dumpies (from Sand Hill) and my second year with Tomaru (sent them to Sand Hill - hopefully they are selling them in 2026). Both have proven to be challenges in different ways, but I have every expectation I will be successful in preserving them and maybe even be able to improve their survival rates. I would love to see both if these become readily available all over the country. If it happens, I think my work will become more than a little contribution to making that happen.
I have spent a lot acquiring some breeds, just so I can turn around and make them available for cheap to other breeders and local chicken keepers. I think of it as a trust that I am passing along. Sand Hill has a similar approach, and I often send them chicks for free in the hopes of establishing a second flock and getting them more widely distributed than I am able to do with my much smaller scale.

 

[KS_Chicken_Wrangler]

"straight run" is the only way Sand Hill sells their poultry. Even with autosexing breeds where the sexes are pretty obvious. Sexing black barred chicks like Barred Hollands is much trickier, so you will get a random mix of sexes.
I know that is frustrating, but this is the way that breed preservation usually works. Preserving a breed can be expensive, frustrating and just generally not for the casual chicken keeper. It is important to raise a lot of cockerels so you can select the best to breed with. If you maintain a flock of 10 pullets and a cockerel, that one cockerel has, effectively, 10 times the genetic influence of any of the hens. Careful selection of your breeding cockerel is very important to maintain strong genetics. Being forced to use an inferior cockerel will set your breeding efforts back years, and in some case there might be no real recovery of the genetics you want. When I am build a preservation flock (which I have done several times) I keep ALL the chicks from the original breeders and only cull off-type birds, or ones that fail to thrive in the flock. I even keep the mean roosters until I make the first "distribution" flock (the flock I plan to sell chicks from). The mean cockerels are not my first pick unless they are clearly superior to the others. Once I have a large flock established (15 to 50 pullets, usually) then I can afford to have a heavier hand with the culling, and keep only a few cockerels from the new generation to evaluate against their father/uncles.

If you want to preserve Barred Hollands (I and many others will applaud your effort to do so), consider getting 10 or 15 chicks and hoping for at least 4 or 5 cockerels. It will change your perspective and if you end up with 8 cockerels, you know you can use some strong selection criteria to build your first generation breeding flock.

I am currently in my first year preserving Cuckoo Scots Dumpies (from Sand Hill) and my second year with Tomaru (sent them to Sand Hill - hopefully they are selling them in 2026). Both have proven to be challenges in different ways, but I have every expectation I will be successful in preserving them and maybe even be able to improve their survival rates. I would love to see both if these become readily available all over the country. If it happens, I think my work will become more than a little contribution to making that happen.
I have spent a lot acquiring some breeds, just so I can turn around and make them available for cheap to other breeders and local chicken keepers. I think of it as a trust that I am passing along. Sand Hill has a similar approach, and I often send them chicks for free in the hopes of establishing a second flock and getting them more widely distributed than I am able to do with my much smaller scale.

Wonderful response. I have considered upping my quantity to 10 and think that is what I will likely do. Just have to decide then if I want another American breed like the Java or Buckeye along with my Scandinavian birds, or just get the Hollands and the Scandinavian birds.

Thank you for your input. I can see the reason behind what you've laid out and can understand how having some more cockerels will improve the ability to breed for better stock in the future!

 

[townchicks]

I have only had one java but she was a sweet, calm bird, laid well, and went broody a lot. Even when broody she was very easy to handle, never pecked.

 

[CraziChknLady]

Just coming across this and it is just what I'm looking for. I've been looking to acquire some Barred Hollands and Sandhill seems to be the only place around I (at least that I can find) that offers them. They also have a really nice price on Swedish Flower and Garden chickens. My problem is they only offer straight runs. I don't mind getting a rooster with my hens, but I definitely don't want to order 5 chicks and end up with 3 roosters either. What would your thought be on the ratio a guy could get from Sandhill? Do you think it's just grabbing the first five chicks they see and dumping them in a box, or do you think they give some thought to what they're sending out?

I personally ordered some Swedish Flowers from Bresse Farms last year. Beautiful colors and markings.