Small chickens?

[ChickenCanoe]

Breed is shape, variety is color. Bantams of a breed, should have the same shape as the same breed in LF.

 

[Weehopper]

Don't know about anyone else, but I am very happy with my hatchery birds, especially the New Hampshires. They are big and beautiful, deep red, and actually look like real New Hampshires. So I would be hesitant to blame the hatchery because of undersized birds. I agree with the others, maybe you got bantams by mistake.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don’t know where you got the birds you are comparing them to. Each individual hatchery has its own people that determine which chickens get to breed. They all have their own criteria they use and their own skill level. I’ve had the same breed from different hatcheries. There can be a lot of difference between hatcheries.

The same thing can happen between breeders. Some breed for different goals than others and they each have their own skills. If one is breeding for show and know what they are doing, their birds will be bigger than hatchery stock. If their goals are production oriented, maybe not so much difference in size. Or you might get a “breeder” that gets hatchery stock, knows nothing about the SOP, and sells “purebred” birds.

Unless the person selecting which birds get to reproduce pays attention to certain traits, chickens can quickly lose those traits. That’s not just size but includes about any trait, egg shell color, eye color, comb size and appearance, body shape, behavior traits, whether hens tend to go broody, and many many more.

While some hatcheries are better than others, don’t expect hatchery birds to hit the SOP requirements that closely. Their breeding methods are intended to mass produce chickens that somewhat follow the SOP but not hit them nearly as well as well as a qualified breeder that selects which rooster gets to mate with which hen. Their prices reflect that difference too.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

i do not care,I was just concerned.I love them.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

I know that some of my gjrls werent getting enough protien and that stunted their growth once i switched them back to starter/chick feed or all flock raiser with oyster shells on the side they started growing again. Look at the amount of protien they are getting and if it seems like its not enough maybe try another feed.