Survery: Would you prefer to purchase from a breeder or hatchery?

[Criskin]

My answer to this question isn't the same now as it would have been a couple years ago. I started out buying hatchery chicks simply because I wanted a backyard flock to "lay eggs and look at" and it was much easier to justify the cost of hatchery chicks. The problem I ran into, though, is that although a lot of the hatchery birds were perfectly healthy and pretty, the sometimes drastic variations from the breed standards really bothered me. I also realized that if I wanted to play around with genetics and breeding as a hobby, I wasn't giving myself much to work with and it would be irresponsible of me to sell my birds under the breed name they were sold to me (since even as an amateur chicken enthusiast I could see they were poor representations). So far I've decided to try to build up my flock via hatching eggs shipped from breeders but I am seriously considering ordering chicks from a breeder next Spring.

Another thing that would bother me about buying chicks from a hatchery, even one offering a specific line, is that unless the hatchery bought the breeding birds directly from the breeder they mentioned and the breeder confirms it to the buyer, there is a chance that the hatchery could either knowingly or unknowingly be passing off birds that aren't from that line at all or are mixed with other lines. It is something I have learned from the Marans Thread in the Breeds, Genetics and Showing section here on BYC, by going to different respectable Marans Breeder websites, and by perusing ads from local chicken breeders and Ebay auctions. With the Marans in particular, you get all sorts of people claiming to have "pure Wade Jeane lines" but in reality they obtained their birds second hand from another breeder who claimed the same thing and so on and so forth...so that they only way to be sure you are getting the real thing is to buy your own birds directly from the breeder.

 

[arherp]

It depends on what you want.. if you plan on 4h-ing or showing your birds, you really just have to buy show quality stock. If you just want birds to raise and breed, cheaper is always better as long as it is healthy poultry from a quality hatchery.

 

[bargain]

I hope I don't get flamed for what I say. Before we started selling baby chicks and hatching eggs and baby ducks, guineas, turkeys and their eggs, I really didn't understand the amount of care that these animals require and the degree of knowledge in studying the various needs, specifications for their breed type, care, etc. I saw baby chicks on farms and thought - wow that's so easy and cute....Get baby chick, feed it and have eggs.....I laugh now when I know how naive I was....
I have long said that our animals eat better and rest better than either of us do or hope to do! It remains true.

Our farm gives much loving attention to our poultry, rabbits, goats and other animals. We are concerned about the blood lines of our birds, preserving heritage chickens,biosecurity, confirmation, etc., etc. We have had folks buy from us in support of our homesteading, chemical free, locally based farm as well as to get great quality birds, hatching eggs, etc. and we appreciate that. Our farm cannot compete with $1.50 or $2 chicken specials on line. We don't deal in that kind of volume. Our birds are of different quality and our investment in the stock has been costly and our efforts for improvement on the stock as well. I do keep our hatching eggs below the market price and we take great pains in selecting, packing and mailing them as well as offer a great deal of customer support to help people have the best hatch possible. When we sell a baby bird, it's not a punch to buy at an online site, it's time spent with the buyer to explain care of the bird, usually a complete farm tour to look at all the birds and animals - around 30 minutes to 45 minutes and there are times when I have refused to sell a baby bird when I learned there was no brooder ready to take care of the baby or worse yet, the person wanted 20 birds just to play in the grass at a child's party! I was once criticized for our level of customer support and told that we would never make much money if we spent all the time explaining how to incubate, gave chicken lessons before selling babies, etc. I simply said, I know this takes time, but for us it's not a waste of time, not really, it's passing along knowledge that will take care of the baby chick, duck, bunny, etc, etc.

The older I get the more I realize bills must be paid, but I feel such a responsibility to the offspring, potential offspring of our flocks and other livestock. I want to share the knowledge I've gotten and continue to learn with others. Maybe as a "business person" I'm a failure but as a person that wants to support others in their chicken hobby or enterprise, I pray I'm a success.


We shall never be rich and like many small enterprises have periods of time where we are simply not making any funds. To farm and to live off a small farm is a wonderful hard life and a lifestyle choice.

Although we have over 16 lines of all our poultry, we are by no means a hatchery. Because we full time farm - 2 people on 20 acres running full out full time.

Even if the day should come when we don't have a big farm production and I had no chickens of our own..., I would prefer to buy from a chicken breeder. I would like to support the approach and investment of time, and effort that a true breeder takes..... Thanks for an intriguing topic! Have a blessed day! Nancy

 

[CityChicker]

Would I rather purchase from a breeder or a hatchery? Definitely a breeder, although I have certainly purchased plenty from hatcheries as well. This business model of attempting to be essentially a hatchery that sells genuinely good quality birds has been tried many times over. I have seen numerous people try it over the years and most never get far. I just bought out some birds last year from a breeder that attempted to do it. They couldn't handle the volume they had to breed for and sent me birds that were basically starved half to death.

That is really the main problem with trying to be a hatchery that sells top quality- volume. I always say that when you are breeding for top quality, you should plan to breed ten times more than you need or want to keep for breeding stock (kind of high, but you almost have to do 3-4 times more than you plan to keep at a minimum). That is a lot of birds. Most hatcheries offer 30-50 varieties (some even more). Say for example you plan to offer 30 varieties in order to compete for the typical hatchery customer. In order to sustain the volume needed to stay in business, you should plan on keeping AT LEAST a a flock of 10 of each variety (and that is extremely conservative, most hatcheries that own their own stock keep much larger flocks). Anyway, 30 varieties times 10 birds per variety is 300. Multiple that times 10 to get the quality needed to sell show quality birds and you already have bred 3,000 birds that you will grow out to adulthood (of course, culling along the way, so not all will make it to laying age).

Again, keep in mind, these numbers are very conservative. Most hatcheries keep dozens of varieties and breeding flocks of thousands of birds (if they are a hatchery that owns breeder flocks). Can you see why this business model of selling show quality in hatchery volume (or for hatchery prices) is so hard to succeed? Most people are just not equipped to do it and keep the number of birds required to cull for the best quality. Not only that, but knowing what to select for with a large number of breeds is very difficult. It requires a high level of expertise. Anyway, I think that small hatcheries should be able to at least breed for birds that look like the breed they are sold as, but anything beyond that would be difficult to do. I have said it a million times over, but will say it again- this is a business that is extremely difficult to make money in. You simply have to be concerned about every penny of expense. This is largely why hatchery stock is of generally poorer quality. They cannot afford to grow out large numbers of birds that will be eventually culled. Rigorous culling costs the breeder a lot of money. They need to more concerned about selecting for production than selecting for breed quality.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Breeder.

I started with hatchery stock but both DH and I decided we wanted cochins that looked like cochins, not just feathery-legged plymouth rocks. We may always keep a small flock of hatchery layers, but he's not terribly fond of Black Stars and Easter Eggers. He does like the Gold Comets though.

 

[Urbanfarmerkc]

I think I was unclear. Breeder equals higher prices and hatchery equals lower prices. My advice to him to if he is going to go for show quality, he MUST charge more like a breeder. If he is going to work with low quality, then he can sell for less.

CityChicker, I agree, to get consistent results, you have to hatch TONS of chicks. Luckily, here in Kansas City, there is a good market for started or laying chickens. Even the roosters are pretty easy to sell and folks don't mind so much about about culls. I got rid of all mine and I got between $5 to $10 depending on age and quality.

Dave

 

[Funky Feathers]

I prefer to buy from the best breeders.

 

[SilverPhoenix]

For reasons of animal welfare and quality, I prefer to buy from breeders. If I'm going to buy a bird, I usually like to be able to see the bird in person before buying, as well as the person's set-up, stock, and so on. I don't show, but I do prefer to have good quality birds from good quality stock if I can help it. When I buy eggs, it's usually from a distance simply because, well, there aren't breeders of everything right around me! Buying eggs has become my alternative for buying from hatcheries, which I don't want to support any longer after hearing about what they do with rooster chicks and leftover chicks. Too appalling for me.

Ideally, I like to buy from breeders who breed as a hobby, like I do, cull lesser quality animals only by giving birds away or removing them from the breeding pen/having a separate place for them, and have small or medium backyard flocks that are clearly loved and well-cared for. I can't always get animals from those sorts of situations, but that's generally my goal. That's the kind of person I like to support.

I don't mind if it's more expensive to buy from breeders, because it's well worth the peace of mind and beautiful birds that have been treated well.

 

[bargain]

Well spoken Silver phoenix! Thanks and bless you. Nancy

 

[Urbanfarmerkc]

Quote:
I agree with you whole hearted. My only problem is that as I've tried to see birds, I'm almost always put off because of bio security. I let folks see my chickens for reasons involved with education. As I become more of a breeder and all my NPIP stuff is done, I will NOT allow this as much. Too much money and work to get a flock started and perfected. A disease could do serious damage to your flock!