The ideal poultry thread!

[Happily Retired]

I chose Ideal primarily because of their close proximity to my house. The chicks hatched on a Wednesday, were mailed that PM and by 9 AM the following day the post office was calling me to pick them up. Overall I have been very pleased with Ideal. The one downside is that they have a minimum order of $30 so if you want just a few chicks, the unit cost will be very high.

 

[MandaRae]

I called them yesterday since I had tracking in Austin TX Tue night and no update after that. The woman sounded frustrated (not with me, with usps), and said a lot of people have been calling because they are not scanning the boxes as they should, and if it left Austin Tue night typically they’ve been arriving Thurs morning & to call this afternoon if it hasn’t. So I’m going to have faith that someone was just scanning incompetent lol. If they arrive this morning they should be fine.

I was hoping today but I didn't get a call from the post office either.
I hope tomorrow. The website says Sat and I'm panicked

 

[MandaRae]

I called the post office and they said Saturday i also contacted Ideal and they said the same about being frustrated. I JUST finally got an update that the chicks are at the main sorting hub here in PA. That usually means next day delivery so I'm they arrive at the post office tonight or tomorrow

 

[3KillerBs]

How is your son's standard cochin doing this summer? Do you have any pictures of her? She was from ideal, right?

I haven't seen her suffering in particular -- no worst than the Wyandotte. Which means not as active as the Australorps or the California White, but not in great distress.

Which bodes well for my Ideal SLWs and my theory that a breeding flock in Texas is selected for heat tolerance automatically.

The one downside is that they have a minimum order of $30 so if you want just a few chicks, the unit cost will be very high.

When you write out orders for small numbers of chicks from various hatcheries and run the math for identical orders through all the fees you'll find that Ideal's $30 minimum and $7 small order shipping fee is *almost* always the lowest since other hatcheries have much larger small order fees on top of their shipping fees.

 

[janiedoe]

I haven't seen her suffering in particular -- no worst than the Wyandotte. Which means not as active as the Australorps or the California White, but not in great distress.

Which bodes well for my Ideal SLWs and my theory that a breeding flock in Texas is selected for heat tolerance automatically.



When you write out orders for small numbers of chicks from various hatcheries and run the math for identical orders through all the fees you'll find that Ideal's $30 minimum and $7 small order shipping fee is *almost* always the lowest since other hatcheries have much larger small order fees on top of their shipping fees.

I definitely agree with this.

 

[Iluveggers]

I called the post office and they said Saturday i also contacted Ideal and they said the same about being frustrated. I JUST finally got an update that the chicks are at the main sorting hub here in PA. That usually means next day delivery so I'm they arrive at the post office tonight or tomorrow

I called my main hub which is about 40 minutes away. They have not seen my box of chicks. The woman working the evening shift said she would call me if they arrive tonight before 11, and I can pick them up at the dock. Very sweet of her to help out. Let’s just hope they get there tonight…I have a feeling it will be Friday and there’s going to be some if not all that don’t make it. The post office got my last order at 12:30 pm. So still within the 72 hour timeframe.

McMurray had theirs here in 24 hours. All alive & thriving. I’ll be ordering only from them next time. Maybe thr post from Tx to NY isn’t a good route. Iowa to here was very quick. I’ve ordered from Meyer before and eggs were here in 36 hours…this is ridiculous. And usps down there didn’t even scan it in so I could track it.

 

[alwaystj9]

I had to do a main hub run last year for an Ideal Chicks order. I do have to say thet both Ideal and the Post Office folks were all helpful as they could be. But the system is way wacked. Fingers crossed for your biddies!

 

[MandaRae]

I called my main hub which is about 40 minutes away. They have not seen my box of chicks. The woman working the evening shift said she would call me if they arrive tonight before 11, and I can pick them up at the dock. Very sweet of her to help out. Let’s just hope they get there tonight…I have a feeling it will be Friday and there’s going to be some if not all that don’t make it. The post office got my last order at 12:30 pm. So still within the 72 hour timeframe.

McMurray had theirs here in 24 hours. All alive & thriving. I’ll be ordering only from them next time. Maybe thr post from Tx to NY isn’t a good route. Iowa to here was very quick. I’ve ordered from Meyer before and eggs were here in 36 hours…this is ridiculous. And usps down there didn’t even scan it in so I could track it.

I did get another update at 11:30am that it left the Sorting hub headed this way so I'm hoping and praying they get here by tomorrow morning. It's only an hour away.

 

[3KillerBs]

I called my main hub which is about 40 minutes away. They have not seen my box of chicks. The woman working the evening shift said she would call me if they arrive tonight before 11, and I can pick them up at the dock. Very sweet of her to help out. Let’s just hope they get there tonight…I have a feeling it will be Friday and there’s going to be some if not all that don’t make it. The post office got my last order at 12:30 pm. So still within the 72 hour timeframe.

McMurray had theirs here in 24 hours. All alive & thriving. I’ll be ordering only from them next time. Maybe thr post from Tx to NY isn’t a good route. Iowa to here was very quick. I’ve ordered from Meyer before and eggs were here in 36 hours…this is ridiculous. And usps down there didn’t even scan it in so I could track it.

There is a lot to be said for ordering from the closest hatchery that meets your other needs.

 

[RiverOtter]

I am in NY, and my chicks were here today!! Couldn't believe it, I thought tomorrow at the earliest. Tracking said they were still in Houston until my PO scanned the box, so, as others have said, someone, somewhere isn't scanning

When I opened the box, first thing I saw was one of the little cochins didn't make it, but then I got really excited when I saw a 5th pied guinea! But no, not an extra, one or another of us made a tiny error, my order slip said 5, I was charged for 5, although I could have sworn I ordered 4. But it's fine, it's not going to break the bank and I'm glad to have it.

The cochins seem a bit stressed, but the guineas are vibrant, one of the lavenders promptly hopped out of the box 3 times in a minute, it was like chick juggling. They're all snuggled up on a heat pad, after eating and drinking a bit