If you want quality birds you go to a private breeder. If you want a lot of birds you go to a hatchery.
Excellent point.
This may be a good place to relay a conversation I had with someone looking for chicks last week.
There are actually three sources for chicks/birds/eggs...
hatcheries, basic breeders, SOP breeders
Hatcheries provide quantity and flash on the pan production. That's great... There is a huge need for this.
Most people who want birds can acquire them from basic breeders.
These birds are usually healthier than hatchery stock and have some proven hardiness. They normally began as hatchery stock but after generations have settled into a strain of utility that permits them to be productive and while they do not strictly adhere to any standard, they are similar enough to justify being called a certain breed. We have many basic breeders in TN. I can frequently look at certain birds and know just who bred them ( even though I have never met some of the breeders) because their birds of that breed all have the same "look".
True SOP breeders are hard to find - i know of only a couple in TN. These breeders normally do not have 10 or 20 breeds, they normally have just one or two. They sell their culls as backyard layers even though many are more purebred than most have in their backyard flocks. They breed strictly to the standard. Many to the point of loosing production. Luckily there are some who breed to the standard AND breed for production, but they are few and far between.
Breeding SOP birds requires a lot more room because it requires the breeder to hatch "and grow out" a lot of chickens. Your basic breeders raise just enough of each breed for replacement breeders, they sell the rest as chicks/eggs. SOP breeders hatch and raise hundreds of each breed. Totally different business plan.
Most SOP breeders have a desire to maintain or improve a true specific line of a certain breed. Their goal is not to provide eggs and chicks (although they do sell some), but their goal is simply improvement and integrity of the breed.
The only big advantage backyard folks have in buying from an SOP breeder is 100% confidence in acquiring purebred birds... most folks do not care if they are purebred as long as they like the looks and they are functional.
