Welcome! I have bought silkies from chase hatchery several times, and the first time I had a negative experience. Her set up is very small, crowded and smelt horrible, but she has some beautiful chicks. Several of my babies started dying off within days of eachother that first week in a half I had them. Having symptoms of poor nutrition. I prayed they were not carrying some sort of disease. I swore against them after that, but recently purchased a couple more two weeks ago, because they were the only ones who carried this color I wanted so I was willing to take a chance. Plus some of my first (now older) babies that survived are still doing fine so I wanted to give them another shot. So I got another three chicks from them 2 weeks ago and they all look great today. None have died or acted sick so I am happy, and plan to get a few more hopefully this weekend.
So overall I think her chicks mortality rate is ok if you get them immediately after hatch and get them out of there and maybe even add some vitamins to their water the first few days to give them a better start. Thats what I do at least especially getting them from her, so I dont take any chances. She does not replace or gaurantee healthy babies, and has even tried to sell me a sick one, who (a friend on here) actually bought later that day and it died on the way home. Her gaurentee for pullets does not mean they are pullets. Half the babies you get will end up male. But she will replace them, or take them if you get an unwanted rooster. So I definitely would recommend getting as many chicks as is allowed since you'll probably end up giving half of them up lol.
Silkies are overall a more sensitive breed to begin with and I dont think you'll have a problem with the hardier breeds. Just wanted to share my experience with them
Good luck!
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