What are differences between buying from a hatchery versus a breeder?

[UrbanGrower]

Can someone provide links to breeder sites? I want to delve deeper from my comfy chair, and I haven't been able to turn some up with google.

 

[punky rooster]

Quote:
What breed are you looking for? we are happy to help

 

[Chickielady]

Arrogant ?
Not that I can see.
Once you learn the difference and pour your heart out into breeding birds to a standard you will know the difference.
Arrogance it is not.
Knowledge, and love of the breed.
But for a newbie just starting out, hatchery birds may be the best thing as stated.
Then if you feel the desire to develope a breed you come to love, you can proseed with the knowledge.
Otherwise, some folks are happy with their hatchery birds, or mutt birds.
My FiL had a big pheasant farm, and worked it for years to develope his breeders.
He absolutely loved them.
He is too old to do much now, but he has always kept a handful of chickens, and they are all hatchery or mutts.
And he is happy with that.
It is up to the person as to how much interest you want to put into a breed, or not.
But arrogance has never come to my mind.
There are alot of folks on this thread who have been in poultry breeding all their lives, and they do know it all.
And those of us that do not know, listen to them.
These 'teachers' are not being arrogant, just teaching.
You can listen, and gain knowledge, or you can not.
But knowledgible old breeders are not arrogant that I have ever seen.

 

[BooBear]

Quote:
Get a Brinsea Eco and the turner as it is a great first incubator. I love mine. (had to seize the enabler moment

)

 

[faykokoWV]

There are definately different quality of breeders. Some breed as a hobby and sell hatching eggs to support the hobby and some take it to a scientific level. I have learned to ask breeders what their breeding goals are for the breeds they have before I purchase eggs. Even with top end breeders of a certain breed, they might not all have the same goals in mind with their birds.

I think hatchery birds can be great starter birds, but as you become addicted...... YOU NEED MORE

As to a list of breeders, I think you have to choose a breed first, then you can search easier.

edited to add

I love my Brinsea ECO

and my first chicks were a suprise special from Ideal. Half the fun for me was figuring out what breeds they were. It also encouraged me to research and led me to a lot of information. That helped me decide what breeds I liked the most.

 

[Jake Levi]

For Bourbon Red Turkeys google Porter Turkeys, and Duane Urch, you can email Duane at [email protected], Duane also has a lot of excellent SQ LF and Bantams.

Re Breeders, there really are two different kind, one is the breeder running a small hatchery, now Duane does that but he breeds his own stock to very high standards. Porters have been producing Turkeys for many years, and has color varieties not available elsewhere, Duane also has high quality Turkeys. Especially his Narragansetts.

THere are other breeders who doNOT have large flocks, many just 30-50 hens of a variety, but they cull ruthlessly, its much easier to select for egg production in a small flock then a huge one, my culling requires a chick to hatch out on its own, whether incubator or under a hen, grow out according to the standard, whether pullet or roo, I separate the pullets and roos individually , takes quite a few pens, when the pullets start laying I keep track of their production, meanwhile the roos are growing out, I know which hen each one is from, her 'broiler weight', six mos weight and yearling weight, same for the roos, the best roos from the best hens get paired with the best producing pullets which have been looked at many times even up to their first egg, I then put 2-3 hens in a pen, and when I want to start getting fertile eggs in the spring I place in the roos,

big hatcherys cant do this, the just dont have the manpower, they may do some of this with their breeder flocks but places like Ideal have hundreds of different ones, that said, for a hatchery they are good, but, often the different breeds are nothing like show quality at all.

When it is time to place eggs in the incubator each is pencil marked as to its parents. New hatched chicks get color banded, croped, marked, a whole series of IDs.

Out of 20 hens I may raise 100 chicks, and the selection starts all over. If I am lucky I can get $ 45-$50 a pair or trio. Is it worth it, yes, to keep doing what I am doing, any bird I wouldnt keep for a breeder goes in the freezer, or fed to my hounds. But with a 30 hen flock, I cant keep 50 new pullets a year, so some are available, I replace only about ten hens a year, so a pullet has to be REALLY good to stay. Quite a few of the yearlings go to local 4H'rs,

Make money? Nope, just have fun.

Go to the different threads of the breed that you are interested in and just ask there who are the breeders that they would reccommend. THere are a number of very good breeders here. You have lots of time.

Re Turkeys, find who you want to buy from and get your orders in, Porters is working right now on June chicks, they are filled on orders up to June. I suspect Duane is about the same.

Keep asking questions, you'll get a lot of good responses here, good folks.

 

[NottinghamChicks]

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Overall what everyone is saying is true about type, ability to show, egg quality, etc, but to me the most important thing is the lack of brutality that the male chicks suffer at the hands of a good breeder. They are inhumanely kailled and or left to die at hatcheries. It's a cruel world in the big hatchery for the millions of males chicks who go unwanted and I do commend them for at least giving them away for free to keep the girls warm in transit.

Okay, I could go on and on about Hatcheries, but whenever you get large scale farming it is cruel, no matter the species.

 

[Chickielady]

Quote:
x2 egg-zactly

 

[Illia]

Edited for content

 

[draye]

Edited for content