what is the best hatchery to order from?

[CHICKEN CRAZY1]

Murray Mcmurray hatchery has good reviews and most of thier roos are somewhat tame.They also have lot's of feather footies.Thier survival rate during shipping are good.

 

[mwojtas]

Ya. Meyer did not require minimum order either.

 

[Kalalyn21]

Thanks for the input. I place my spring order with Meyer and can't wait to receive my chicks.

 

[martha ellen]

I haven't been on the forums in a long time but this thread caught my eye. I recently ordered from My Pet Chicken because the minimum can be only 3 chicks due to the heat packs they use in with the babies. I ordered 16 but only NINE survived. I can't blame the hatchery, their only mistake was not to include one or two extras in case of this happening. (Usually a loss of 1 - 2 is acceptable, but 7 dead???) I'm in TX and they're in Ohio and we checked, the weather has been very mild during the shipping time, but it took 4 days between hatch and time I received them. I ordered 7 Speckled Sussex and they all came with their eyes glued shut, probably due to sickness and stress. Only one lived, grim.

To anyone looking to order, I'd suggest picking out your order and getting with the hatchery of choice between now and the first of the year to ensure you'll get the breeds you really want. I think you can place an order now for some time as late as March/April but if you wait that long, you're apt to be out of luck on breed selection.

On a happier note, I also bought Blue Marans that were just about laying age from a local breeder. Bought 2 blue hens, one blue rooster and a blue splash hen. The Splash is a cream color with blue 'smears' all over. The Blues are very subtle , a gray pencil stripe 'blue' feathers on the body with a darker charcoal gray on neck and tail. Beautiful in an understated way.
So far the rooster is super calm. Two hens started laying the day I got them home and haven't stopped since. The 3rd is a bit too young yet. Eggs are a medium to large in size, and they're that gorgeous deep deep chocolate brown Marans are known for.


martha

 

[mwojtas]

Wow sorry you lost so many. The hatchery should reimburse you for that much of a loss. That is way more than what would be deemed normal....plus it is sad and disappointing

 

[Vamvakas]

McMurray has great for me, ordered them last April and there roosters are pretty big. The Blue Cochins roosters are big, Blue Laced Red and Silver Laced Wyandotte's are good size, also got 2 Nacked Neck roosters and there both heavy and big (sadly I don't want to see them die for meat but there're to many roosters). There females lack size abit but that's what you get at a hatchery, you can't have both.. That's why next time I'm gonna order from a breeder.

 

[immyjay54]

I have bought from Estes, McMurray and Whitmore Farms and they were all great. I've gotten from McMurray more then once and of all the chicks I've ordered, every one arrived healthy and happy and to this day I've never lost a hatchery chick. I have lost a couple during their first egg laying experience but never before that. I now am dealing more with the heritage breeds so I won't be ordering from them soon but I would never be afraid of buying from any of these again. Also when I ordered just pullets, they were all pullets. The only roo's I got were what I asked for.
Jim

 

[sellison]

I ordered last spring from McMurray and all 50 chicks (25 rhode island red pullets and 25 light brahma roosters) that I ordered arrived healthy and well. They also sent one extra of each plus a free exotic and all arrived well. I did have one of the light brahmas be a girl put I had an extra so it didn't make any difference.

 

[Jayzandra]

I have also been looking into ordering some chicks this spring. I talked to the lady at the feed store and she said she cold get me ANY breed I wanted for $3.00 each. At first I thought "Awesome". But then I'm starting to wonder if the feed store could get me real quality or not. Quality of breed is important to me since I want a really nice looking flock as well as a nice assortment of eggs.

Croad Langshan pullet and cockerel
Welsummer pullet
Cream Legbar pullet
Blue Cochin pullet
Blue Laced Red Wyandotte pullet
White Silkie pullet
EE pullets

I am having a hard time finding a hatchery that carries all the breeds I want, which is why I was considering the feed store. I just received my catalog from Meyer and I am not at all happy with the photographs of their birds. Not only do the feathers seems "ruffled" but their colors seem "off". Also, the Langshan's shape is not to standard. My pet chicken has every breed I want (and I don't have to order 25 birds) so I was thinking about them. Has anybody gotten real quality from My Pet Chicken? If not I'm going to take my chances on the feed store.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Feed Stores order from hatcheries, for the most part. So the quality will be hatchery quality.

You mentioned the Standard for type. Well, quite honestly, that isn't what hatcheries do. They mass produce birds so they are generally quite far from type. The hatcheries forte is availability, price and quantity. As for My Pet Chicken, it is reported that they use Meyers extensively, so the odds are great that you'd get the same birds as if you had ordered them from Meyers anyhow. MPC is an order taker/filler.

I hope that helps.

If true to type and being up to standards is that important to you, you should consider buying from a reputable breeder. That's about the only way you're going to get birds of that quality.