Whats in YOUR Assortment? ....Hatchery Reports

[dealfinder500]

I just got 50 assorted bantams from Ideal. No clue as to what most of the breeds are! I'm told they have the largest selection of bantams of any hatchery, so that doesn't help, plus their website is a bit awkward to use and they don't have pictures of the chicks anyway.

I did get 10 cochins, and 1 Partridge silkie, and several game birds.

A few weeks ago I got 8 assorted geese. I got a White Chinese, an Embden, and I think 6 Brown Africans. I only kept three, and it was only a week or so ago I figured out how to tell the difference between the Brown Africans and the Toulouse, as they look pretty much just alike as goslings.

I've gotten 2 Cackle Surprises (and a third coming next week) and I have been extremely pleased. My first surprise I got 7 or 8 silkies, some game birds, and a real nice assortment. My second surprise I got 7 polish, a pair of wynadotte bantams, and many others. I can't wait to see what I get in my third!

 

[MonTXChickens]

I have been curious about these assortments. I have wondered if they are worthwhile or if these would be just the left overs that they have a hard time selling. I don't even know what kind of chickens are undesirable enough to make a bad assortment. Anyway, when I read about this on the hatchery website it made me nervous about what I would get so I didn't do it. Thanks for starting the thread. I am interested in the results...

 

[Caheen]

I'm really glad I got an assortment this time. They sent me some breeds I hadn't considered ordering myself. Like the white wyandotte, but they are sweet, and just a bright sunshine yellow right now. And the sussex are super sweet, and I have one that just wants to be held.

 

[dealfinder500]

I have been curious about these assortments. I have wondered if they are worthwhile or if these would be just the left overs that they have a hard time selling. I don't even know what kind of chickens are undesirable enough to make a bad assortment. Anyway, when I read about this on the hatchery website it made me nervous about what I would get so I didn't do it. Thanks for starting the thread. I am interested in the results...

They aren't ones that they have a hard time selling. Hatcheries always have left overs, because they never know exactly how many are going to hatch, so they'd rather have extras than not enough. The extras get sold in assortments, and the bigger the pool for the assortments the cheaper the price! Most hatcheries will offer an assortment of specific kinds (like all polish, or all game birds, or all pullets, etc.) for a cheaper price than buying specific polish, or game birds, etc. But then they charge an even lower price for general assortments - anything and everything. I've ordered 3 of the Surprises from Cackle - the first one I got 54 chicks, 2 ducks and a turkey. The 2nd one I got 48 chicks and 2 ducks. The third comes next week. Each one was $60.95.

Generally, they have a LOT of leftovers, so you don't usually get one or two kinds, in my experience, Cackle and Ideal both give you a good variety, the most I've gotten was 4 of a kind, usually 1-3 of a kind.

 

[oldrooster]

I have been curious about these assortments. I have wondered if they are worthwhile or if these would be just the left overs that they have a hard time selling. I don't even know what kind of chickens are undesirable enough to make a bad assortment. Anyway, when I read about this on the hatchery website it made me nervous about what I would get so I didn't do it. Thanks for starting the thread. I am interested in the results...

There is a very active thread here on BYC about the Cackle surprise, they describe it as late hatches But I would assume they have to produce a few extras just to make sure they have enough for people's orders so they pack up all the extras. Also I'm sure whatever last minute cancelations they have...

 

[MonTXChickens]

Makes perfect sense now... I am obviously new to chicken buying... I guess a little skeptical by nature... right now I'm full up on space for chickens... I could add a couple chickens of choice breeds but not 25 so I guess I'm primarily considering sometime in the future... thanks for the replies!