whats the best hatchery to order chickens from??

[jb1999]

People say ideal poultry is good and bad same as murry mcmurry, cackle

 

[jb1999]

Which one is the best

 

[Apdeb]

Please buy from breeder!!! Youll be sooo much happier

 

[jb1999]

Ok

 

[Apdeb]

Jb when you decide what breed you want go to that thread and ask for breeders near you
Chicks will be $5 to $6 but if you are planning on breeding more this is def way to go!!! Also you could ask some local 4h people to recommend someone!! Most of the breeders on here prefer to sell eggs!!! Chicks are better off if they dont have to go through usps

 

[jb1999]

Ok thxs why isn't it good to order ofline jw?????

 

[Apdeb]

Usually the "serious" breeders dont ship
Chicks
But not all!!! Its just less stress on chicks not to be tossed about like a package!!!

 

[BGMatt]

Usually the "serious" breeders dont ship
Chicks
But not all!!! Its just less stress on chicks not to be tossed about like a package!!!

Lot of serious breeders won't sell eggs either. It's always best to buy juvenile or adult stock so you know exactly what you're getting. Usually come out money way ahead on this too.

 

[Apdeb]

Matt whats fair price for Good juveniles
I think this is a young person
Born in 1999!! Me im ancient 1962!!!

 

[BGMatt]

Really depends on the breeder. I don't like to pay more than 30-45 a pair for birds that aren't laying yet. 50-100 a pair is fairly normal for large fowl birds over 6 months I would say. But that can vary wildly. Shipping is expensive too, but it evens out in cost of feed to raise, already getting good quality etc.

Example (real numbers for me earlier this year):

Eggs - 2 dozen eggs @ $35 + $15 shipping means $100 total.

21 days later- Out of that I got a decent hatch for shipped eggs, 13 live chicks. Of which I'd say maybe 2 are going to be good quality, but won't know for sure until they're at least 6 months old or longer, it's about $1 per week per chick so $13 x 36 = $318 total is now at $418. Note that some breeds of large fowl still aren't breeding age at 6 months.

Scenario 2:
Shipped an 11 month old cockerel and a two year old hen, Langshans so BIG birds. But I see pictures, they're mature birds, its a reliable breeder, these birds are a great foundation.

One pair $75, shipping + box $175 roughly

Hen lays an average of 4 days a week right out of box, meaning while the shipped eggs were incubating I now have a dozen of my own eggs to hatch. Local eggs hatch much better (due to not going trough USPS trouble) 11 chicks.
$1 a week per bird is probably an exaggeration for adults but we'll stick with it.

Final result 13 birds. Cost = $256 (three weeks of feeding adults to get eggs or other chicks ) to have the same result. 2 quality birds, but since we have chicks there's potential for more quality there and we're already able to keep hatching.

Edit: and that's assuming a 50% hatch on shipped eggs, that is getting extremely lucky. I get 95% hatch rates on local eggs, I'm averaging right now around 25% for the year on shipped eggs (probably 15 dozen in all? thankfully haven't paid for a lot of them)

Edit 2: it gets even cheaper if you can buy shipped juveniles (or are into bantams) probably cuts that shipping cost in half, easily.