i was thinking about getting 12 chickens in the spring. i want to get the chicks from ideal poultry. has anyone got chicks from there?
I haven't ordered from a hatchery before, but I have gotten hatchery chicks - our local Feed Store gets chicks in the spring, but they use Mt. Healthy Hatchery. I am not sure I'll be buying from Ideal. They intend to begin selling Columbian Rocks as Delawares next spring - I think that is very sad - I want Delawares, and I would not want someone selling me something else and telling me it was a Delaware. Makes me wonder what else they would lie about. meri
I have. My last order was from ideal. The chicks all arrived fine, and we lost one a week or so later. One was cross beaked, and it died after a while too. Minimum order was 25. I plan to buy from them again this spring, maybe 50 birds total. The only complaint i had was that they were a little too liberal with the dye. Some of the marked birds had color in their eyes.
Oh, btw - I think Ideal has a 25 minimum, or else they charge you extra - and it turns out costing the same as if you buy 25 anyway, even if you only get 12. mypetchicken you can buy as few as 3 (again, they charge extra though, to make up for heat pads and the like). Cackle Hatchery you can get 15 - which wouldn't be much more than 12. I have not researched Cackle Hatchery, but if I do buy some chicks next spring, I will probably do so from them, as I do not need 25 chicks, either - I already have quite a few chickens. I have checked their site, and I can get 5 each of Delaware, White Rock and Buff Orpington for about 47 bucks shipped. That's not a bad price, IMO. They say you have to buy a minimum of 5 of each breed, and a minimum total of 15. Shipping is 15 bucks for that amount. http://www.cacklehatchery.com/default.html here's the link, if you want to check them out. meri
My chicks came from Ideal and I'm very happy with them. I ordered a surprise assortment and got a great mix. There were a few more packing peanuts than I'd hoped, but all were Cochins and I found a lady who was thrilled to buy my extras. My crowd is 13 weeks old now, I didn't lose any. All are happy and healthy, and as soon as I can convince hubby to let me, I'll be ordering more from them. Edit to add: Ideal does not have a minumun number of chicks order, just a $25. minimun order amount. I only ordered 12 chicks, it's just that they sent 8 packing peanuts along with them. I think unless the weather is really warm, you can count on getting more than you order.
I bought some juvenilles recently from a "grower" here in the Phoenix area. She swears by Cackle as the very best hatchery and she always orders 100 chicks at a time... says they are the best in price and never has a dead arrival and few losses after they arrive. The birds we bought had been crowded a bit, but they look healthy. One of the Leghorns we got just laid an egg! She is a small hen but it was a jumbo white egg! There was a rooster in the pen so we are saving the egg to put under our broody on Wednesday... I don't want a staggered hatch under my broody.
Yep, I've ordered several times from Ideal and they made the trip from Texas to New England in good condition. I'd try to order from a hatchery closer to home if I could but none carry the breed I like (except some closer Canadian hatcheries that won't ship to the US.) Wayne
I just got my first shipment from Ideal. I ordered the assorted 25 pullet standard layers. They arrived fine and in good condition. The only thing I forgot to do was to have them tell me what breeds I got. Oh Well! You can also check out Meyers Hatchery, they also will ship as few as 3 chicks now but there is a small order charge which includes an upgrade to Express Shipping and a heating pad
