Which Hatchery? BA, BR, & EE(Marans/OliveEggr/Wels eggs) & broody hens

[brandoncakes]

WHICH HATCHERY?
I got a couple friends to go in with me on an order for baby chicks. We all want the same breeds - Black Australorps, Barred Rocks, and Easter Eggers for a colorful egg basket. Which hatchery is a good one to order from? Every farm shop here orders from Ideal Poultry. Is it safe to just order through the farm shops? I've heard good & bad about Ideal, but then again I've heard good & bad from a lot of other hatcheries as well. Here's what I'm looking for:

*FEMALES* - I know accuracy on sexing is 90% at most hatcheries, but which hatchery have you found better accuracy? Or less errors? We need all females.
*LAYING ABILITY* - I need good hens that will lay well. I know we've chosen some great egg-laying breeds, and most hatcheries will use good laying hens to produce lots of eggs(=chicks). Are your hens of these breeds great layers? Which hatchery have you gotten them from?
*QUALITY* - I've heard stories of farmers getting crooked beaks, leg problems, laying problems, etc.. Which hatcheries are known for this/we should stay away from?

We were originally going to go with Sex-links instead of Barred Rocks. After hearing the egg-bound horror stories, and the fact that they burn out after one year, we changed our minds.

MARANS/OLIVE EGGERS/WELSUMMER EGGS:
I'm planning on getting an even more coloful basket by adding Marans, Olive Eggers, and Welsummers later. I don't want to order those from a hatchery because I understand they don't breed for egg color. I found a lot of members who breed for egg-color, and will probably buy from them to put under the hens. Anyone in particular with great egg color? I love the Egg Color Pictures thread. I have a few members in mind.

BROODY HENS:
Will the breeds we're going to order ever go broody even without a rooster? If so, when should I start ordering hatching eggs for some of these girls to sit on? Should I wait until after she goes broody? Or after she lays a good amount of eggs? The roosters that may hatch will probably be sold off before they crow. They'll make excellent breeding stock for farmers looking for roosters based on egg-color.

Any info would be greatly appreciated )
Brandon
Kailua, HI

 

[Illia]

You will not get Olive Eggers, consistently broody hens, or quality from any hatchery.


There's loads of breeders online, right here at BYC, who can help you out.

Even if you need only females, if you get males - There's people here who can sex your chicks months before they even think about crowing. In fact you may even find some breeders on here are local, and can get you sexed chicks or pullets.

 

[brandoncakes]

Oooo really? *Excited about breeder stock* I'd love to order through a breeder, but would they be willing to hatch and send only females? We definitely want to start with the Black Australorps, Barred Rocks, and Easter Eggers(only because those are the only breeds we can all agree on). Later I want to buy some eggs for the girls to hatch (proven Olive Eggers, Marans, and Welsummers - I don't want hatchery stock of these breeds). Do BA, BR, and EE go broody? Id love to get in contact with a local breeder here on O`ahu in Hawai`i. Started pullets sound lovely!

 

[Illia]

Where are you located? I'm sure if you go to the "Where are you? Where am I?" section you can find your state, and might find some breeders in the state thread. If not, some of us may help you out with finding a more local breeder. Not many people sell and ship sexed chicks except hatcheries, though they do sell adults (which shipping costs a lot with, though)

 

[brandoncakes]

I'm in Hawaii - Kailua, O`ahu to be exact. I will check out that thread, thanks so much!

 

[shchinchillas]

As for hatchery we've had good luck with Cackle. They can be hard to get ahold of (busy phone lines), however our chicks actually look pretty good. Our silkies look A LOT more to standard then our TSC silkies (Mt. Healthy), and our Sumatra and Phoenix look pretty nice as well when comparing to breeder pictures. Granted we have not shown them, and have them just because they look neat lol. I've been happy with the health of them as well. They've done very well from chicks to adult hood. We have another order shipping next week from Cackle.

 

[onesweetfarm]

I am having a difficult time finding EE in my area. Know of any local breeders in New England? I am located in RI. Thanks

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Search craigslist for "Ameraucanas" "Americaunas" or "Americanas" - Those in 90% of cases are just Easter Eggers. Lots of people selling them right now throughout the states.

 

[wingsofglory]

Hi, I was in Honaunau on the Big Island south of Kona for 5 years. Great fun place to raise chickens. No snow or frozen eggs!

None of your three choices will go broody. They are sold for egg laying ability which means the broodiness has been bred out of them. If one does, it is the exception, not the rule.

Some people here will say their particular Easter Egger went broody, but they are not telling where they got their EE. It could mean just a cross.

What I did was order a few Columbian Wyndottes. They are known for being broody: as a rule, not as an exception. And it worked!!! My hen went broody after only laying a month or six weeks. I watched her for a week to see if she was serious - and she was - so I put eggs under her, she hatched them and was a very good Mom. After graduating her fullly feathered chicks, she went broody again in about 6 weeks. Was great that she would do this more than once a year.

My order was from Ideal - one batch from the neighborhood feed store which ordered from Ideal. The second batch was from Ideal in the mail.
Only a few hatcheries will mail to Hawaii because they need permits from the state of Hawaii. Private breeders I called will not go the trouble of contacting the state first for permits. And some breeders I called practically accused me of murder expecting their chicks to be mailed "across the ocean"! Like maybe they thought the plane would go down or something??

The EE from Ideal are lovely and lay very well. The Columbian Wyndottes came from them too.

You might inquire around about the local hens. Their game ancestry makes for a broody too. And there are other breeds that will go broody. I think partridge rocks might be one but I am not sure. Black Sumatra are another. Very pretty.

I think I've seen some hatchery Welsummer eggs posted on here with good color.

Aloha!

 

[brandoncakes]

Thanks a lot, this helps a lot. I think I'll stick with our original order and IF one the hens do go broody, then I'll order eggs and put them under her. If not, maybe I'll think about busting out the old styro-incubator.

I used to live on Hawai`i island for about 10 years before moving back to O`ahu. That's where I had all my poultry raising experience. 13 years old and so hooked on all those birds! I had Silkies, Rhode Islands, Orpingtons, Faverolles, Easter Eggers, Polish, Seabrights, Gamefowl, African geese, Chinese geese, Embden geese, Australorps(which were all attacked by a dog before reaching 4 months), Blue India peachicks, and even some Muscovy ducklings we rescued from an abandoned nest at Wailoa pond(we watched as a dog murdered the soon-to-be mother duck). Very fun, I wish we had a ranch like we did then.

brandon.