Which hatchery has the best Bantam Cochins?

[JenEric Farms]

I DO like to be right...

 

[LuckyInKy]

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I was there as well and was not impressed by the sale or even many of the show birds. I went to a show in Shelbyville back around May and the birds there were more impressive to me. Many of the breeders agreed that the quality was down this year at the fair.

My theory is that many people do not want to bring their nicer birds to such a large show since it is extremely stressful with the large crowds and there is an increased risk of infection. I imagine that the birds also looked nicer when they got there and got worse as the days went on. There was alot of fighting and feather plucking going on, especially in the sale coops where it was crowded.

 

[jerseygirl1]

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To answer the questions - a good hatchery FROM MY EXPERIENCE - would be Ideal Poultry

As for a 'good' breeder, I would go to a poultry show and check out the ones being shown, and ask the exhibitors if they have any to sell and see what they have BEFORE you buy

 

[jerseygirl1]

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And what was YOUR answer?

 

[al6517]

What I read into what the OP is after is this........... She has had Hatchery birds in the past and has entered the next level in her needs as far as quality in her Cochins. Regardless if she plans on showing or not, she has looked around at pic's and threads and see how nice looking really well bred or better bred cochins can look like. She probably just mentioned hatcheries because most people like her don't know where else to look and they believe what the hatchery tells them.

I think it's safe to say that she is looking for a better bird and want's better quality. We all know the whole argument that hatchery mutts are not close to the standard, we all also know that hatchery customers could care less what their birds look like, they want egg's and pets and that's what the hatchery is all about, the unwitting non informed customer is how hatcheries survive. We also know that so called breeders can offer inferior stock, but one has to do reaserch and select better breeders as with anything you have to pay the piper and look around do the leg work.

My recommendation to the OP is this................ reasearch some good well respected breeders here on BYC, look for others who have got birds from them and see what they look like and if the folks are satified that they got what they wanted or what they were told. This way you will have the best of both worlds by getting what you want by actually seeing the end product, by that time you will probably be at the next level in your quest for quality cochins and will end up taking yet another avenue in obtaining better quality birds.

OP.......... So please don't order from a hatchery even one that comes highly recommended, get what you want, pay what is required and be happy with the fact that you now have good stock not so so kinda sorta nice half cochin pet birds. I encourage your new intrest in obtaining better birds regardless of breed and good luck to you.


AL

 

[Muggsmagee]

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You got ALL that from the OP's ONLY question "which hatchery has the best cochins?"???

Al...I believe the OP is a dude.

There you have it OP...several people have given their advice...I believe it is a tie between Cackle and Ideal. And no votes scored for specific bantam cochin breeders.

 

[RHRanch]

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And what was YOUR answer?

I answered the Op's question. 'Which hatchery has the best cochins" as best as I could. I said I hadn't ordered from enough hatcheries to really say for sure, so I just told him what the ones I got from ideal were like.

 

[KDailey]

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The TOPIC is, "WHICH HATCHERY HAS THE BEST BANTAM COCHINS?"

Isn't it amazing that reading seems to be selective to most? Not to beat a dead horse and all that, but anyone who has jumped on this thread spouting the nonsense of "hatchery is not show quality" is NOT answering NOR helping the OP.

Let's go ahead and break this down in layman's terms...

It would be like someone asking, "where can I find a nice pair of shoes at the mall?"....and someone else answers "Payless or Sears". Those would be perfectly acceptable answers, right? Right.

But "others" say, "NOOOO way. Those shoes aren't good enough. You really should be after the shoes from Manolo Blahnik, where you spend an arm, a leg and your first born, because someone in the fashion world will be watching and you need to have fashionable shoes if you ever plan to walk!"

Well, sometimes people just want a decent pair of shoes at a reasonable price, that they find useful and pretty and that they can be happy with! Without the added critique from others that those shoes are subpar and they'll never make it in the fashion world. Where does that have relevance? Ya'll have completely jumped topic! Focus people!

I am so sick and tired of everyone harping on anyone that has or wants hatchery birds. Who cares? Get over it. Oh, and Illia...I've been to APA sanctioned shows where they've seriously misjudged birds...someone else commented on something similar recently on a thread we frequent, if you recall. Just another trail of assumptions (that the show in question was a County Fair/non-APA sanctioned) I've seen lately.

Wonderfully said!

Maybe someone should just ask the original poster what his specific needs are?

I've got 4 bantam cochins from Ideal Poultry and I like them very much. They're going on 2 months old and are very pretty in my opinion. Are they show quality? I have no idea. But I was very happy with Ideal and I've just ordered 10 more bantam cochins and 15 LF Cochins from them due to arrive next week.

Here are some pictures:
This first one is my favorite.

This one is a little roo, thus the lack of many feathers. He's now got a lot more than this.

These last two pictures don't really do these girls justice. They're actually a lot prettier than this.

 

[al6517]

Any Hatchery chick although as nice as they my seem to you will never ever be SQ, it's not the hatcheries thing to produce such stock, and never will. WTS just name them and be happy with your choice as a pet yard chicken. If you want show birds buy real birds from real SQ breeders if that is your goal to show or have heritage bred birds to be proud of.

 

[NYRIR]

Here are a couple of bantam cochins I got this year from McMurray...pics are not great, sorry but should give you an idea of quality

Of the 4 Blues I ordered, 2 are black and 2 are blue...2 are roos and 2 are hens. I got a pair in each color

A Blue Bantam...

Of the 4 Frizzled I ordered, 3 are hens and 1 is a roo....

A Black Frizzle Bantam....