which hatchery?

[Wifezilla]

I have ducks from McMurray, Holderread's and Metzer. Holderred's is the clear winner for quality, but my other birds are healthy too. Personality-wise, my best hen is my goofy looking Metzer hen Shelley. She is really smart and very friendly. The best behaved drake I ever had to date is my McMurray drake Cartman. My other drake, TJ - the offspring of 2 Holderread's ducks, is a butthead! He is very handsome, strong and healthy, but he pushes the hens out of the way to be first to the treats. Cartman calls to the hens and lets them go first. Cartman is also way more vigilant while the girls are foraging. TJ also is a toe nipper just like his dad

So I am hoping to breed more of the good personality traits of the other ducks with my handsome Holdderead's ducks.

As for egg laying ability, it's a tie. I get loads of eggs out of all the girls regardless of the hatchery.

 

[linda_zeagler31002]

Well let me get in on this conversation and going to try to add the links, so let me start by saying I have bought ducks from all over the world and back around for seconds on some, Holderread to me is super and I am so proud of the ducks I received from them,
http://www.countrychickens.com/country_chickens_4_003.htm, this is a list updated regularly for hatcheries and quaility breeders,
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html, I have to say this to me is a number one hatchery, they rotate out there flocks yearly, so you don't get interbreds, http://www.schlechthatchery.com/, I bought some beautiful just excellent ducks from them, http://www.ideal-poultry.com/, http://www.meyerhatchery.com/, http://www.holderreadfarm.com/, a private breeder and excellent line of Show Quality, and your right what in the world will we do if Dave retires, and his legacy stops, http://www.wapsiwaterfowl.com/4.html, now here Dennis Fuller is well known and has won more quality show ducks than I can count, http://www.mallardlanefarms.com/callducks.htm, a private breeder, http://www.faithvalleywaterfowl.com/index.html, http://www.poultryhollow.org/ducks.htm, http://breezehaven.faithweb.com/, now quality is pricely, you can spend $100-1,000 dollars all up to the buyer, Breezehaven actually have black call ducks, no not East Indies, but the black holds its own in Brians call ducks, Brian also crossed Darrel Sheraw and Art Lundgren White calls and he is going to have on sure enough top blood line and show quality in his white calls, http://www.showcasestable.com/index.html, these folks Bobby and Cierae tore up 2009 Blue fawn call awards, and 2010 White call BEST award in the Ohio Nationals, When I am adding to my flock, or buying a duck the first thing I ask myself is What person/seller/breeder is a proven Show quality winner with a well known bloodline that I can trust? So, I have now added my 2 cents, good luck choosing a breeder or hatchery.

 

[Omniskies]

Forgive me, but I flinched when you mentioned Ideal Poultry in your list of recommendations. I'm not sure what you bought that made you happy, but I can safely say that they would be practically at the bottom of my recommends list.

No one is saying hatchery birds aren't healthy or have a great personality. And I agree, if you have to go with a hatchery, McMurray is probably your best bet. I've been pleased with some of the things I've gotten from them. But there is still a big difference from, say, a McMurray Wyandotte and one from a breeder.

I have ordered numerous things from Ideal because I'm smitten with rare breeds, my tax return had come in, and I'm not very bright. I was amazed at their low prices on Pilgrims and American Buffs and ordered in 30+ of each. I ate a _lot_ of goose that year. The Pilgrims had white wing tips, some of the females had giant white bibs, I had a half dozen white females, a lot of the males didn't have saddles, a lot of the females didn't have facial markings. There were some birds in the mix that looked like Pilgrims, but the whole flock made me nervous (and they sounded off like a flock of Toulouse). I ended up selling them as "mixed breed pets" just to get my money back.

The American Buffs were more grey than buff. They reminded me more of a Buff x Toulouse cross than a real Buff - both in size and personality. They were loud and chatty, and were small birds. Virtually all of them went in the freezer.

Their Dorkings were every shade of grey under the sun (and weren't really autosexable), their Malays - while neat - were also every shade of red imaginable, were too narrow, and weren't very big. The "Blue Laced Red" markings on their bantam BLR Wyandottes seemed more like a suggestion than a rule. Their Barnevelders laid...eggs...and were laced, double-laced, half-laced, and everything else.

I can't remember what else I ended up getting from them. I had placed a few large orders early in the year to get the breeds that sell out fast. And it takes a long time before you can actually _see_ what the birds will grow up to be. You can't judge them at four months or even six months. So it took me awhile to realize that I had screwed up.

The customer service was great, the birds were healthy, and we got a huge kick of watching our flock of dinosaur birds (the Malays) run around the yard. And while some of their breeds may be fine to keep as actual -breeders- nothing I bought was on that list. I sold them all, was extremely disappointed, and got to start fresh.

Meyer Hatchery wasn't too bad. Certainly a dozen steps up from Ideal, but still a dozen steps down from a genuine breeder. I didn't bother with rare breeds at Meyer, which may have been the difference. Or they could just be a dozen steps up from Ideal's quality.

I haven't ordered from Schlecht yet, but wanted to. And am interested in checking the others out (Holderread exempt - I've ordered from him and adore his birds).

I'm of the opinion that hatcheries should have to post pictures of what their birds actually look like. That way instead of seeing the lovely little paintings or looking up show quality birds (or, like some unscrupulous hatcheries, *cough*Cackle*cough* use pictures of birds from poultry shows) and thinking that is what you are getting.

 

[CityChicker]

FWIW- McMurray's ducks are supplied by Metzers. They do not maintain their own breeder flocks (ducks anyway). If I were to order ducklings, my top pick would be Holderreads followed by Metzers. I would go with Metzers if I absolutely could only do a few or if they had something Holderreads didn't. The top choice for me though would be Holderreads, whom my family has done business with for decades. Either company will send healthy, vigorous ducklings. Holderreads are a significant step up as far as breed quality though.

 

[Wifezilla]

I can safely say that they would be practically at the bottom of my recommends list.

I save that spot for Privett. All of the quality issues of ideal, but with lousy customer service and rude employees. Big R gets their chickens from Privett.

I would go with Metzers if I absolutely could only do a few or if they had something Holderreads didn't.

Yup. Because of my limited space I went with Metzer for my first order of Welsh Harlequins. I needed females only and only 3. This is the only place that would sell me a small qty and sex them as well.

The top choice for me though would be Holderreads, whom my family has done business with for decades. Either company will send healthy, vigorous ducklings. Holderreads are a significant step up as far as breed quality though.

 

[pekinduck<3er]

i just got some cayugas from metzer farms there great i goit to but there healthy and eat fine!!
tell us which one u pick!!
byez!

 

[Meyer Hatchery]

Quote:
Let me speak for Meyer Hatchery here. We breed for production. Our birds are bought mostly for that purpose, so we breed for that purpose. We do get feed back that our birds win shows, which is a wonderful plus to the great production birds we breed for. In fact, our Buckeyes are the latest reported winners (at the Ohio Nationals).

We are glad you appreciate real pictures of real stock! Our catalog and website depict our breeder birds. What you see, is what you get. We understand that a cartoon picture cannot speak for our stock, which is why we provide you with the most accurate depiction of our stock, as possible.

 

[Omniskies]

Production is why I ordered from Meyer. Sometimes a person just wants eggs instead of a bird that will make it to the show table

. And yes, I greatly appreciate it when a hatchery shows off exactly what their birds look like. I had forgotten that you guys do that (I should know better - I have your catalog, so I really am genuinely sorry for not mentioning that while griping).

I understand that hatcheries breed for production. And hatchries fill an important niche. I just feel as if they are missing a fantastic opportunity to get genuine rare breeds into the hands of people who otherwise wouldn't have even known those birds existed. If you are selling Production Reds, obviously people want birds that lay big brown eggs. But if a hatchery (just as a random example) is selling Sumatras, I wish hatcheries would bump up the price and sell _Sumatras_. Not black chickens. And when someone *cough*me*cough* wants Dorkings, don't get my hopes up in thinking I've found Dorkings when instead I just have these grey birds that, while pretty, may or may not have a 5th toe and are sort of leggy.

I'm not asking hatcheries to have show quality. But within the breed standards would be nice. Again, this isn't directed at Meyer, whose rare breeds I haven't ordered. What I ordered from them I was pleased with. They were healthy, they arrived safe and sound (I don't think I've even had to contact them with a DOA), and, as they pointed out, you can see precisely what you are getting before you're getting it. Not what it _should_ look like, but what it honest-to-God looks like.

Other hatcheries probably post up pictures of their actual birds, too. I'm just drawing a blank on any right now. My beef is with the ones that, for better or worse, genuinely are deceptive. Don't post up show quality pictures if your birds don't even begin to resemble what you have on the site. People who buy Yokohamas based on a show quality picture are going to be really disappointed when their bird grows a one foot long tail.