which hatchery?

[Ridgerunner]

If you want to show them, no. They are not show quality. If you want to be assured of the dark eggs, no. They do not vigorously cull to develop those properties. They tend to ship chicks that will grow up to have the general coloring the Marans have and that may lay an egg darker than many other chickens. The hatchery Marans tend to lay a little better than Marans in general. Hatchery chicks tend to have the general Maran body configuration, but they don't severely cull for that either. If you want show quality chickens or guaranteed dark eggs, you need to order from a breeder that specializes in that.

Not all people that call themselves breeders do really specialize. Some specialize in raising Marans that conform to the standards of perfection and will win the grand prize at chicken shows. Some specialize in breeding for dark eggs. Some do both. Some get hatchery chicks and just hatch them, not really culling for standards and call them Marans. Most will be honest with you about what they are breeding for, but all are human.

 

[silkydragon]

i got 10 silkies from meyer i drove to pick them up. good news all survived and 2 are of pretty good quality(not great just good) bad news is they where all roos

 

[chkinut]

Quote:
can u tell me what color eggs your EE lay (u got them from MPC right?). i ordered 2 EE from MPC last year and they are wonderful girls! but they both lay the same color egg! (a light greenish blue....but more on the green side). well, i want to order a couple more EE this coming year in hopes of getting a blue or pink egg or even a darker green egg. i'm wondering about other people's experiences with MPC EE.

 

[Pequena Bandada]

Quote:
can u tell me what color eggs your EE lay (u got them from MPC right?). i ordered 2 EE from MPC last year and they are wonderful girls! but they both lay the same color egg! (a light greenish blue....but more on the green side). well, i want to order a couple more EE this coming year in hopes of getting a blue or pink egg or even a darker green egg. i'm wondering about other people's experiences with MPC EE.

I have two EEs from MPC; one lays a mint green egg - it's not light but not incredibly dark either. The other lays a creamy pink egg. It's mostly cream but with a hint of pink. Pretty boring color, actually. I ordered with a friend who got 8 EEs at the same time I got mine. Her EEs from MPC lay light green, mint green, and creamy-pink. No blues in the whole bunch. It seems from what I've read on here that you need to order from a good breeder to be certain of blue eggs.

 

[The Fairy Godmartyr]

I ordered 13 chickens from Meyer this summer because they are close enough for me to drive and pick the chicks up (I didn't want to put them through shipping). It was a nice place. All of my chicks were healthy. One of my EE's was incorrectly sexed, but I guess that happens a lot. I ordered 3 silkies (they don't sex bantams) with the hopes of getting at least one female. That's what I got--one female. And one of my roos must have come from a covert encounter since he isn't all black. I just have them for fun, though, so I'm OK with "hatchery quality." I would definitely use them again for hatchery chickens. If I were looking at marans, though, I think I would try to find a breeder to ensure I got really dark eggs.

 

[chkinut]

i'm looking at meyer hatchery's website now and i don't see anywhere on the site about minumum order numbers. also, i wonder if you can just order one or two of a particular breed? cuz when i checked out the "americaunas/easter eggers" it gave the price for 11-24 birds. well, what if i only want 2 or 3?

 

[cabot]

at meyers you can definately order a minimum of 3 chickens and they can each be a different breed if you want.... You'll see it when you go through the process of ordering. Last spring I ordered from MPC and all were very healthy and thrived, my understanding is that they came from meyers. Sexing in my case was 100% accurate on 9 pullets.

My ee's both lay pretty green eggs, it is hard to tell who's is who because they look fairly identicle. Unfortunately , I just lost one of the ee's to a hawk....

I will be ordering some more ee's and some buff orpingtons from meyers for the spring because I only need a small order again

 

[gritsar]

MPC is not a hatchery. They are a middleman. I believe they get their chicks from Meyers.

Also, when are you planning on ordering chicks? Most hatcheries will be taking orders soon - now or in January, but IMO springtime is the right time to get chicks. You'll have a much better chance of getting chicks that are healthy and ready to start life; not half frozen. You can place your order as soon as the hatchery starts taking orders, but schedule delivery for later on in the spring.

I will only deal with Ideal, having had great luck with them twice before. Ideal doesn't have a chick minimum, only a dollar amount.

 

[chkinut]

Quote:
dang it!!! i already placed my order earlier today (with Meyer) and i'm just now reading ur post! and they will be delivered march 1st, 2nd or 3rd. i DID call the company before i ordered though, and i asked them about how they keep the chicks warm if they ship in march.....since they're in OH and i'm in NC. they said if it's less than 15 chicks, they'll put a heat pack in there....and i also believe they overnite them.....at least they should considering i paid nearly 40 bucks just for shipping! my order is 12 chicks...so i hope they don't just throw in 3 packing peanuts INSTEAD of putting in the heat pack. anyway, needless to say, i AM excited! i ordered 2 Welsummers, 2 EE, 1 BJG, and 1 SS for myself....then my friend wanted 6 RIR. i also realize the babies will be in the house longer than my chicks were last year. last year my chicks came from MPC (all healthy and wonderful) and i had them outside 24/7 when they were 2 and a half weeks old and they did great! no heat lamps or anything. of course they came in on April 13th. i'm sure these babies will be inside for quite sometime.
i forget why i chose to order from Meyer, verses Ideal? oh yeah, with ideal, when i clicked on a particular breed, it said i had to order 5 chicks of a particular breed. does that sound right? or is my brain not thinking correctly? anyway, that's why i didn't go with them.
and oh....i would freak out if a hawk got one of my girls! that's awful!!!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
dang it!!! i already placed my order earlier today (with Meyer) and i'm just now reading ur post! and they will be delivered march 1st, 2nd or 3rd. i DID call the company before i ordered though, and i asked them about how they keep the chicks warm if they ship in march.....since they're in OH and i'm in NC. they said if it's less than 15 chicks, they'll put a heat pack in there....and i also believe they overnite them.....at least they should considering i paid nearly 40 bucks just for shipping! my order is 12 chicks...so i hope they don't just throw in 3 packing peanuts INSTEAD of putting in the heat pack. anyway, needless to say, i AM excited! i ordered 2 Welsummers, 2 EE, 1 BJG, and 1 SS for myself....then my friend wanted 6 RIR. i also realize the babies will be in the house longer than my chicks were last year. last year my chicks came from MPC (all healthy and wonderful) and i had them outside 24/7 when they were 2 and a half weeks old and they did great! no heat lamps or anything. of course they came in on April 13th. i'm sure these babies will be inside for quite sometime.
i forget why i chose to order from Meyer, verses Ideal? oh yeah, with ideal, when i clicked on a particular breed, it said i had to order 5 chicks of a particular breed. does that sound right? or is my brain not thinking correctly? anyway, that's why i didn't go with them.
and oh....i would freak out if a hawk got one of my girls! that's awful!!!

My last order from Ideal (in June of this year) contained 3 of some breeds, 4 of others and 2 silkies and 2 speckled sussex. The SS are shaping up to be beautiful birds. The turkens are nice too. The silkies were an afterthought. In fact, even though Ideal's website said they were sold out of the color silkies I wanted I PMed Teri @ Ideal (she's a BYC member) and asked. I got the silkies in the colors I wanted. So unless they've changed it recently, you don't have to order 5 of one breed. You can PM Teri and ask her.
Also, if you are ordering from Ideal in the spring and definitely don't want packing peanuts (males added for warmth) just tell them that. I ordered 14 chicks and got 14.