Where to even begin? Do I even want to? In my opinion most of this is personal opinion and personal preference. We are all unique. We keep chickens for different goals in different climates in different set-ups, with different restrictions, various flock make-ups, and have different experiences. It stands to reason we are not all going to follow the same practices. I don't feel like anyone that does something different from me is wrong, they are just different.
Now to try to offer my opinion on some of your specific comments and questions. It looks like it is starting to get personal and may be closed soon.
Some people tend to think that every hatchery or every breeder are identical. That's not even close to correct. Just n the USA each hatchery has its own people managing it and working there. They have different facilities and different business plans. I can think of one that has a history of health problems. I can think of several that haven't had any disease or parasite problems for decades. Some hatcheries keep their own flocks, some contract out to independent contractors for hatching eggs, some do both. Typically the eggs go to a cleaning/sanitizing facility before they are taken into the incubation/hatching facility which is thoroughly sterilized between hatches. They also typically test their flocks for any diseases that can be passed down trough the eggs, there aren't many. You can come up with your own definition of safe, but I can't come up with a safer way to avoid bringing disease or parasite into my flock than getting chicks from a reputable USA hatchery that has been around a few decades with no history of problems.
Breeders come in all kinds. Some breed for show, some for production. Some take hatchery birds and mate them with no specific goal in mind. Some are trying to to create a certain chicken that may not yet exist. Some practice tremendous biosecurity, some don't know what it means. To me just the term breeder doesn't say a lot.
I have had somewhere around a total of 75 to 80 chicks shipped from three different hatcheries. All those chicks arrived alive. One died a couple of days later, but the way I look at it some are just not meant to make it. I raised those chicks in a brooder and integrated them into my flock. The first batch started my flock. I regularly hatch one or two batches in my incubator a year and raise them the same way. I typically have two to four broody hens hatch and raise chicks with my flock. I've never lost a chick to another adult flock member. I occasionally lose one to a predator, usually a snake, but that's almost always chicks with a broody hen. By the time I let the chicks out of the brooder they are too big for most of the local snakes to eat. I don't lose them to disease either. There are techniques to manage that. I believe you said you had bad luck with disease and predators when you tried brooder raised chicks. Them dying of disease may have more to do with your technique than them being brooder-raised.
Some people would be horrified that you let your chickens free range. They feel that chickens should be locked up safely in a predator proof coop and run. Different personal opinions. I'm not going to condemn you for free ranging even if you occasionally lose a chicken to predators. That is your choice and the price you are willing to pay. My parents free ranged their chickens when I grew up and had very few predator problems, which they managed. Dad was a great shot. I free ranged until I started consistently started losing chickens by the handful from people dropping dogs off in the country.
In my opinion a baby chick needs food, water, appropriate protection for the environment, and appropriate protection from predators. What is appropriate depends a lot on your definition. That need can be provided by a brooder or a broody hen. I started my flock with chicks from a hatchery. As they grew up they acted like chickens. No adult chickens around, it was all instinct. I prefer a broody hen because she does all the work. She takes practically all the stress and labor from me. I personally don't see making my life harder than it has to be a good thing, especially when it doesn't matter at the end of the day.
That's probably enough this morning.
Now to try to offer my opinion on some of your specific comments and questions. It looks like it is starting to get personal and may be closed soon.
Some people tend to think that every hatchery or every breeder are identical. That's not even close to correct. Just n the USA each hatchery has its own people managing it and working there. They have different facilities and different business plans. I can think of one that has a history of health problems. I can think of several that haven't had any disease or parasite problems for decades. Some hatcheries keep their own flocks, some contract out to independent contractors for hatching eggs, some do both. Typically the eggs go to a cleaning/sanitizing facility before they are taken into the incubation/hatching facility which is thoroughly sterilized between hatches. They also typically test their flocks for any diseases that can be passed down trough the eggs, there aren't many. You can come up with your own definition of safe, but I can't come up with a safer way to avoid bringing disease or parasite into my flock than getting chicks from a reputable USA hatchery that has been around a few decades with no history of problems.
Breeders come in all kinds. Some breed for show, some for production. Some take hatchery birds and mate them with no specific goal in mind. Some are trying to to create a certain chicken that may not yet exist. Some practice tremendous biosecurity, some don't know what it means. To me just the term breeder doesn't say a lot.
I have had somewhere around a total of 75 to 80 chicks shipped from three different hatcheries. All those chicks arrived alive. One died a couple of days later, but the way I look at it some are just not meant to make it. I raised those chicks in a brooder and integrated them into my flock. The first batch started my flock. I regularly hatch one or two batches in my incubator a year and raise them the same way. I typically have two to four broody hens hatch and raise chicks with my flock. I've never lost a chick to another adult flock member. I occasionally lose one to a predator, usually a snake, but that's almost always chicks with a broody hen. By the time I let the chicks out of the brooder they are too big for most of the local snakes to eat. I don't lose them to disease either. There are techniques to manage that. I believe you said you had bad luck with disease and predators when you tried brooder raised chicks. Them dying of disease may have more to do with your technique than them being brooder-raised.
Some people would be horrified that you let your chickens free range. They feel that chickens should be locked up safely in a predator proof coop and run. Different personal opinions. I'm not going to condemn you for free ranging even if you occasionally lose a chicken to predators. That is your choice and the price you are willing to pay. My parents free ranged their chickens when I grew up and had very few predator problems, which they managed. Dad was a great shot. I free ranged until I started consistently started losing chickens by the handful from people dropping dogs off in the country.
In my opinion a baby chick needs food, water, appropriate protection for the environment, and appropriate protection from predators. What is appropriate depends a lot on your definition. That need can be provided by a brooder or a broody hen. I started my flock with chicks from a hatchery. As they grew up they acted like chickens. No adult chickens around, it was all instinct. I prefer a broody hen because she does all the work. She takes practically all the stress and labor from me. I personally don't see making my life harder than it has to be a good thing, especially when it doesn't matter at the end of the day.
That's probably enough this morning.