California Hatchery reviews?

[EZFarms]

ive seen a few threads on this place http://www.californiahatchery.com/ and some reviews are good others are bad so im curious are they as bad as people make them seem? i will be getting some silkies from them probably sometime this month (havent ordered yet) i think when it comes to online hatcheries its a 50/50 either way even with some such as murray mcmurray,efowl (which ive ordered from before),cackle (was going to order from them but the lady was snappy and quite bitchy with me) so what are your takes on CA hatchery?

 

[snowbunnisub]

When you do get your chickens let me know cause I am looking for somewhere to get a few chickens in the next couple months! Also in California Tehachapi area Bakersfield

 

[EZFarms]

I went with my better judgement and went with cackle hatchery they come from missouri but are supposed to be a pretty good hatchery. i should get chickens frok them in feb and if they arrive good and healthy i may recommend them also california hatchery is terribly over priced

 

[Michael Apple]

You probably made a good decision. I've heard good things about Cackle, and one feed store in Sonoma County buys chicks from them. I don't know of any good stock coming out of California but I'm kind of a hermit. I've had Barred Rocks from Belt in Fresno and wasn't impressed. I ordered from Privett in NM last year and was happy with my birds.

 

[EZFarms]

Cackle seems better and are also much cheaper. we ordered 25 bantam chickens 5 of 5 diff breeds.
Michael are your chickens bantam or standard since u live here in north cali.
we ordered 5 black silkies,5 white silkies,5 dominique bantams,5 colombian wyandotte bantams and 5 buff brahma bantams. Im just hoping they will be good up here.

 

[Michael Apple]

Cackle seems better and are also much cheaper. we ordered 25 bantam chickens 5 of 5 diff breeds.
Michael are your chickens bantam or standard since u live here in north cali.
we ordered 5 black silkies,5 white silkies,5 dominique bantams,5 colombian wyandotte bantams and 5 buff brahma bantams. Im just hoping they will be good up here.

All those you mentioned will do fine. I'm near the coast, so it gets cold here this time of year. I've had bantams, but prefer standards (LF) because I like large eggs. That's good you're getting Bantams besides the Silkies. I've never had Silkies but have read about the soft spot where the comb is. It is a sensitive area of the skull, so keep an eye on the pecking order.

 

[EZFarms]

Yea i did see an article about that spot. we have a standard size flock already so when we move our bantams to a coop we are going to built them a seperate one so that they wont fight as much and the silkies will be a bit safer

 

[Groovy Chicks]

I ordered 10 hens from California Hatchery. Had to wait for them to hatch as I wanted a variety. They arrived on time and healthy. Was a bit more pricey to allow for the variety without buying a minimum number of same breed. But overall very happy. . Drawback is no live person to talk to. Answering machine directs you to email contact. Emails were answered promptly. I will order from them again.

 

[Michael OShay]

When I lived in California, I used to order my chicks from Dunlap Hatchery in Caldwell, Idaho (http://dunlaphatchery.net/). They have very good birds and service. The folks at Dunlap were very friendly and helpful, and I never lost a single chick in shipping.

 

[TammyTX]

Do not purchase eggs from a place in Calimesa CA calling themselves "Robin's Eggs". They are using my photo to sell their eggs on CL, eBay and possibly here.