Have You Noticed A Difference In The Health Of Chickens From Hatcheries?

[immortalight]

I've been raising chickens for about 11 years now. My first flock all came from a woman who raised hundreds of chickens way out on a farm outside Austin TX. They were various breeds but they were all happy, healthy, GENTLE chickens. In eight years, of the 15 chickens in the flock, I only lost two to known causes. Now I'm in New Mexico and over the past three years I've gotten 12 chickens (in two batches) from a lady who buys chicks from a hatchery. These chickens are also all different breeds, but it's night and day when I compare their health and temperament to my flock in Texas. In this new flock I've had to re-home 4 chickens because they were the most horrible bullies I've ever seen. None of the chickens in this new flock are particularly gentle, a few of them get along, but they all sleep pretty far away from each other, even in the cold winter. My old flock all cuddled up together at night. Another thing is the squating behavior they do when I go to pet them. Not a single one of my former flock ever did that, and ALL of these chickens do it. Health-wise, 4 of my remaining 8 chickens have various problems with their egg shells. Mishapped shells, paper thin shells, holes in the shell, and sandy feeling shells with crusty calcium deposits. I've lost one chicken already to unknown causes.
The coop in New Mexico is slightly smaller than the coop in Texas, but the New Mexico chickens free range more. I don't think these differences I'm noticing are due to their coop environment, though it's a possibility I suppose. My theory is that chickens raised in incubators without a mother hen,are many times more likely to have personality issues, and repeated breeding for breed characteristics is taking a toll on overall chicken health. What do you guys think? Have you ever noticed differences in chickens raised by hens vs chickens raised without hens? Personally I don't ever want to buy another chicken from a hatchery. Ill be looking for chickens raised by hens on someone's farm. I don't care about breeds I just want happy healthy chickens.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I buy from a hatchery every year. I keep around 100 chickens of various breeds. They are no different than the ones I let broodies hatch, or those I have gotten from a breeder in my experiences.

Temperament can be genetic, or because of how they are housed and fed. Crowded birds, or those fed a lower protein, or a very high protein ration can become aggressive due to boredom or deficiencies.

I have found breeder birds to be calmer and more lazy. They also go broody more often and can be poor layers because of it.

I personally like dual purpose breeds. The egg laying breeds, and ornamental can be more flighty and excitable in my experiences.

 

[Terri McAlinden]

I've been raising chickens for about 11 years now. My first flock all came from a woman who raised hundreds of chickens way out on a farm outside Austin TX. They were various breeds but they were all happy, healthy, GENTLE chickens. In eight years, of the 15 chickens in the flock, I only lost two to known causes. Now I'm in New Mexico and over the past three years I've gotten 12 chickens (in two batches) from a lady who buys chicks from a hatchery. These chickens are also all different breeds, but it's night and day when I compare their health and temperament to my flock in Texas. In this new flock I've had to re-home 4 chickens because they were the most horrible bullies I've ever seen. None of the chickens in this new flock are particularly gentle, a few of them get along, but they all sleep pretty far away from each other, even in the cold winter. My old flock all cuddled up together at night. Another thing is the squating behavior they do when I go to pet them. Not a single one of my former flock ever did that, and ALL of these chickens do it. Health-wise, 4 of my remaining 8 chickens have various problems with their egg shells. Mishapped shells, paper thin shells, holes in the shell, and sandy feeling shells with crusty calcium deposits. I've lost one chicken already to unknown causes.
The coop in New Mexico is slightly smaller than the coop in Texas, but the New Mexico chickens free range more. I don't think these differences I'm noticing are due to their coop environment, though it's a possibility I suppose. My theory is that chickens raised in incubators without a mother hen,are many times more likely to have personality issues, and repeated breeding for breed characteristics is taking a toll on overall chicken health. What do you guys think? Have you ever noticed differences in chickens raised by hens vs chickens raised without hens? Personally I don't ever want to buy another chicken from a hatchery. Ill be looking for chickens raised by hens on someone's farm. I don't care about breeds I just want happy healthy chickens.

I always get my chicks from a hatchery. My theory is that the hatchery controls the health and cleanliness of the birds better than an individual might because the hatchery has a business to protect and would soon go bankrupt if they started shipping sick or weird chickens to their customers. I have always received good chicks although I can't say that the breeds are 100% purebred. I haven't bought any birds from a local farm because you don't know how they were raised or fed or how the previous owner practiced sanitation.
As for hatchery chicks, I have 15 day olds coming next week and I sure hope they are good. I'm using a different hatchery this time because of the price being lower/ I haven't had any chicks since 2012 so I'm hoping this hatchery is as good as the one I used before.