Searching for good quality, heritage chick breeders

[Miss_Lavransdatter]

Hi everyone! I am (finally) getting chickens this coming spring and have been doing a lot of research into what sort of birds I want to purchase. I've come to realize that the "hatchery stock" birds aren't quite what I'm looking for. My long term goal is to have a self-sustaining flock of dual-purpose, heritage chickens, and I'd like to start this flock with some good quality birds. Not show-quality, but chickens that are bred to standard and bred to maintain their foraging, broodiness, and dual-purpose capabilities. So far the breeds I'm looking into are Speckled Sussex, Dominique, Buff Orpington, Rhode Island Red, and Black Copper Maran, but if anyone has additional suggestions for good heritage dual-purpose breeds, I'm all ears.

Anyway, the trouble is, I'm having a really tough time finding breeders that meet my requirements. One place I have found is Sandhill Preservation, which carries all the breeds I'd like and has a message and goal I really resonate with. However, 1) I've seen some scary reviews, and 2) it looks like you have to purchase a minimum of 25 chicks, which even taking the fact that they're straight run into account, is way too much for me. I would still love to hear a review of this place if any of you have ordered from them.

I'm hoping anybody who knows of some breeders that might work for me could help me out. I'm located in Maryland, if that helps. And as a quick side note, I would prefer chicks over hatching eggs.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Rose the Legbar]

I’d suggest American Bresse chickens. I’ve heard a ton of good things about them and how hardy they are and how they are good foragers. I was personally looking for a good duel purpose breed for myself at one point but I went away from that. When searching I found North Star Farm’s and their American Bresse. I’ve heard a lot of good thing about their stock. It does run around $19 per chick but that is the cost of getting a good quality bird. https://www.northstarbresse.com/products/white-american-bresse-chick
I wish you the best of luck on your sustainable flock journey!

 

[Miss_Lavransdatter]

Hi, sorry it took a few days to type out a reply. I appreciate your suggestion! I've since done quite a bit of research on the American Bresse, and they really do seem perfect. Unfortunately the breeder you linked is a bit out of my price range, but I believe I've found some other good quality breeders that are a bit more affordable. My tentative plan is to try out some American Bresse, Speckled Sussex, and Dominique as dual purpose birds, assess their egg-laying, meat, foraging, and broody capabilities, and then settle on a breed to go with after experiencing them all.

 

[dheltzel]

Hi, sorry it took a few days to type out a reply. I appreciate your suggestion! I've since done quite a bit of research on the American Bresse, and they really do seem perfect. Unfortunately the breeder you linked is a bit out of my price range, but I believe I've found some other good quality breeders that are a bit more affordable. My tentative plan is to try out some American Bresse, Speckled Sussex, and Dominique as dual purpose birds, assess their egg-laying, meat, foraging, and broody capabilities, and then settle on a breed to go with after experiencing them all.

I am in SE PA, Chester County. I have American Breese and will be hatching them in the spring, primarily for homesteaders looking for meat production. I am not as positive about them as some of the reviews, I find them to be more aggressive than I prefer and not as adaptable to conditions that are less than ideal. One day the feed ran out and the flock killed 2 of the pullets. I have never seen that in other breeds. Still if you want to try some I will have chicks.
My website is welbars.com. I have a number of heritage breeds that can make self sustaining flocks. I also have some unusual hybrids and color variants of the more typical laying breeds. I often help first time chicken owners, in fact much of my business is referrals from previous customers, or repeat business as people decide to grow their flocks. I love to help other breeders get started.

I am also personal friends with the owners of Sand Hill Preservation Center. Some of his stock originated from me. He does not have the resources of a commercial hatchery and can't operate with the same level of customer service. He is absolutely trustworthy though and if you have the patience to work with his "system", you can get breeds that are poised on the verge of extinction because no other hatcheries want to bother with them:
Barred Hollands
Erminettes
Javas
Chantecler
Buttercups
Catalanas
Cubalayas
Kraienkoppes
Jaerhons
Cuckoo Scots Dumpies
Iowa Blues
Penedesencas
Dorkings in many colors
. . . you get the idea.

 

[Miss_Lavransdatter]

Hi dheltzel, I believe I just replied to a private message from you! Your passion for helping other homesteaders and breeders get started with their flocks is extremely admirable, thank you for doing that. Also, if you get a chance, you could tell your friends at Sandhill that while I'm probably not going to order from them this time around, I am so happy they are out there doing the work they do, and I entirely agree with their message and aims.

I'm sorry to hear that you are not a fan of the Bresse, unfortunately since my original research, I've found several similar complaints. Some people have said the negative traits are a result of the limited gene pool in America, I wonder if that's the case. Anyway, I've kind of had my heart set on the Dominiques and Speckled Sussex for a few weeks now, and I have found some breeders I believe will work. I checked out your website and it almost convinced me to buy a lot more chicks than I need this year, but I think I will do the responsible thing and wait. I have been eyeing several beautiful egg-layers though, and if/when I do decide to add them to my future flock, you will be my first choice. Thanks very much for reaching out.

 

[duececoop]

I have not posted a lot but have gained so much info from the site over the years and am working on "giving back"

FWIW I have tried a lot of breeds over the last 12 years and have branched out in the last 3y with some rarer breeds from McMurray. I REALLY like the Speckled Sussex and Dominique. I had great success breeding them (especially pure Dominiques as that was my only rooster).

 

[nuthatched]

Cackle hatchery has good quality birds, I'd say the best. McMurray has sop breeds but the Penciled rocks I got ate pretty but prone to crop issues.

 

[Shadrach]

If you are serious then the simple truth is you are unlikely to get any quality stock through the majority of breeders and hatcheries in the USA. The economics of importing new blood and the time involved for breeders to establish the quality of their birds is prohibitive.

It takes time to establish a sound stock heritage breed. Getting what looks the part is realtively easy. To get the behaviour and longevity attributed to a breed they need to have lived the life to prove the strain. That can take years.

Research the breed you are interested in in their country of origin is likely to give the best results. Hatching eggs from abroad is one option. Importing live birds is expensive.

 

[dheltzel]

If you are serious then the simple truth is you are unlikely to get any quality stock through the majority of breeders and hatcheries in the USA. The economics of importing new blood and the time involved for breeders to establish the quality of their birds is prohibitive.

It takes time to establish a sound stock heritage breed. Getting what looks the part is realtively easy. To get the behaviour and longevity attributed to a breed they need to have lived the life to prove the strain. That can take years.

Research the breed you are interested in in their country of origin is likely to give the best results. Hatching eggs from abroad is one option. Importing live birds is expensive.

There are plenty of smaller hatcheries / private breeders in the US that have really top quality stock available. They don't have the "ease of ordering" that you get from the large hatcheries, and generally no "customer service department" at all, you have to deal with the owners, who are also usually doing all the labor and paperwork, so they might take a while to get back to you. This frustrates some buyers and particularly people new to chickens that expect it to work like buying products from Amazon.

The US is great for allowing a wide range of breeding efforts, and I would wager we have a greater selection of breeds/colors of poultry than anywhere else in the world. I can think of some European breeds that don't exist yet in the US, but also American breeds that don't exist outside of the US yet. Some of the European imported breeds are really struggling here, because there was a genetic bottleneck of only 1 or 2 breeders for a time, and they could benefit from a fresh importation, but most breeds here are doing very well because there are several to many dedicated breeders working with each breed.

It really is a "popularity contest" these days. Hundreds of farms/breeders/hatcheries are working with Copper Marans, Cream Legbars and standard bred Ameraucanas, for example. But the number of places that have solid breeding programs for say Brabanters, is probably in the single digits. The less popular breeds really need a champion or 2 in the US, but many are already too far gone to ever become what they once were. In some cases a new import would help, in other cases the good stock might not exist anywhere anymore.

 

[Emmaloveschickens9156]

I suggest black australorps, EEs, and Plymouth rocks, they are all great babies.