Trusted hatcheries

[redinator]

I'm new to raising chicks and currently have five, 10-day-old chicks from the 12 eggs I hatched. I'd like to get a few more chicks, but I've read a few posts about others not getting the correct breed or gender. I'm not too worried about breed as long as they can handle a hot and humid climate but I wouldn't want to end up with more roosters than hens. I have two questions;
Which hatcheries have you all had the best experience with?
When is the best time (age of chicks) to integrate new chicks/chickens?
I'm not opposed to waiting a few months to be sure of gender (I'm don't even know what genders I have now), or getting young chicks now if the integration would be easier.

 

[DobieLover]

I know of no hatchery where you can order chicks now and have them shipped immediately. The age difference would be too great to brood them with your current batch of chicks regardless and you'd have to split the brooder to have them start integration.

I would wait until the cockerels show themselves so you know what you want for new pullets, then place an order to be shipped to you during temperate weather conditions. Never have chicks shipped during extreme heat or cold. Prepare a grow out pen or isolation area, whatever you want to call it, and move the boys over when they are around 10 weeks old. Before they start terrorizing your pullets. Then work to rehome them. Or keep the best one if you want him.

I have only ever purchased from Meyer Hatchery. Twice. Out of 25 total birds purchased, they goofed up on 1 chick that turned out to be a cockerel. All breeds were correct. I think most breed mix ups occur when a farm store orders in chicks and the employees end up mixing them up in the troughs when they handle them.

You need to have a properly sized coop for all the birds you want. Not a tiny pre-fab. Anything that states the number of birds it can hold is absolutely going to be violently undersized.

You want to have 4 sq ft of floor space and 1 linear foot of roost per bird in the coop along with as close to 1 sq ft of permanently open ventilation per bird as possible with more available to be opened up during warm weather. If you have such a coop, you will hopefully have enough room to create a brooder in the coop using framing and 1/2" hardware cloth. Use a brooder plate or mama heating pad for the heat source. This way the chicks will grow up in full sight of the flock. You can begin integration around 4 weeks of age by opening chick size doors in the brooder so the chicks can come out but the older pullets can't get in the brooder.
When the youngsters are ready, they will roost with the older birds and you can take down the brooder. Usually by 6-10 weeks of age.

As most of their waking hours will be spent out of the coop, your run needs to offer 15 sq ft of space per bird with multiple food and water stations and lots of stuff in the run to engage the flock and keep bored birds from terrorizing the lower ranking individuals.

 

[mrskenmore]

I have ordered both from meyer and mount healthy hatchery with great success- never had a rooster when ordering and all arrived thriving. My advice for newbies is to order from the hatchery closest to you to ensure a successful shipping experience.

Enjoy!

 

[Noraaaaa]

I'm new to raising chicks and currently have five, 10-day-old chicks from the 12 eggs I hatched. I'd like to get a few more chicks, but I've read a few posts about others not getting the correct breed or gender. I'm not too worried about breed as long as they can handle a hot and humid climate but I wouldn't want to end up with more roosters than hens. I have two questions;
Which hatcheries have you all had the best experience with?

I personally love Meyer hatchery!

When is the best time (age of chicks) to integrate new chicks/chickens?

I wait untill they are about 3-4 months (depending on breed) I do keep them in a separate normal coop untill then! But if you add ones that are within a month of age (and almost same size) then they should be fine about any time past 2 months.

I'm not opposed to waiting a few months to be sure of gender (I'm don't even know what genders I have now), or getting young chicks now if the integration would be easier.

Yes! If your hen goes broody you can try and put them under her as well! That has worked for me 2/3 times.

 

[Ajp23]

Do you have a Tractor Supply or other feed store near you? My locations have chicks now so you could possibly pick up a few there so they’d be similar in age.

 

[Iluveggers]

Mt Healthy is my recommendation if only ordering a handful of chicks. If you are interested in ordering 15 minimum, McMurray or Ideal have great selections. Maybe you can find someone to split an order with! I’ve used all 3 with no complaints. As dobielover recommended, I would wait til later and you know how many pullets you have, before ordering.

 

[redinator]

Do you have a Tractor Supply or other feed store near you? My locations have chicks now so you could possibly pick up a few there so they’d be similar in age.

I do, but I don't know enough to know what to look for as far as if the chicks are well or not; or genders.

 

[nuthatched]

I do, but I don't know enough to know what to look for as far as if the chicks are well or not; or genders.

They should already be sexed within 90% accuracy.

 

[StacyT]

I’ve ordered several times from Meyer and been real happy with them. If you check on Monday’s & Tuesday they sometimes have deals on packages like rare breed assortment or colored egg layers. You can get some great prices on a package that ship same day. I usually order 26 chicks and sell off any that I don’t want to keep. They’ve been really good about getting sex right and crediting any DOA.

 

[Ajp23]

I do, but I don't know enough to know what to look for as far as if the chicks are well or not; or genders.

Look for chicks that are active, clear-eyed and eating and drinking. The chicks at Tractor Supply are sexed by the hatchery so it's about the same accuracy as ordering from the hatchery directly.