Where to Start?

[pdirt]

That's really sad, and 30% dying is totally unacceptable, IMO. How did the hatchery people respond? Hope they were helpful, at least. Mary

I don't recall exactly what the hatchery said, as my wife was the one dealing with them. They gave us a refund for the dead chicks (and I think they offered to ship some more, but we declined), but you can't put a price on a life, you know? It was my idea to give them vitamins and probiotics and I only wished I had done it sooner, it was day 3 before I did that. I just googled it and it's about 2000 miles between the hatchery and us. I don't know exactly how long they were in the mail for, but if I ordered from a hatchery again, it would be one closer to the Pacific Coast. We had raised chicks before but it was ones we got from the feed store or had hatched from our own flock, never had any casualties with them.

It wasn't until all these chicks started dying that did I start suddenly seeing all the threads about the stress of shipping chicks. It can (key word is "can") be VERY stressful on them, from what I learned. I think I would prefer to order hatching eggs next time.

 

[microchick]

For that reason I'm considering driving down to Cackle and bringing babies home with me. It's about a 2 hr drive from where we live and two hours is better than 2 days in transit via the US Post Awful.

 

[Folly's place]

Chicks that I picked up from breeders and got home within hours were far less stressed than shipped chicks. No surprise there! Mary

 

[Cherie1n2]

I've ordered from Murray and the pullets were all pullets as planned. My only disappointment was with variety (I ordered two assortments). Even though I live in south Carolina they were all perfectly healthy and my only losses were from predictors after they joined the flock.

As for using local sellers and feed stores, in my experience/opinion there's more risk of disease as many people potentially handle the birds and those people could potentially carry any number of illnesses.. Also a reputable hatchery is less likely to pass off a mixed breed as a pure. Granted the quality might not be as good as a seasoned diehard breeder, but its a solid start.

As for breed.. Go with what you like. Mix it up if you're not sure. Ideal poultry gives the most freedom to mix and match.. Next year or the year after that ...then you'll know what works for you.