Has anyone ordered 10 chicks from Ideal Hatchery? If I'm reading the order form correctly, they are offering to send as little as 10 chicks? Which is 6 more than I really need, but a whole lot closer than the 20-25 that most other Hatcheries require. And it means I could get Barnevelder AND Orpingtons AND Welsummers AND Speckled Sussex AND Australorps, instead of just Barnevelders and Welsummers. Which would make me ridiculously happy.
Small order from hatchery. Advice?
I ordered 10 chicks from them last spring. They were by far the most reasonable for small orders. Just keep in mind they do charge a small fee for every different breed you order, but even with that it was cheaper than the sky high small order fees from other hatcheries. The price of shipping is also included in the price of the chicks except for a very small airmail fee if you live far away.
I am so pleased with the chicks I got from them. They were all very healthy and have been wonderful hens.
They do also send free rooster chicks to keep your babies warm during shipping. You'll need to figure out what to do with those. They sent six with my order.
Thanks, Hart. It is the extra roosters that worry me. I just found homes for my 4 roosters from Privett and it was not easy. Ideal does say that if you pay extra for insurance they will leave out the extra rooster chicks--but I am worried about the safety of the chicks they do send if I try that. Has anyone received a small order (under 15) from Ideal (or another hatchery they can recommend) and what was your experience? The weather is cold and miserable here (constant rain and temperatures in the 30s-40s--which is cold for here) and I know it is frigid throughout the country. If I asked for a small order would it be better to wait for warmer weather?
Why don't you ask if they can leave out the roosters if you order 15 chicks? That should solve the problem.
Even if you end up with extras, it will be a lot easier to find homes for hens than roosters.
Brilliant answer. You are right about re-homing hens. And I would get to ask for several breeds and get a "feel" for them--even if I eventually rehome them. My Orpington roosters were such sweet, friendly birds, while the Austalorps, while gorgeous, were a little less demonstrative. Thank you again, Hart.
And you may find they're completely different from another hatching or another hatchery. My one austrolorpe hen is very friendly. If you want sweetie pies, get some barred rocks (they'll follow you around like puppies) and brahmas. The ameraucanas I got from Ideal are also very friendly. All are terrific layers too and everyone loves the blue/green eggs from the ameraucanas.
You could also just order from Meyer hatchery instead. Then you could just get the amount you want and not worry about it. They also gave me one bonus chick last year ( I ordered 12 total) who was a hen, like the rest of the order. They were great. I love them. I love their customer service.
I was thinking of ordering from Meyer for my chicks. I only want 6. I wasn't sure of the shipping charges from them either for such a small order. And I definately cannot have any roosters.
I also order from Sun Ray, small orders welcomed
http://www.sunrayhatchery.com/
I have ordered from Ideal too and never had a problem.
I think maybe this year we will use Sunray for our meaty
birds, and try Meyer for the layers. My dominiques have
stopped laying. I guess its stew pot time for them. : (((
I want to try some Buff Orpingtons. I like the way they
look and I have heard they are docile. We only plan
on having perhaps a dozen or so.
sheri
Sheri, your Dominiques may have stopped laying because it's winter. You might want to wait a while before sending them to the stew pot. Often they will stop laying when they're getting ready to start molting too.
This message was edited Jan 31, 2008 5:35 PM
Good thought, hart!
There is an extra shipping charge from meyer for small orders. Honestly, I'd rather pay a little more and get EXACTLY what I want than not get what I want for have more birds than I can properly care for.
That's what I was saying about Ideal. They were the only hatchery I found that didn't charge a pretty hefty small order fee. The only extra you pay at Ideal (shipping is included in the price of the chicks) is I think $1 or $2 for every different breed you order and a very small fee for airmail if you live far from Texas.
I think I am going to order from Meyers rather than Ideal because I really only want 4 hens (not really, I want many, many hens of all types--but I'm not zoned for that or for roosters). Ideal seems to want to put in extra rooster chicks to keep them warm--or you have to pay for insurance, which makes me think the chicks will suffer if I don't agree to the extra roos, especially in this late winter weather. Meyers says that they will put in a heating pad if you pay the extra small order/express shipping charge. Unfortunately Meyers doesn't have the Barnevelders I wanted, but I think they have enough that I do want that it will work. I have been inspired by mcamden's (Melissa?) incubator experience and built one following the "guerilla incubator" site that some one else mentioned. I put in a dimmer switch to help modulate the temp and bought a little fan and hygrometer/temp reader. Without the hygrometer is cost less than $15--a far cry from the $375 I was thinking of paying for a Brinsea. I am going to try incubating some Barnevelder eggs when my source has some ready. The problem with getting extra roos from Ideal is that I get very attached to them--just dropped off my last two Buff Orpington roosters to a very nice stable and it was a struggle to find such a good home. I think any Barnevelder roosters I get from the eggs will be easier to rehome since they are from a breeder and are a rare breed. I am really excited about getting more chicks AND incubating hatching eggs. I envy all of you with more land and/or friendly zoning.
I'm glad you found a hatchery that will give you what you
want. After all, you are the customer, right? Mel's bator
experience really fired up my bug, and I am having a good
time with the store bought. I spent far less than the cost of
a Brinsea, but didn't save the money you and Mel did. That's
ok with me, and I'm very happy with it so far. I will check out
the guerilla bator, sounds interesting. I look forward to
some chick pictures! They seem to be popping up everywhere!
may the princess get exactly what she wants
Hi truest. Yes, you should look at the guerilla bators because they are actually made for quail! But to be honest with all the thermometers/hygrometers/thermostats/ and dimmers I'm buying, I'm probably not saving as much as it sounds. If I had more confidence in my thermometers it would be pretty cheap. I am so nervous about hurting the developing chicks. I would love to just stay home for 21 days and monitor the whole thing. Now my boss wants me to go the Chile in mid-March! Just about the time the chicks from Meyers will come. My DH is pretty good about watching things--but for him it would be a chore and for me an incredible pleasure. I am also on the waiting list for Barnevelder eggs from Ideal. They say the eggs should be available sooner than the chicks, but couldn't give me any idea of when. Fortunately my work cell phone is international and if they call me I can okay the shipment.
How are your babies doing? How many days to go? I haven't seen mountain quail offered anywhere....so they must be very rare. Working with a more common breed before moving on to the rare is a good idea. Are the mountain quail harder to incubate or just generally harder to raise? Following your lead, I am thinking of ordering six various breed eggs from Meyers to break in my incubator before the Barnevelders arrive.
My babies in the bator are doing very well. The coturnix
quail are due on the 17th or 18th. I can not see in thru
the spots to know if they are ok. The chickie babies
are due the 20th or 21st. I have my white hen white eggs,
and I have child's eyes as I candle them and watch
them wiggle and exercise. Mel's 2nd batch is due soon.
Around the time of my quail. If you shio off to Chile,
how long would you be gone? You might want to give
hubby a primer before you go..I hope he actually has fun
with the chicks.
I found one reliable source for the mountain quail. 9 blood
lines to collect eggs from. That makes me feel better.
Doesn't that drive you crazy when work throws a wrench?
may princess tammy never have to work
truest--I just remembered--When I was about 8 we incubated quail egg in a little round incubator--it was sort of a fad at the time. I think there were 5 or 6. Way past the due date I had given up and suddenly there was a peeping sound and one had hatched. It was so cute and friendly. We named him Bob. Sigh, I had forgotten.
I really need a new job--I was sort moved into this one when my old company sold us. The absolute peak of this week was at lunch today when Meyers called: My chicks will be here the 20th! 2 Welsummers, 1 Buff Orp, I Delaware and 1 Cuckoo Maran and I am afraid a mystery chick to make up for any losses. I really hope they at least put in one of the breeds I ordered. Wonder if I should call to make sure?
Fortunately my hubby has tolerated (avian) chicks in the bedroom before. He was in on my 4 pullets=4 cockerels debacle and claims he building a chicken coop. He is extremely reliable if not sympathetic about my animals--
The place I had hoped to get my Barnevelder eggs from also keeps separate blood lines and marks your eggs so that you can keep track of the genetics. Unfortunately they haven't returned my most recent email and their website says eggs will be available in April. If they come through I will probably go with them, if not Ideal seems very reputable. The Barnevelder breeders also have Dutch Bantams--which I really want, but I don't think they sell the eggs or chicks. There don't seem to be a lot of Dutch Bantams available through the hatcheries.
Best of luck with the quail--maybe you can get a little tiny ultrasound machine and get a sonogram? (I was actually researching ultrasound for work today and saw machines to check for egg quality, so maybe?)
Oh, cool, I think you had a 'chickbator' that comes with
bobwhite quail eggs. They are very hard to regulate, and if
it wasn't warm enough, they would hatch a bit late. Your
story reminded me of Bob Hunter, my tailless kitty from
years ago. Thanks for that.
My hubby never had animals as a child, and he never knew
the hard work or the reward. We (dated for 9)have been
married for 2 years, and he has become quite the 'rancher'.
I am proud of him, and he is proud of the fact that we take
such good care of the animals.
I did check out the guerilla bator, and like the big window
at egg-eye level. After a couple batches of quail, I will
get in touch with the mountain quail breeder, who is way
up in Pa. There is one other breeder I may also contact
who is a little closer, in Amarillo, Tx. Not sure of his bird's
genetic diversity, though. Although not on the endangered
list, and native to northern Ca., Wa. and Or., I think the
mountain is at risk. It is a beautiful bird, and I think the only
quail that sings. I haven't heard it's song, yet, but plan to.
I think Ideal is a good hatchery, and wish I had found them
before I ordered form McMurray, as they are a LOT closer.
But, all is good, as I ordered a number of pullets and one
cockerel for each of 3 breeds. Just hope there are no
casualties, and if there are, certainly hope not one of the
roo's. I'm not sure of Meyer, but McMurray also puts in
extra chicks if you need them, they are usually not
what you ordered, but one of the extras if they have too
many. I hope you do get an extra of your choice in ordering.
You might be able to find Dutch bantams' eggs through
Eggbid.com if your heart is set. I spend a lot of time
reading comments on the sellers to find the best.
Tomorrow is likely my big day to receive my chicks.
We're ready! We will have 3 brooders going before
everyone gets grown, it looks to be very interesting!
may princess tammy always know happiness
(no, i'm not looney, i'm playing a game in another forum
that transcends all of davedom)
For the last 5 years I have had to live in the City because of my job. Prior to that, I lived in the country where I was raising, breeding, hatching, selling, and showing 42 different breeds--both standard and bantam. I would like to make a couple of suggestions: For a good all around breed that is absolutely beautiful, friendly, and lays large brown eggs, I recommend Black Langshans. They are even more friendly than Orpingtons, although Orpingtons are a nice breed also.
Cochins and Silkies are the best setters and mothers. May I recommend you try the little bantams called Antewerp Belgians. They are very small and very cute, but not good setters. You'll love their personalities! Lakenvelders are lovely and nice white egg layers, but are a little stand-offish. Minorcas lay nice white eggs also, but tend to be a bit wild. The Buff Brahamas are great in standard size and bantam as well as the Faverolles. Houdans are a lot like Polish, but a little more tame with white eggs.
I just found this thread today for the first time, but I can probably answer questions about most of the breeds, since I have tried about all of them.
But still my favorite of them all is LANGSHANS, standard size preferred, but bantams are great also.
I MISS MY CHICKENS!
Homefire, you are just the one I wanted to speak to. I have considered the Langsham, but was concerned about the feathered feet. Here in the Central Valley of California we have a very long dry summer, but a wet miserable winter from about Nov.-early March. No rain the rest of the year, but endless misery during those months. Would the Langshan be okay? I also need a quiet bird--I am not zoned for roosters, and I don't want to upset my neighbors with noisy hens (also the quieter they are, the more I can have.) I started with what were suppose to be 4 pullets, two Buff Orpingtons and two Australorps, but all turned out to be cockerels. When they weren't crowing, they were very quiet and the Orpingtons in particular were very tame and affectionate. It broke my heart to get rid of them (did manage to rehome). I will definitely try Langshan, but are there any other breeds that you would recommend? I want a quiet, friendly, standard breed that lays large brown eggs, the darker the better. On the 20th I will get six pullet chicks from Meyers--2 Welsummers, 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Delaware, 1 Rhode Island Red, and 1 Maran--expect at least 1 will be a cockerel . The Maran worries me because I have heard they can be noisy. I also am on the waiting list at Ideal for a dozen Barnevelder eggs. I would like to first try hatching 6 eggs from Meyers and I think they do offer Langshan. Have you had Sussex? And Wyandotte? Maybe try 2 Langshan, 2 Sussex and 2 Wyandotte?
I know what you mean about moving to the city for work when you really want to raise chickens. This is my attempt to gear up for serious chicken, fiber goat and/or sheep keeping once the housing market improves and I can sell my 1/4 acre in-town home and move out to the country. I had 5 acres and a nearly 200 year old farmhouse in upstate New York before I move here. What I would give to have it again! But small acreage is very hard to find. You can easily buy 99 acres, but 5 cost just as much!
My marans are not noisy, they are friendly and always looking for treats. My gals have laid almost an egg a day all winter except a couple of very very bad cold days. I get 5 eggs almost every day from 6 hens. They might not be the darkest, they are large to jumbo. They are happy go-lucky types. Marshall, my roo, can be heard above all the other roos in the yard. Mine LOVE greens, whether its grass or salad mixes that I give them now. I have two paying customers for a dozen eggs a week and my Mom and Dad and sister Eileen and her family LOVE them too **I don't charge them.
I am looking forward to hatching true marans soon. I got mine from Ideal and are most likely mixed, they are good birds, I am looking for darker eggs though and I wouldn't trade my gals from Ideal, they are good layers and friendly, I am not looking forward to them not laying, I will have to build a retirement coop for my old gals!! No one tell my husband they don't lay anymore though!!!. Anyone looking for eggs can check out http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Marans_Breeders_of_America/
Oh LoraK, I am glad to hear that Marans are not necessarily noisy! I really want dark brown eggs, although I understand Marans in this country don't lay the darkest. With my luck it will be a cockerel...
Well if you still want marans (also add the "s" the marans crazies go crazy if you don't LOL) I will be glad to send you some eggs of mine this spring, liveswithmaya@aol.com or if you want purer ones you will have to wait till next winter/spring. I am hatching them "good" eggs and keeping them seperate from the other chooks. It may be because they are my first full size hens, I truly believe they are great layers (with proper feed). I do kinda spoil mine, they have a heat lamp hung in the coop (10X10 wooden insulated shed) that is sealed so any size predators will not be able to enter (minks to coyotes) and I give them all kinds of kitchen scraps and I buy them salad mixes and greens. They have two windows for natural light for those horrible NH days that they shouldn't go out (like tomorrow)
We are adding another coop and a temp one for the turkeys this spring. Everyone from guineas to marans to silkies get along, though if you look in one of the windows when they are locked up the guineas rule the roost! And are under the heat lamp, this summer when I have permanent electricity run I am going arrange feeders/water/roosts so more birds can get in on it. My guineas are laying and I put some in the incubator today. Maybe I will hatch something maybe not, I figured I try.
Lorak, I am glad that your guineas get along with the chicks so well. I was kind of worried about that as I am going to order guineas this spring from Ideal. I only want a few and hope to be able to train them to roost with the others. Of course my Rocky rules the roost in our henhouse, with Clyde ruling the lowest rung and it looks like Bruno stays on the floor. Don't ask my why as Bruno is the second in command under Rocky. I told dh that we were going to have to cut back on the amount of chicks we have as we are getting too many eggs and no longer have a couple of the heavy buyers we had the last few years, so we don't need as many hens as we have now.
Now, we have to set up the brooder in the garage just in case our broody hens get the three eggs they are brooding do hatch. That will be around the 26th. I will probably put one of the hens and the chicks together in the pen we set up in the garage so they will be out of the way of the other chickens until they are big enough to introduce them to the others. Of course I will have to divide the pen because I intend to set some eggs in the incubator for freezer chicks this spring. I also will be getting the guineas then too. Since the eggs the hens are sitting on now will be about four months old by then, they should be able to be put in with the others. But, like most of you guys, there will be a lot going on around here come spring.
Homefire, I know just what you mean about having to live in the city because of a job. My dh and I couldn't move to the country until he retired, so we waited. We came up here nine years ago and I couldn't be happier. Actually, we could have, but it still would have been too close.
We originally weren't going to have any livestock, but when the people we were buying eggs from tried to sell us store-bought eggs for farm fresh, I decided to get our own. Now, I can't imagine life without them.
The best guinea site, http://www.guineafowl.com/board/index.php if you need to know how to train your guineas ask them. I bought the book and followed to the letter and only lost one guinea in almost a year during broad daylight to a Barred Owl, we had a record breaking winter (the most snow in NH since they started recording snow falls) and he was probably starving so I cannot complain. My guineas go into the cop each and every night like clock work. Follow the book and you will have "well behaved" safe guineas!!!
Thanks, Lorak, I had noticed your previous posting about training them to come back home every night.
OOOOO, LoraK--I would love Marans eggs! Not concerned about "purity" just temperament and egg-laying. I'll be in touch. I am trying to be good about not posting during work hours, and being 3 hours behind EST, I am usually posting in the middle of the night for anyone east of the westcoast. My chicks are due on the 20th! And my incubator seems functional and ready for eggs--just got to get some. Everyone is having such an exciting time with their chicks and hatches that I am envious. I need to clean out my brooder--may switch to a rubber horse trough. What are people using for disinfectant? I was planning on just using 10% Bleach? I didn't lose any chicks last time, but one had kind of funny dropping and got a little lethargic for a while.