ideal hatchery

[chicken farmer]

do they sell good quality birds?

[Rhea Dean Carter]

I guess it all depends on your definition of "quality." I can tell you from experience that the red Leghorns they advertise as being "solid red" are nothing more than black-tailed red Leghorns. The ones I ordered were healthy but were not what they were advertised to be.

Rhea Dean

[Pathfinders]

I think the thundering silence that has (mostly) followed this question has been an answer in and of itself.

And fwiw, Ideal has one of their owner/employees monitor this forum.

[Evy]

I think the thundering silence that has (mostly) followed this question has been an answer in and of itself.

And fwiw, Ideal has one of their owner/employees monitor this forum.

All true. If you just want egg or meat birds, you'll probably get healthy birds from them, but if you want something that looks like it's supposed to, don't go to a hatchery.

[tk6690]

They sell the best broilers for meat pen competitions that are available. A large number of the champions each summer from State and County fairs come from this hatchery. Large square breasts are typical in a 7lb. bird in 6 weeks. I have never ordered anything but broilers, but we sure have had good luck with them.

[Blackorps]

And fwiw, Ideal has one of their owner/employees monitor this forum.

:D Hello, I may regret asking this but why?

[katschicks]

[quote] [/quot

Hello, I may regret asking this but why? So they can see what folks say about there birds. Hatcheries as a whole do not sell show quality birds. If you are not into show quality birds they are a good place to buy chicks. Just do not expect them to look like the pictures of the show birds you see on the internet for that breed or even that variety of a breed. If you went to a Poultry show and saw a real nice RIR that you liked and said , boy I like the RIR and want some of those. Then you looked up some hatcheries and saw pictures of birds that looked as good. Simple , will not get those type birds from there chicks. Fact of life. But thats just me. Rog

[wyldflower]

We ordered from there once ( awhile ago) for just a variety backyard flock and will never order from there again.

[Pathfinders]

They sell the best broilers for meat pen competitions that are available. A large number of the champions each summer from State and County fairs come from this hatchery. Large square breasts are typical in a 7lb. bird in 6 weeks. I have never ordered anything but broilers, but we sure have had good luck with them.

I will politely disagree with you on that. I've ordered meat birds from them for our 4-H project, and I was less than happy with how they grew out. I've been doing this for a while, so it's not a case of not knowing what I was doing (to ward off any comments to that effect.)

My personal favorite has been meat birds from Mt. Healthy in OH. If kept in good conditions they grow HUGE (if you want them to), when we took some to be processed on year the processor said they were as large as small turkeys. And I like a roaster that won't flip at 8 weeks, so I can get them big like that. Yum.

I think the best success with meat birds is made if you can go to a hatchery and pick up the chicks, rather than have them shipped. We're close enough to Mt. Healthy to do that, although sometimes we have them ship too, and either way the birds grow out well. But pickup is easier on them, and you have fewer losses than having them shipped. Of course, not everyone lives within an hour of a hatchery, but if you do, it's worth it.

The only other comment I will make about Ideal is to relate a conversation I had with the owner once. I had called him to discuss their practice of crossing breeds to obtain new colors. The bottom line was, he felt that after four generations a bird that had been crossed was now a purebred. I chose to disagree with that theory. I know people do so routinely, but for some breeds, crossing is just not ok, IMNSHO.

[goosedragon]

Laura, Would you expand a bit on your statement that you were less than happy about how they grew out? Too Slow? Not big enough? poorly shaped birds? lack of bird to bird uniformity (I think that is a consideration for show broilers, at least that was what I was told by a judge at our local fair).
Being the contrary cuss that I am, I don't much desire large breasts (dark meat fan) or even large birds (I want a bird that will serve two, not a family) I know, that is what fryers are for but they are seldom found in our local supermarkets. I get what I want from a local special market that sells to the bar B que trade. Boxes of small chickens for church or fund raising meals, small pigs for pig pickings, small goats for the latin equivalent etc. Good prices if you can use a whole box, but expensive if you want just three or four birds. usually the small birds are cut in half which is fine for the grill, but I like to roast them either in the oven, on a spit, or sitting on a can of beer.
I should have started a new subject asking who sells the best chicks for fryers?! ~gd

[Pathfinders]

Laura, Would you expand a bit on your statement that you were less than happy about how they grew out? Too Slow? Not big enough? poorly shaped birds? lack of bird to bird uniformity (I think that is a consideration for show broilers, at least that was what I was told by a judge at our local fair).

I found the feed conversion ratio with those particular birds was poor. They ate like the pigs that Cornish X generally are, but didn't put on weight well. Same conditions as any other group we raise, just didn't get very big. There is always a spread of uniformity between the various 4-H kids, as some take very good care of their birds, others less so. I would have to check, but off the top of my head I seem to recall a rather higher rate of mortality for that batch too. As I said before though, that often is the case when comparing shipped versus picked up, so that's probably apples and oranges.

The overall difference was significant enough for the other poultry leader and me to decide not to use that source again. I know they are very successful and ship tens of thousands of birds, and my experience may have been the exception that proves the rule, I don't know. But for me, I will seek other sources when I order from hatcheries.

[micofwis]

I ordered 25 Buff Chantecler chicks from Ideal last spring and had to cull over half for extemely wry tails.
Ended up keeping one pullet and one cockerel as breeders, along with a few from my own birds. I am pleased with the two, however, and they afford some genetic diversity for my flock.

[annefoley]

I ordered 25 silver Phoenix males from Ideal for a project not related to exhibiton but was curious how they would turn out. Total cost was $44.25 including vaccination for Mareks. All chicks arrived in good condition. A summary is as follows: one turned out to be a female, three were disposed of when they were clearly not thriving and about half had willow legs instead of slate legs called for in the Standard. Out of the remaining slate leg birds, some had white spotting in their breasts instead of pure black and some had earlobes with too much red. Out of the remaining, there were perhaps a half dozen that were showable at a county fair and would have made very decent representatives of their breed. There is definitely one or perhaps 2 that have great potential and when mature, could be entered in a regular show. So, for $44.25 you get about 6 reasonable and maybe 1 or 2 really nice ones. I don't think that is so bad.

[Rich]

Hatcheries provide birds to people that are looking for birds that have some similarity to a particular variety and breed but are inexpensive. Even purchasing birds from an established breeder does not guarantee a high percentage of "show birds". Some of the hatchery birds are actually more productive as production traits are critical if the hatchery is going to stay in business. It all comes down to what you want the birds for in the first place. If someone really wants show birds, they can purchase birds from a top breeder, and even then not all the offspring will be top line show birds. With the less popular varieties, it is quite possble that some hatcheries will give you as good a bird as you can probably find as many of the rarer varieties are not that good, even when you find them in the show halls. It all comes down to what you are really looking for and how much you are willing to pay for them.

[Evy]

With the less popular varieties, it is quite possble that some hatcheries will give you as good a bird as you can probably find as many of the rarer varieties are not that good, even when you find them in the show halls.

To expand a bit on what Rich said...the big hatcheries like Ideal BUY eggs from backyard breeders ( including those who show ) & hatch them, so your chances of getting something that comes within the ballpark of the SOP is possible. Bear in mind that most of those eggs usually aren't from someones' top birds but you could get lucky, especially at the end of the season. These will be the ''rarer'' breeds or varieties. They may raise some of the more common, high producing breeds themselves. Chances of a champion Leghorn or RIR coming from Ideal or any large hatchery are between slim & none.