Hatchery Recomendations?

[humbug]

I am going to be adding chickens to my little place this year. I have had chickens before and always gotten them from the feed store. I am thinking about ordering from a hatchery.
I am looking at Ridgway for heavy breed cocks. They have 100 for $61.00. The best price I have been able to find. Has anyone ever ordered from them?
What hatcheries have you ordered from and liked? I am also going to order buffs for eggs. I don't want all of my chicks arriving at once so will be making a couple of orders. Suggestions?

[MadTripper]

I used Murray McMurray and they seemed to do fine. We received 1 doa but they would have replaced it if we needed. They were very helpful any time I spoke to them and prices seemed to be reasonable.

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/index.html

Tripper

[Southern_Gent]

Never used Ridgway, so I can't say. I do concur with MadTripper in that Murray McMurray was always good to do business with.

[AlchemyAcres]

It's been a few years since I ordered from Ridgway, but I used to order from them all the time, never had a problem.

~Martin :)

[Deberosa]

I've only used McMurrays even though they are a bit more expensive, but I do have some things to think about on timing.

I used to get chicks really early in March so they would be full grown by fall. What ended up is that they lived in the garage for way too long - making a whole bunch of dust and smell no matter what because it was too cold to put them outside. So now I order in June through August so that they can go out into the yard quickly because it's alot warmer out. They grow so fast the brooder gets full but they don't have feathers for the cold and you can have a mess if you can't move them outside unless you have better facilities than I do.

[Danielle]

I ordered chicks yesterday for the first time in almost ten years! I'm so excited. I got them from McMurray because they are who I've always used with no complaints in the past....I had their catalog already even though it was from '04 and I was too impatient to wait for new ones from other hatcheries.
Ideal Hatchery came highly recommended to me too.
There's already a waiting list for McMurrays and my order won't ship until the end of February.
Deberosa is right....it's a lot easier to have baby chicks in warmer weather, but the way egg prices are escalating every week, I didn't want to wait.

[GwenFarms]

I use Cackle Hatchery. Their shipping rates are a little cheaper and they sell a better selection of the sex links that I like. I particularly like Golden Comets.

As far as heavy cockerals go I've never seen as good a price as they offer on the Fry Pan Special, I think its called. You can get 100 for around $26.00, or somewhere in that neighborhood.

[sbemt456]

I have always used Marti Poultry farms out of Missouri, they will tell you when you place your order when your chicks will arrive and they are on time. they also have bundle price on fry pan birds. I have ordered from them for 20 years or more and plan on the same this year for cornish cross for fryers. and probably some pullets for layers.

[dreams_in_color]

I placed an order last Wednesday with Cackle. Have not heard from them. I bought 4 *from Tractor Supply just to satisfy my need. I am pretty sure they are all going to be males.

[MimiKrause]

I have ordered from McMurray & Cackle, and for whatever reason, keep going back to Cackle. Two years ago, from my order of 30 chicks and 15 ducklings, I lost only one chick early on, the other 30 (Cackle sent an "extra" to hedge their bets I suppose) thrived and flourished. I didn't lose any of the noisy, messy ducklings until much later when one fell into a fencepost hole that had four inches of water in it and drowned. Never mind that she was almost too big by then to fit the post hole, she was just unlucky enough to manage it.
I digress ;D
ANYHOW--while I never had a complaint with MurrayMac, I just found my Cackle friends to be hardy and bright eyed and I liked working with the Cackle staff--approachable and "real" when I've contacted them. Good luck!

[bee_pipes]

I'll second Cackle. We only used them once - because they had a lower minimum order. They require 15 chicks minimum - most require 30 or more. We got 16 chicks (they added one to allow for attrition in the mail) and all arrived very healthy and active. We only ordered once because we are hatching the eggs they lay and now on a 2nd generation of chickens, getting ready to hatch the 3rd gen this summer. Good, healthy chicks.

Regards,
Pat

[Tommie]

I have only used McMurray, but have never had a complaint. There minimum order is high sometimes if you only want a few.

[EarthMother]

Let me add my vote for Cackle. They are only 1/2 hr. from me now but when I was farther away my chicks arrived in great shape. My post office messed up and did not deliver when they arrived. Kept them from Sat. until Monday. Got a lot of dead & dying chicks. I called Cackle and they shipped me replacements right away, even though the fault was not theirs.

[pathwayholding]

Any hatcheries that will send a really small order, say 5 chicks?

path

[ms-woman]

Past two years I've used Privet, both times sent extra, didn't lose any, bright-eyed healthy and cheaper than Mcmurray, I ordered Red-Star, that way I knew I was getting pullets! They lay a large brown egg, and laid all winter.