Chicken Hatcheries

Me and my family have gotten a coop and are setting up our side yard for some backyard chicken keeping! We are looking to get some black australorps and buff orpingtons. They seem like pretty laid back, friendly, dual purpose birds.

The hard part is choosing what hatchery we would like to order them from. We are looking for a reputable place has lower minimum order limits. 25 chicks would just be too many! We saw that Cackle hatchery does have lower pullet order packs (3, 5, & 10 per order) but the reviews seem a bit mixed.

Any recommendations would be awesome!

Chickens are awesome! Both those you are looking at have great personalities, and lay well, and are also pretty. I love Speckled Sussex too. I have always got mine from my local Cenex. But have heard good things about McMurray. Not sure about their order sizes though.

I use to raise chickens for many years and the best place I have always delt with was Estes Hatchery in Springfiels MO. Here is their web site:
http://www.esteshatchery.com/

We love the buffs we got from Murray McMurtry! chicks arrived healthy an lively. They are great mothers and will deffently go broody.I will also 2nd the speckled Sussex they are the friendliest and have the most personality out of all the breeds we have.


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Also I did see Murray McMurtry will ship as low as 15 in the warmer months.


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Ideal poultry has a minimum order of $25. Not how many chicks you order. They'll throw in extra males if needed for warmth. I've ordered chicks and ducks from them! http://www.idealpoultry.com

My chickens came from Cackle Hatchery, and I have no complaints. I bought 25 pullets, got 3 extra chicks in the mix (sometimes they do that for added warmth, and probably to get rid of some extras), and only 2 turned out to be cockerels. All chicks were healthy, arrived in great condition and survived to adulthood. They are going on 3 years and lay great. I recommend them and would/will buy from them again.

If you are wanting a very small flock, I'd suggest trying to find a local hatchery or feed store that sells individuals. I get my chicks from a local feed store, so I can buy only a few at a time, and I maintain about six hens in my flock.

Thanks guys! Whatever we decided, I can't wait to get some chickens :D

Any luck yet finding a hatchery?

X2 on looking around to see if there's one local to you. Those folks often focus on breeding some real nice birds, not just cranking out volume. Or, if you really wanna have some fun, try incubating some shipped eggs. It's a blast. I've got a mix of double laced blue barnevelders and blue laced wyandottes in the brooder right now that I hatched myself. Brings a bit of spring into a long cold winter.