Question about Hatchery Order....Need some help!

[Dace]

After reading some posts on BYC I found that several people were happy with Ideal.

So I went on their site and found my Campbells. I was going to order a trio. Then I see that I need a $20 min bird order, so I check out the chickens thinking I will get 3-4 of those...can find the Orps that I want.

I end up increasing my duck order to 1male & 4 pullets. Not really what I wanted....what I am going to do with 4 duck eggs each day???

I noticed on the site it says that if you do not have enough birds in your box to safely make the trip they will add some male chicks as filler....I DO NOT WANT MALE CHICKS! What the heck?

Now I regret the whole order...which I can't even tell if it all went thru. I guess I will have to call on Mon.

In case I have to re-order, I need some guidance. I want friendly pet chicks which is why I wanted Orps...their eggs will be only for our use (for now) I plan to add to the flock each year (max where I live is 25 birds). Well I could probably sell plenty of chicken/duck eggs to my cooking classes, but I am not sure how many I should start with.
Can you all tell me you favorite breed of chicken?

Any advice would be much appreciated...I simply can't see the best solution /combination of ducks & chicks here.

 

[PamsPride]

My suggestion would be to call and change your order to just the chicks that you want and then order the rest as something that will sell quickly if you list them on Craigslist and then earn enough $$ to pay for your entire order!

 

[Dace]

My suggestion would be to call and change your order to just the chicks that you want and then order the rest as something that will sell quickly if you list them on Craigslist and then earn enough $$ to pay for your entire order!

Really? I hadn't considered that. Hmm...

 

[farmerlor]

I just ordered Orps from Ideal...maybe you didn't want Buff Orps. I'd follow Pam's advice. Take a look at what people are offering or wanting for chicks. Maybe put an ad in that asks if someone wants to split an order with you. That way you don't get a bunch of birds you don't want and you can sell whatever extras you get.

 

[Dace]

I keep trying to order from Ideal but I don't get any order confirmation it just interrupts my order and sends me to some random page where I have no choice but to hit the back button and then lose my dang order. Quite frustrating!

Edited to add...I FINALLY completed my order! ARGH! So it is now obvious to me that my order last night never went thru, I am glad.
Here is what I ordered today: 3 khaki campbell pullets, 1 male, 3 black astralorp pullets and 3 amerauacana pulllets (can someone tell me how to pronounce that?)

So after my order was complete I see a little note letting me know that if my order was small they would be adding male chicks. Funny thing in that is there is a $7 'small order charge' guess that covers the cost of the added chicks. Go figure.
Now how am I going to be able to tell the added boys from my girls? I think I can call and just pay for insurance and then I can pass on the chicks. Anyone have experience with this?

who would have thought ordering some chicks would be so darn complicated!

 

[poppycat]

From what I understand, you will almost always get some make chicks as "packing peanuts" when you order from a hatchery. There is warmth in numbers.

Extra chicks are not quite the burden that one might think. Once they're old enough to tell the sex you can eat the roosters or sell them to someone who will eat them (easy to do on craigslist.)

You tell what's male and female when their feathers come in or when they start crowing lol.

All that said, If I had to make a hatchery order, I'd make a full order (however many that may be, 25?) of pullets. They'll still throw in a few extra males. But you can resell the pullets at point of lay for a little profit. My daughter bought some silver laced wyandottes, grew them out a little and sold them. She make about $5 a piece on them after the cost of feed. Not bad money when you're ten.

 

[patandchickens]

I keep trying to order from Ideal but I don't get any order confirmation it just interrupts my order and sends me to some random page where I have no choice but to hit the back button and then lose my dang order. Quite frustrating!

Oh man, I *hate* sites like that! Try phoning the order in instead next time, if they'll let you.

3 amerauacana pulllets (can someone tell me how to pronounce that?)

"EE-str EGG-rz" LOL

Now how am I going to be able to tell the added boys from my girls?

Chances are high they'll be some other breed entirely, and thus look different. You'll have three black chicks, three <something> chicks, and a bunch of other chicks that are clearly neither of the above which will be the packing peanuts

If you skip the males, there is always the chance that you may lose more in transit, remember.

Unless you are opposed to meat-eating, you should be able to find someone to take the males, free at worst, and in the meantime they may improve the odds of survival for the others.

Good luck whatever you decide to do,


Pat, only having done pickup from a hatchery, not mail-order

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I received my order from Ideal last Thursday. The extra males they sent were 7 black sex links, very easy to tell them apart from my chicks I had ordered.

 

[Alaska Animal Lover]

Just curious why you changed your mind on the orps? I LOVE mine, and they have such awesome broody instincts, you could let tham do the hatching for you next year instead if Ideal .

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

In answer to the question about 4 duck eggs a day, check the local market! You might be surprised. I know in my area, I have people begging me for duck eggs to use in their baking. If you can sell those eggs, why not? The locals here told me they would happily pay me $3 a dozen for ducks eggs. That's double what I get for a dozen chicken eggs.