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suggestions when placing US Hatchery orders

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turkeylurkey


Active Member
Active Member

Some of the things I've learnt:

1. Order early. They sell out of some breeds quickly.

2. Order in multiples of the minimum ship quantity - usually 25 - or most hatcheries will add "males for warmth". Males will be usually be of the commercial hybrid varieties like ISA Browns. If you want only a few chicks of a particular variety, I suggest making up the order with a common variety like Rhode Island Reds. i.e. 5 Black Spanish + 20 Rhode Island Reds = 25 chicks. Total order should be also in multiples of 25 - i.e. 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, etc. or you'll get extra males added.

3. Combining orders with friends sounds like a good idea, but be aware that day-old chicks of many breeds can be very similar and males look exactly like females. For example Barred Plymouth Rock and Cuckoo Maran chicks are identical. Mixed shipments of similar chicks can sometimes take months to sort out. In any case try to get the chicks to a brooder with feed and water as soon as possible after pick-up. Don't delay by trying to sort on the side of the road or in a parking lot or there will be losses.

4. If doing a group order I suggest delegating one person to take responsibility of all phases of the ordering and receiving process. This person should collect funds, place the order, make the pick-up at the border post office, and deal with issues with the hatchery.

http://www.guppy.ca

ipf


Addicted Member
Addicted Member

Good suggestions all - also "time is of the essence". They'll have been in transit for at least two days already.
While I agree that many breeeds look alke as day-olds, BRs and CMs don't - BRs have yellow legs, and CMs, white.

Arcticsun

Arcticsun
Golden Member
Golden Member

great advice.
My big one is dont mix in a lot of other people, keep it to one or two good friends if your going to do a group. And agreed, get larger groups of chicks (not one of these, one of those) and get breeds that dont look alike as chicks.

also, cough up for the growgel. It can be a life saver!

turkeylurkey


Active Member
Active Member

I try to learn something every day. I didn't think of the difference in leg colour between CM's and BR's. Actually, I don't think I've ordered both in one shipment.

Grow-Gel is a good suggestion! We spent the entire 90 minutes on the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria mixing it and feeding it to the last shipment of chicks. One package mixes with a lot of water and easily does a 100 chicks. I found a couple of full packages when I recently threw out this year's shipping cartons.

Note: if you do order it look under the bedding material. Packages are tiny.

http://www.guppy.ca

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