Ordering chicks:

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I will be ordering my chicks soon and McMurray Hatchery has so many to chose from.Instead of getting one or two varieties I am thinking of getting an assortment.Have any one tried their rainbow egg layers or the heavy breed brown egg layer assortment? Bettie

-- Bettie Ferguson (jobett@dixie-net.com), November 26, 2001

Answers

We live 40 miles from Murry McMurray Hatchery and have ordered eggs from them more times than I can count. We've gotten the rainbow egg layers and most eggs are shades of green. Fun to get but I think we only once got some that if you really used your imagination you could say the egg was pink. We've gotten so we now always order the Red Star. They're similar to a Rhode Island Red and lay nice big brown eggs all year round and do so well in our wicked winters. They're also a very tame laid back bird.

We drive down and pick up the chicks on a Sunday afternoon and get to choose whatever we want from 100's of left over little birds for $.35 or is it $.55 each. We always come home with way more than we actually ordered. I always tell them I want little females when picking out the extras but of course, end up with both sexes. What fun to see what each little chick will look like when he/she's grown. It's kind of like a grab bag, you take what you get.

Whatever you decide on enjoy, it's so much fun getting new chicks and then the first little eggs 5 or 6 months later. I may just have to order more next spring.

Cheers!

-- Anna in Iowa (countryanna54@hotmail.com), November 26, 2001.


We ordered the heavy brown egg layer assortment from them 3 years ago. We were VERY happy with our chicks. We've been raising our own from the assortment since then, and have had wonderful hatches of beautiful birds - mutts of course, but so beautiful, and good producers. Our "herd" (we have about 150 hens and several roosters) looks like a rainbow running around the farm. :-)

-- Cheryl in Ks (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), November 26, 2001.

Anna,Now I am happy I posted before ordering the chicks.I will pass on the rainbow egglayers.I plan on selling extra eggs and I don't think those blue and green eggs would sell very well. Wow!You live that close to the hatchery and get to pick your own chicks! As we say in our family "watch me while I eat my ice cream"! Bettie

-- Bettie Ferguson (jobett@dixie-net.com), November 27, 2001.

Last Summer we ordered "Grandmas Special" an assortment of brown egg layers. We are very happy with the chickens we ended up with. It was a great assortment and it is fun to see how the chicks develope. We ordered 50 straight run chickes and ended up with enough hens and roosters to put into 4 small chicken tractors. I selected them by breed and hope to get hatching eggs in the Spring. What fun.

-- Tom S. (trdsshepard@yahoo.com), November 27, 2001.

Sorry, I thought McMurray stopped shipping chicks at the end of October and won't start up again till the Spring. I'm sure I read this in their catalog. If so, there are other places that ship year round though.

-- Anita in NC (aholton@mindspring.com), November 27, 2001.


I have people that specifically ask for the green eggs when they buy. You'd be surprised at how well they sell. At least for me. :-)

-- Wendy (weiskids@yahoo.com), November 27, 2001.

You're right about the green eggs sellling well Wendy. The children love them and our preschool teacher brought her class out every fall to see all the animals, including the chickens. I'd always have a couple dozen green eggs saved to "present" to the class and they'd go back to school and have "green" eggs and ham while they listened to the Seuss book.

And yes Bettie, living close to the hatchery is great. A friend and I always order chicks at the same time and then go to pick them up. No husbands allowed on that trip because it's a "girl" thing picking out the other chicks. To be honest they don't want to go anyway :)

-- Anna in Iowa (countryanna54@hotmail.com), November 27, 2001.


My customers loved the green eggs....we always made sure to have an assortment of colors in each carton...

-- Earthmama (earthmama@yahoo.com), November 27, 2001.

Bettie, When I first started out with chickens, we had only one variety which I got very bored with. =) The next time I got chicks, I got two to three of around nine different breeds including the rainbow layers. I have really enjoyed them and learning about the different chickens and their personalities. Not only that, kids love having "easter eggs" year round.=) Good luck!

-- c.d. (his4ever@mac.com), November 27, 2001.

To Anna: I never thought of going to the hatchery and picking up chicks. We live about 200 miles from Mc Murray. Its a nice drive across Iowa, so I called them up for details. They said that I would pay the regular cost for the chicks, but no shipping charges. They would be all boxed up when I came (either Saturday or Sunday). How are you getting them so cheap and how can you pick your own, they said I couldn't? Thanks for more details! Jane

-- Jane in Wisconsin (autumnwindfarm@yahoo.com), November 27, 2001.


I've ordered the Rainbow egg layers a couple times, then last year ordered from Cackle hatchery on the advice of someone on this forum. The chicks were less expensive-I think .45 each for unsexed, so I got 100. Sold all my extras and could have sold a lot more if I'd had them. I did end up with a lot of roosters, since I sold pullets, but I canned them, and still have about 18 or so hens. Had more than 50% roosters both times from McMurray when I thought I was getting pullets, and several died due to a post office error, but McM. replaced the entire order. Good luck! Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), November 27, 2001.

The green and blue-green eggs that our Araucana hens lay are the top sellers around here. We even sell to a prestigious restaurant in town (5 star)whose head chef told us that our eggs are the best he's ever tasted. I don't know why, but maybe it's the unique color and the fact that our chickens free-range?? In any event, we're switching away from brown eggs to exclusively colored egg layers (Araucana).

-- Liz Rhein (merhein@shentel.net), November 27, 2001.

Hi Jane, I order 25 chicks over the phone at the price listed in the catalog. When I pick them up Sun. afternoon there's always baby chicks galore in boxes you can buy individually. I've done it now for so many years that I don't know how I found out about these chicks but in the room where you pick your up order you'll see shelves of boxes and at least some of the boxes have chicks inside that you can buy. If they try to just bring you the box you've ordered you might have to ask if they have extras. It's right inside the door to the north from the receptionist. I've always assumed, but don't know for sure, that they're just extras from hatchings that people have ordered and am afraid to ask what happens to the ones no one buys.

If you decide to take the drive to pick them up next spring/summer I'd like to hear about your experience. I really enjoy it and have always been surprised at how spotlessly clean the place is.

-- Anna in Iowa (countryanna54@hotmail.com), November 27, 2001.


I love my Arucanas. (The green egg layers M&M calls rainbow.) I have heard that their eggs, always in demand here too, are lower in colesterol than other breeds. True?

-- Leslie (leslie@nyrealdu2trlls.com), November 28, 2001.

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