Commercial Hatcheries and Ameraucana chicks

[John W Blehm]

Cackle Hatchery is starting to offer LF lavender Ameraucanas this year.  They now have black, blue and lavender.  I see this as another milestone in the recognition of Ameraucana chickens as a Standard breed...separate from Araucana, Americana (whatever they are) and Easter Egg chickens.   

[Russ Blair]

$14 per chick  wow I can not believe they can sell them for that much. Apparently I am way out of touch with reality, or they are???

[Beth Curran]

I can see someone paying that if they wanted all pullets but they aren't sexing them. 

[Harry Shaffer]

What are you talking about,  $14 in 2017 is not bad compared to one person who got eggs off of me cheap and was getting $25 for day old chicks and $100 to $200 per dozen many years ago.  So $14 is not out of reality.

[John W Blehm]

What are you talking about,  $14 in 2017 is not bad compared to one person who got eggs off of me cheap and was getting $25 for day old chicks and $100 to $200 per dozen many years ago.  So $14 is not out of reality.

The same gal that Harry is referring to bought birds from me too.  She wasn't a true breeder from my understanding, but rather bought birds, promoted a lot and sold at high prices and then faded from the scene.  She wasn't the only one that bought from me at very reasonable prices and sold at very inflated ones.   

Cackle is just getting started with the LF lavenders and it takes a few years to develop two strains of a variety to then cross and produce feather sexable chicks.  They also have a limit of 9 lavender chicks per order, so their flocks aren't yet big enough to fill orders for 25 or more and with limited numbers they may have a higher price per chick now than in the future (I think).

[Beth Curran]

I just assumed all the hatcheries vent sex. Cackle is cheaper than Meyer, who sells their blues for $14.98/male, $18.15/SR, & $21.40/female. And, although they are advertised as blue, the fine print says you may receive blue, black, or splash, hatchery's choice:

* As with “blue” breed genetics, the blue feather color does not breed true. In addition to blue chicks you may receive splash and/or black as well. Chick color is hatchery choice.

[John W Blehm]

I just assumed all the hatcheries vent sex. Cackle is cheaper than Meyer, who sells their blues for $14.98/male, $18.15/SR, & $21.40/female. And, although they are advertised as blue, the fine print says you may receive blue, black, or splash, hatchery's choice:

* As with “blue” breed genetics, the blue feather color does not breed true. In addition to blue chicks you may receive splash and/or black as well. Chick color is hatchery choice.

Cackle has been offering LF blacks, but besides adding lavenders this year they also added blues for $9.95 straight run only.

I've mentioned before that I deal with some commercial hatcheries that retail my Fowl Stuff nest boxes.  Jeff Smith is an owner at Cackle and I've also sold day-old chicks to them.  Several weeks ago I talked to him and picked his brain a bit about feather sexing chicks.  I had assumed they would have to cross with a breed that has the slow feathering gene to bring it into a flock, but according to Jeff crossbreeding isn't needed.

The big commercial hatcheries offer feather sexed day-old large fowl chicks in many common breeds/varieties.  My understanding is they don't cross them with birds that have a slow feathering gene to bring the genes into the flocks, but rather select for it as it shows up.  Again, this is just my understanding from very limited conversations.

[Cesar Villegas]

I can see someone paying that if they wanted all pullets but they aren't sexing them. 

They offer sexing for Blacks.

[Beth Curran]

I noticed that, but not for blue or lavender. John's explanation makes sense, since they bought the blacks from him a couple of seasons ago. Maybe they will offer blue & lavender sexed later on.

[Dennis Heltzel]

$14 per chick  wow I can not believe they can sell them for that much. Apparently I am way out of touch with reality, or they are???

I easily get $12 per chicks for Lavenders and they sell almost before they are dry (maybe I should raise my prices). I don't ship and would expect them to cost more from hatcheries that have to keep NPIP and have staff to box and ship chicks.

Lavender (not "self blue") is all the rage this year. Numerous people ask about Lav Orpingtons. I tell them I only have Lav Ams and that they are better anyway because they lay turquoise eggs, not that boring brown color.