Murray McMurray Hatchery
We've been buying baby chicks by U.S. mail from Murray McMurray Hatchery for 30-plus years. We'll get a call from the postmaster, sometimes a bit flustered, because there's a box there with peeping chicks awaiting pick-up. We'll go get them and set them up with a light and feed and water, and lo and behold in three months we'll have laying hens.
Minimum order is 25, so the chicks can warm each other in transit. We raise all of them and when they are teenaged, give or sell to neighbors. Raising 25 is no sweat.
Why get chickens by mail and not from your local feed store? McMurray has been in business for 90 years and their birds are of excellent stock. Lots of varieties to choose from. We've had not only Rhode Island Reds, Partridge Rocks and Auracanas for steady egg production, but exotics such as Cochins and Polish, as well as meat birds. They've all been top quality.
Get Murray's hard copy catalog if you want to start a flock. Wonderful to look through. A few tips:
1. A dozen hens will give you plenty of eggs for you and your neighbors.
2. If you want fertile eggs, plan on ending up with one rooster for every dozen hens.
3. In more urban areas, get 4 or 5 hens, no rooster.
Once you have your own fresh eggs, you'll never want store eggs again.
Red Cap
This Old English Breed with reddish brown feathers tipped with black spangles has a large rose comb covered with prominent points. They are white skinned and lay tinted eggs. Chicks (picture above) are a light reddish tan with black speckles and some stripes.
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Egyptian Fayoumis
These small, active, lovely chickens have been raised along the Nile River in Egypt for centuries, and even though quite common there, are practically unknown in this country. We got our start of this very rare breed from one of the state universities whose poultry department was using them for special studies in genetics. No other breed matures quite so quickly as these do and the young pullets are apt to start laying their small tinted white eggs at 4 to 4-1/2 months while the cockerels will start to crow at an unbelievable 5 to 6 weeks. They are attractively marked with silvery white hackle and white bars on black background throughout the body plumage. Leg color can be either willow green or slate blue. Baby chicks are highly colored in brown, black, and white markings on the back and a brownish purple head color.
Favorite (15)
Ben
This seams to be quiet cruel to the animal! Sending alive creatures per mail and not a special-delivery service where it could be guarantied that they will be treated right.
Ash
The "related items" aren't! But previously reviewed on Cool Tools are the absolutely excellent Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/000197.php and the Natural History of the Chicken http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/000315.php. For urban farmers, have a look at the Eglu http://www.omlet.co.uk/homepage/homepage.php -- I've no experience with it, but it got a lot of press in Britain.
rob
@Ben: Just wait til it's time to cut their heads off!
sinsco
Ben - I totally understand your concern and held a similar sentiment. A friend of mine ordered from McMurray and the idea of sending chicks via USPS seemed crazy (to me). The chicks arrived seemingly happy and healthy and the flock has been doing great ever since.
I still held reservations until I saw Mad City Chickens. This movie documents the joy of raising backyard chickens including ordering chicks from McMurray, and the McMurray operation itself. I was surprised to see that both McMurray and the USPS are actually very considerate in terms of the transportation, and well being, of the chicks. In fact, after reading Nicolette Hahn Niman's "Righteous Porkchop", I'm under the impression that raising your own chickens (including ordering from McMurray) is one of the more humane ways to get eggs to the table.
Edward Bryant
I love Murray McMurray Hatchery. Their chicks are very healthy.
I am presently raising 25 Black Star black sex-link. They arrived happy and healthy and I have had no mortality so far. I like to raise chicks in the fall as the temps. are more benign and spring raised chicks generally don't lay much until the next spring anyway, so why feed for an extra 3-4 months for nothing?
As to the USPS...As far as I know, no other common shipper will accept animals. And besides, the US postal service does an excellent job generally. This year, they called me to say that they were afraid the temperatures were too hot for the chicks to spend all day in the truck, and would I like to come down to the post office to get them instead?
BIl
What kind of chickens are you getting or what are you feeding your chickens to get them to start laying at 3 months?
Dave
Living in Texas, I prefer to order from Ideal Poultry (they are fairly close to Waco). I've ordered from them 4 or 5 times and have always been pleased with the chicks I've received.
Interestingly, I've also bought from local feed stores. With feed store chicks, I always seem to lose a few chicks out of each batch, but I have NEVER lost a single chick that came from Ideal. Maybe it's coincidence, but I think they are chicks of a higher quality.
Mitchell
If these are all hens, what happens to the roosters?
Sean
Myself and several close friends have had great luck with McMurray's. As for chickens I prefer either Reds, Rocks, or Ophington's. All three breeds have been great utility birds. Solid Layers and Good Meat, I have the most experience with the Buff Ophington's an average of 9 eggs a day per 12 birds. Reds always tended to be the best sitters which if you want a self sustaining bird population. Though the best sitters are Bantams or "Banty" hens its nice to have a couple in the flock. Just watch those ladies when they are on eggs or have chicks, they are fiesty, I recommend welding gloves when handling them.
Davey
Finding McMurray's here notched up my fantasies of urban chicken raising another notch. Their web site makes it all very tempting -- kind of like a seed catalog, where everything they sell is absolutely stunningly wonderful. Reading the What Do We Do Now page helps bring back a measure of sobriety. http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chickcare.html
elon
@ Ash: Fine choices for the related items. It's an interpretive feature here, and while my interpretations may be a bit loose, your selections are indeed on the money. If the Eglu is as functional as it well-styled, we need a review of it. Any urban farmers using this prefab Modern coop?
@ Sinsco: Thanks for the keen perspective.
rufus
We order chicks (layers, meat and sometimes fancy chickens) just about every year and have had great luck with Murray McMurray. We've gotten goslings and ducklings from them too.
This year we wanted some breeds that McMurray didn't carry, so we ordered from Ideal too, as the poster above suggests. They have a lower minimum order, and we had no problems in shipping (we live in New England).
Chickens are not hard to raise or keep (ours layers are free ranging during the day, and put themselves in at night -- we just shut the door when they've all gone in). "Real" free range is different than just letting them run around in a pen outside, and the eggs are superb. More people should raise chickens: it's thrifty, fun, and the birds offer wonderfully satiric insights on human behavior...
Anna W.
i just order 10 ducks from Mcmurray. all came happy and heathly.