Florida is full of hatcheries and farms that sell chicks, which is essentially an advantage, but it also means that you may find it challenging to narrow down your choices. For that reason, we’ve put together this list so that you can pick the best chicken hatchery in Florida. So, tag along if you don’t want to miss out!
At a Glance
- Happy feet Hatchery – Best Overall
- Greenfire Farms – Best for Rare Breeds
- Holloway’s Farm Supply – Most Diverse
- Stellar Game Birds Poultry Waterfowl – Best Breeding Farm
The 4 Best Chicken Hatcheries in Florida in 2021
Without further ado, here are our favorite hatcheries in Florida, so take your pick!
1. Happy feet Hatchery – Best Overall
Happy feet Hatchery isn’t some hatchery that sells grown roosters and chickens and offers chicks on the side. Instead, it specializes in producing baby chicks, juveniles, farm-fresh eggs, and hatching eggs all year long. So, it doesn’t shut down in the fall or winter. Also, it’s experienced in shipping day-old chicks and hatching eggs.
Moreover, Happyfeet Hatchery curates its breeds for high-quality and diverse poultry. These include Salmon Faverolles, Black Copper Marans, Rhode Island Red, Cream Legbar, and more. It also provides hard-to-find breeds in Florida. And it does all that for an affordable price; chick prices start at $5!
In terms of biosecurity, the hatchery is NPIP certified and AI and PT clean, which ensures a clean operation. The one concern with the hatchery is that it doesn’t reserve birds.
So, you can’t be sure if a particular breed is available without calling. But that only testifies to the hatchery’s high demand and quality products.
Pros:
- Specifies in producing baby chicks, juveniles, farm-fresh eggs, and hatching eggs
- Year-long operation (even during winter and fall)
- Ships hatching eggs and day-old chicks safely
- High-quality and diverse flocks
- Provides hard-to-find breeds in Florida
- Reasonable prices
- NPIP certified and AI and PT clean for a clean operation
Cons:
- You can’t reserve chicks due to the high demand
Final Verdict
Happy feet Hatchery is a quality hatchery for baby chicks, juveniles, fresh eggs, hatching eggs, and hard-to-find breeds that are available all year long. It balances quality and affordability.
2. Greenfire Farms – Best for Rare Breeds
If you’re into collecting rare breeds, Greenfire Farms could be the hatchery for you. It has a collection of ultra exotic breeds, including the all-black Ayam Cemani, Crevecoeur, Death Later, and more. Also, you can order a rare breed mix with chicks of different best-selling breeds. So, you can snatch up a rare breed and raise it to help save it from extinction!
In addition, Greenfire Farms offers dual-purpose birds. So, if you want maximum egg production and lean meat, it has American Bresse, Basque Hen, Pampierre, and more. Furthermore, the hatchery sells bantam sizes and hardy breeds.
As for housing, Greenfire Farms grows its breeding flocks in good conditions, feeds them well, and prioritizes their health. Accordingly, they become healthy and strong, and the NPIP certification verifies that. When it comes to shipping, the hatchery might give the chicks feed, Gro-gel, and heat packs if needed.
On the downside, farm visits aren’t allowed, so you can’t check out the farming conditions for yourself. However, this policy protects floods against inadvertent disease transmissions. Also, the hatchery doesn’t vent sex its chicks. So, you’ll have to buy straight-run chicks, but you can opt for the auto-sexing breeds.
Pros:
- Grows exotic and rare breeds
- Sells rare breed chick mixes
- Offers dual-purpose, bantam-sized, and hardy breeds
- NPIP certified, so the flocks are healthy
- Safe shipping for chicks
Cons:
- No farm visits allowed
- Chicks are sold as straight run, but there are auto-sexing breeds
Final Verdict
Greenfire Farms is arguably the best hatchery to buy rare breeds with exotic collections of chicks. It sells everything from bantam breeds to dual-purpose flocks and more.
3. Holloway’s Farm Supply – Most Diverse
Holloway’s Farm Supply has everything you could ask for, including baby chicks, egg-laying hens, pullets, turkeys, ducks, pigs, rabbits, and more. Some of its chicken breeds are Black Sex-Links, Barred Plymouth Rocks, and Rhode Island Reds. The turkeys include Blue Slate and Bourbon Red, and the ducks include White Pekin.
But the hatchery’s diversity extends beyond different breeds and birds to all the supplies you need to keep them. For instance, there are quality chicken coops, aviaries, and rabbit hutches, all hand-made. Also, the coops include a nesting box (that doubles as a brooder) and a walk-up.
Furthermore, Holloway’s Farm Supply sells natural and organic chicken feeds and health supplies, which Tampa’s premier poultry supplier provides. So, you can buy vitamin supplements, medicine, and multiple insect and disease control methods to grow healthy chicks. Finally, cash, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and checks are acceptable.
Pros:
- Offers baby chicks, pullets, egg-laying hens, turkeys, ducks, pigs, rabbits, and more
- Sells hand-made supplies, including aviaries, rabbit hutches, and chicken coops
- Food and health supplies are available to raise healthy birds
- Sells multiple methods of disease and insect control
- Accepts cash, checks, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa
Final Verdict
Holloway’s Farm Supply is the hatchery to go to if you want to buy all your birds and supplies in one place. It offers baby chicks, hens, turkeys, ducks, and so on. Not to mention, it provides chicken coops, rabbit hutches, chicken feeds, and health supplies.
4. Stellar Game Birds Poultry Waterfowl – Best Breeding Farm
Stella Game Birds Poultry Waterfowl is all about selective breeding and preservation operations. This breeding farm works to raise strong, quality, and hardy flocks that remind you of traditional American farms.
To elaborate, it raises exotic, heritage, and hybrid breeds of chicken, chicks, and juveniles. In fact, around 85% of the farm’s animals are heritage animals, so they make for strong and vigorous stock. It also sells ducks, peafowl, geese, guinea fowl, goats, pigs, rabbits, German Shepherds, and Amus.
Regarding health conditions, the farm is certified by the NPIP and FWC, so that’s very reassuring. Nevertheless, note that Stellar Game Birds Poultry Waterfowl isn’t technically a hatchery, meaning that its products aren’t always available on the spot. So, you might be placed on a waitlist.
Pros:
- Specializes in selective breeding and preservation operations
- Raises strong and hardy flocks
- Has about 85% heritage breeds
- Sells ducks, rabbits, pigs, goats, geese, guinea fowls, and more
- NPIP certified and FWC certified
Cons:
- Not a hatchery, so products may not be available on the spot
Final Verdict
Stellar Game Birds Poultry Waterfowl probably has the rare breeds you’re after, and it’s NPIP certified and FWC certified.
Factors to Consider When Buying Chicks
You may be wondering what factors went into curating our list and what factors you should consider if you were to make your list, so here it is:
Shipping and Refunds
Chicks can handle shipping, but it can be a bit stressful. So, some hatcheries add more chicks, typically male, for warmth. They also make sure you receive the exact number you’ve ordered. And if many of your chicks are dead upon delivery, the hatchery might replace them or refund you for them.
With shipping, you also want to make sure you receive correctly sexed chicks if that’s a priority to you. Of course, you can buy chicks as male, female, or straight run. The latter means that you’ll be getting a mix of both sexes, and you can expect them to be about 60 males to 40 females.
Additionally, any hatchery probably dictates how accurately sexed its chicks are; 90% or more should be good. Also, it might refund you for incorrectly sexed chicks.
Hardiness
Hardiness is a valuable attribute in a chicken, one that’s often lost in production breeds. It enables the bird to withstand low temperatures and sustain itself in harsh conditions. It’s also found in chickens that forage and don’t rely on eating feed. In short, a hardy chicken displays traditional chicken behavior.
Size
Chickens are available in standard/large sizes and bantam sizes, and that goes for most species. If you want to raise chickens for their meat and eggs, you want the standard size. Alternatively, bantams are smaller and lay smaller eggs. Usually, farmers raise them as “pet’ chickens.
Rare Breeds
A hatchery’s specialty is heirloom chicken breeds. And some species are known for their meat birds or egg layers. Also, rare breeds are more likely to be good settlers and hardy and display traditional chicken skills.
Dual-Purpose Breeds
Dual-purpose flocks are precisely what they sound like. They lay a significant number of eggs and still have plump meat if you want to process them. Hence, farmers get their money’s worth with dual-purpose breeds.
Final Words
Ultimately, we hope our guide has helped you find the best chicken hatchery in Florida. Our top pick is the Happyfeet Hatchery. This hatchery has chicks, juveniles, eggs, and more all year long, and it’s reasonably priced.
But if you’re looking for a hatchery with range, we suggest Holloway’s Farm Supply, as you can buy the animals you want and the supplies they need.
