Not unlike Micro-Breweries, a Micro-Hatchery is a much
smaller version of a chicken hatchery.
The chicken hatcheries use to be your only choice for chicks
for many years. Some common drawbacks to the large hatcheries is you have to
order a minimum of 2 dozen chicks and the large hatcheries focus more on
quantity and not so much quality. Your local feed stores are another common
source, but they usually order their chicks through one of the big hatcheries
too.
For the more focused chicken enthusiast, a local breeder or purchasing
at poultry shows was where you could get a better quality chicken of a
particular breed.
At Ole Yankee Farm, we have raised all different animals for
the past 20 years. Horses, goats, alpacas and yes, chickens. In fact, chickens
have always been present on our farm. Our first chickens were hatched from eggs
using a borrowed Styrofoam incubator. From there, the obsession grew. We
discovered the hundreds of amazing different breeds of chickens and we loved
seeing them pecking around the yard. We also loved the fresh eggs too!
From hobbyists to breeders, we focused on a few specific
breeds and continued hatching more and more chicks. We started selling our
chicks on Craigslist and to our friends. Another local farm that we did chicken
business with suggested we organize and offer our birds nationwide. We did just
that.
From breeders to a “Micro-Hatchery”. We named our new
chicken business “The Hatching House” and launched our website on January 1st,
2015. We obtained our NPIP certification along with our state licenses and we
were up and running. We also encouraged surrounding farms in Connecticut, Rhode
Island and Massachusetts to acquire their NPIP and state certifications. We
then purchase the eggs from these farms in order to offer more breeds on our website.
We also offer alternative outlets for the many male chicks that are hatched.
The large hatcheries unfortunately will grind up their male chicks. We see this
as a waste of life. One way is we offer our “Fry Pan Specials” which are at discounted
prices on male chicks for the “Homesteader” to raise for meat.
When establishing our base flock, we are very selective on
picking hens and roosters that will truly represent the breed to the Standards
of Perfection. We then, through selective breeding, will continue to improve
our breeds. This is where we focus on the quality of a bird as opposed to just
quantity. As a Micro-Hatchery, we do not just pump out chicks. Our eggs are set
based on the orders we receive through our website. Once we have reached our
capacity for a particular month, we will then close that month out so we can
focus on filling our orders and communicating with our customers.
We are constantly looking for more interesting and exotic birds
to offer up to our customers. Along with our amazing selection of English
Orpingtons, we have the all-black Ayam Cemani, the rare Russian Pavlovaskya and
the Swedish Orusts, just to name a few. We will also continue to show our birds
specifically looking for feedback from the judges in order to fine tune our
breeds.
Our Micro-Hatchery is constantly evolving and growing, but
we will always keep our focus on our quality of birds and our customer service.
Thank you,
The Hatching House
