2009 Poultry Catalog
Updated March 30, 2009
PLEASE REMEMBER ALL DAY-OLD POULTRY IS SOLD AS STRAIGHT RUN ONLY. WE DO NOT SEX ANY OF THE DAY-OLDS. Since we do not sell sexed chicks, we have no control over what you receive as far as a male-female ratio. Ideally, it is supposed to be a 50-50 split, but anyone who has been in poultry knows it can vary from that.
PLEASE NOTE MINIMUM NUMBER OF BIRDS REQUIREMENT BEFORE ORDERING!
You MUST order the equivalent of 25 chicks per order. This is required because the chicks will not stay warm enough to arrive alive at your Post Office if there are too few chicks in the box. There are some hatcheries, etc. who are shipping as few as three chicks in a box. We do not know how they are doing this or if it works. The only option that we have to keep the chicks warm enough to ship is by the body heat of the chicks. Please do not ask us to ship less than this minimum requirement.
Poultry Breed Availability
Poultry availability has been updated as of March 8, 2009.
General Poultry Information
The link to the Poultry Order Form is located at the bottom of this page.
Poultry Glossary
Comb Descriptions -
Buttercup - A cup-shaped crown with evenly spaced points surrounding the rim.
Cushion - Low, compact, smooth, with no spikes.
Pea - Medium low with three lengthwise ridges, center ridge is slightly higher.
Rose - Solid, broad, flat, low and fleshy, terminating in a spike. Top of comb should have small protuberances.
Single - Thin, fleshy, extending full length of the head.
Walnut - Comb resembles a half of a walnut.
Blue Genetics -
Basic Mendelian genetics lack of dominance. A blue-blue mating will result in 50% blue offspring, 25% black and 25% of what is called splash. Splash can be various shades but is basically a "dirty" bluish white with darker bluish black splotches. Do not expect 100% blue chicks from us when ordering a blue breed. It is best to keep blues, blacks and splashes together in the same pen. A black to splash mating produces blue.
Frizzle Gene -
This is the gene which makes the feathers curl up instead of lie flat. Not all babies are frizzled. A double expression of the gene presents a pleiotropic condition where the birds have almost no feathers and several other conditions that retard growth and immune system problems. Remember when making a breeding pen that a 100% Frizzle rooster with a 100% Frizzle hen will produce some chicks with problems. You need to keep both non-frizzled and frizzled birds in the same breeding pen.
Broody -
A hen which is allowed to set on a clutch of eggs for the purpose of hatching them out as chicks. Or the term "go broody" means when a hen gets the desire to set on a clutch of eggs and quits producing eggs.
Free-Range -
To allow poultry to roam around unconfined by pens and search for their own food. Some supplemental food may be given and still be able to call them free range.
HOW SOON DO WE CASH YOUR CHECKS SENT FOR PAYMENT OF YOUR POULTRY ORDER? Please be sure to send payment that is current (no post-dated checks). It might take us a few weeks to get your order processed, depending upon our work load at the time, but your check will be cashed just as soon as your order is placed in the schedule book and a confirmation letter is sent to you. We do not hold your check until after your birds are shipped out. We have had too many bad checks in the past and we just cannot send out chicks and incur postage charges and not receive payment for them. We do accept only check or money order as payment for the poultry orders. Our prices would have to be set much higher if we were to set up to take credit cards as payment.
Visitor Policy
Absolutely no visits will be allowed. We appreciate all of the interest folks have in viewing our operation. However, we must inform you that as part of the NPIP certification we must operate a closed facility to prevent the introduction of disease. For that reason, we are no longer allowing visitors to our poultry operation. We are not trying to hide anything, but just have to be careful to maintain a reasonable level of bio-security.
We are members of the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP# 42-278). Therefore, all of our breeding stock is blood tested annually. Every poultry order comes with an NPIP sheet and a breed list in the envelope attached to the outside of the box indicating what is enclosed. We are a breed preservation facility. We do not drop ship. Poultry is priced according to the difficulty of obtaining the product, not the rarity of the breed. The more expensive it is, the fewer of that item we are able to produce.
We are a breed preservation facility. We do not drop ship. Every bird shipped out under the name of Sand Hill Preservation Center has been hatched here from breeders which are maintained here at our farm. Poultry is priced according to the difficulty of obtaining the product, not the rarity of the breed. The more expensive it is, the fewer of that item we are able to produce.
Instructions For Any Shipping Loss At All
If there is a problem with your shipment and you receive dead birds, you must send to us within seven (7) days of receipt of shipment our "Insured Shipment Report Form" (filled out and signed) or an official form from the USPS stating how many birds were DEAD ON ARRIVAL. Please indicate whether you would like a replacement or a refund for the loss. If you do not mail this back to us within seven (7) days, NO CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN, NO INSURANCE WILL BE FILED AND NO REPLACEMENTS WILL BE SENT!!!
You must get from your postal worker USPS Form #3831. This form is called a Receipt For Damaged Goods. Please keep the original of this form for your records and send us a photocopy of it.
You must have your postal worker fill out USPS Form #2856. This form is called a Damage Report. If your postal worker says they can not give you this form after it is filled out, please ask that they mail this filled out form to Postmaster, Calamus, IA, 52729. This form may be sent to whatever USPS office your Postmaster has been instructed to send it to. Or, if they are willing to do so, it may be sent to us also. This is an internal form that "technically" the shipper and receiver are not allowed to see.
Please send all of these forms to us at the address indicated on the "2009 Insured Shipment Report Form". We will determine if a #1000 Insurance Claim Form needs to be filed for your losses. If your losses are small and you have another shipment coming, we will try to replace them in your next shipment. If the losses are larger, we will file the claim with the USPS and will either replace or refund for your losses. If you only lose a small number of birds and you desire replacement birds, you may need to order and pay for more birds to fill up the box and keep them warm enough to ship safely. If we send replacement birds, we will ship them at the Priority Mail rate at no charge to you. If you desire the replacement birds to be sent by Express Mail, then you will need to pay the difference between the Priority Mail and the Express Mail charge.
If your postal worker has any questions concerning the filling out or filing of any of these USPS forms, they may contact: Postmaster, Calamus, IA, 52729 by mail or may call (563) 246-2681.
Important Ordering Information
Quantities: The number in parentheses "( )" after the price of the poultry indicates the maximum number of day olds available at one hatch. You can order as few as one of a particular breed. If you want more than the maximum number, you will need to place two orders from two different hatches.
Genetic diversity is a priority: We try to keep flocks as genetically diverse as possible, but we don't always have room to keep large numbers of all breeds. We do not kill the extra chicks each week as some hatcheries do. Therefore, we have to plan our flock size according to the majority of requests for that breed. We are still in the process of increasing all of our flocks to enable us to, hopefully, reach the ability to hatch 25 chicks of each and every breed at one hatch. Some breeds don't hatch well, so this is providing some challenges.
Eggs: We do not ship hatching eggs.
Hatching dates: Please pay attention to the hatching dates for each type of fowl. Note the availability status that may appear after each breed description. Check this before placing your order. As these availabilities change throughout the hatching season, we will try to update the website with "Sold Outs" and new availability dates.
Egg weights by breed
This is a multi-year data. We take this data at the end of July. There is nothing truly scientific about it, so please don't read too much into the numbers. A random dozen eggs is weighed from each breed. No attempt to select any size specimens is made. The more years we have had a breed, the more data is used in the average. PLEASE USE THIS INFORMATION AS A GUIDE ONLY!!
- Extra Large (27-30 oz./doz eggs): Delaware, White Faced White Spanish, Rhode Island White Rose Comb, Welsummer, New Hampshire, Light Brahma, Blue Cochin, White Ameraucana, Buff Catalana, Rhode Island Red, and Black Langshan.
- Large (24-27 oz./dozen eggs): Frizzle, Light Grey Dorking, White Jersey Giant, Cuckoo Maran, Single Comb Light Brown Leghorn, Barnevelder, Black Jersey Giant, Ancona, Black Penedescenca, White Orpington, Spangled Russian Orloff, White Houdan, Partridge Rock, White Minorca, Buckeye, Black Australorp, Blue Jersey Giant, Buff Orpington, Silver Penciled Wyandotte, Ameraucana, Silver Grey Dorking, Rose Comb Colored Dorking, Exchequer Leghorn, White Chantecler, Black Orpington, Silver Campine, Norwegian Jaerhon, Red Naked Neck, Dominique, Rose Comb Rhode Island Red, Buff Wyandotte, Black Wyandotte, Black Leghorn, Black Minorca, Barred Holand, Red Dorking, Buff Minorca, Black Cochin, White Dorking, Colored Dorking, Buff Chantecler, Lakenvelder, La Fleche, Golden Laced Wyandotte, White Dorking, Colored Dorking, Buff Chantecler, Lakenvelder, La Fleche, Golden Laced Wyandotte, White Cochin, Red Leghorn, Mottled Java, and Blue Orpington.
- Medium (21-24 oz./dozen eggs): Silver Krainekoppe, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Partridge Chantecler, Red Cap, Mahogany Faverolle, Black Sumatra, Black Ameraucana, Flame Jaerhon, Buff Leghorn, Salmon Faverolle, Spitzhauben, Blue Andalusian, Buff Laced Polish, Red Sussex, Speckled Sussex, Golden Polish, Black Crested White Polish, White Crested Black Polish, Iowa Blue, Black Breasted Red Shamo, Black Shamo, Golden Campine, Crevecoeur, Rose Comb Colored Dorking, Muffed Old English Game, Buttercup, Black Breasted Red Cubalaya, Red Pyle Cubalaya, Long Crower, Manx Rumpie, Silver Polish, Black Crested Blue Polish, Buff Cochin, Black Polish, Dark Shamo, and Silver Laced Cochin.
- Small (18-21 oz./dozen eggs): Black Breasted Red Kraienkoppe, Egyptian Fayoumi, Blue Polish, White Cubalaya, Golden Spangled Hamburg, Silver Penciled Hamburg, Light Sussex, Golden Lakenvelder, and Frizzle Black Sumatra.
Egg Productivity By Breed
This is a list from top to bottom of all the full-sized chicken breeds we maintain. They are ranked here from most eggs per season to least eggs per season. This data is not scientifically collected and cannot be applied to birds obtained from sources other than us. This is the result of multiple years of data from our farm with our birds. We start the data period sometime in January or February and end it in September. Some breeds lay better at other times of the year. Please keep in mind that many things affect egg laying including, but not limited to, light, feed, pen size, pen location, etc. Some breeds develop egg eating problems when confined with no outside run. This lowers the number of eggs and lowers their ranking. Please only use this information as a guide and not as a strict criteria for choosing or discrediting a breed. Remember, some breeds are known for their brooding ability and this factor lowers egg numbers. We also keep birds for several years as we are interested in determining how long productivity holds up. Some breeds do great their pullet year and sink fast in egg numbers the second and subsequent years. Other breeds aren't affected by this. We will no longer be listing single year data as in some cases that might be comparing pullets to 3 and 4 year old hens. This is why this list is a multi-year average. We were unable to update this from 2008 data.
White Jersey Giants, Partridge Rock, Ameraucana, Manx Rumpie, Spangled Russian Orloff, New Hampshire, Delaware, Norwegian Jaerhon, White Faced White Spanish, Buff Leghorn, Rose Comb Rhode Island Red, Silver Polish, Black Crested Blue Polish, Red Sussex, Black Australorp, Speckled Sussex, Light Sussex, Golden Laced Wyandotte, Golden Campine, Cuckoo Maran, White Dorking, La Fleche, Buff Orpington, Buttercup, Light Grey Dorking, Exchequer Leghorn, Ancona, Welsummer, Dominique, Golden Lakenvelder, Barred Holland, White Minorca, Silver Campine, Rhode Island Red, Buff Catalana, Single Comb Light Brown Leghorn, Blue Andalusian, White Chantecler, Black Orpington, Lakenvelder, Buff Chantecler, Black Breasted Red Cubalaya, Kraienkoppe, Golden Spangled Hamburg, Black Polish, Black Wyandotte, Red Dorking, White Crested Black Polish, White Orpington, White Houdan, Rose Comb Colored Dorking, Buff Cochin, Silver Grey Dorking, Black Ameraucana, Red Leghorn, Colored Dorking, Buff Laced Polish, Red Cap, Buff Minorca, Black Shamo, Buckeye, Black Crested White Polish, Golden Polish, Rose Comb Red Dorking, White Frizzle, Red Naked Neck, Iowa Blue, Blue Jersey Giant, Egyptian Fayoumi, Muffed Old English, Black Leghorn, White Cochin, Mahogany Faverolle, Light Brahman, White Ameraucana, Black Sumatra, Buff Wyandotte, Black Cochin, Long Crower, Rose Comb Rhode Island White, Black Jersey Giant, Red Pyle Cubalaya, Blue Chochin, Dark Shamo, Black Langshan, Silver Penciled Wyandotte, Silver Penciled Hamburg, Salmon Faverolle, Crevecoeur, Spitzhauben, Black Breasted Red Shamo, Silver Kraienkoppe, Barnevelder, Black Minorca, Mottled Java, Silver Laced Cochin, and White Crested Blue Polish.