Category: Orders

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Ship Hatching Eggs Nationally?

Yes! Melissahof poultry are certified under the USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) as clean from pullorum-typhoid and H5/H7 avian influenza. Under NPIP, hatching eggs can be shipped to most US states, including Alaska and Hawai’i. There are some states that require additional permits and animal health testing. If you reside in Florida, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota or Texas, please contact Melissa prior to ordering hatching eggs.

For your happy flock, you need hearty stock, which is why Melissa selects breeding stock according to each breeds’ standard of perfection. The breeding hens and roosters are refined by the pastured life in the high altitude (Melissahof is at 5,400 feet in elevation), semi-arid climate of Wyoming.

Here’s how to keep your flock hearty:

  1. Order your hatching eggs.
  2. Melissa will schedule shipment with you.
  3. You set the eggs in your incubator or under a broody hen.

Hatching eggs are shipped out of Lander, Wyoming 82520 via the US Postal Service on Mondays to avoid them sitting in a US Post Office over a weekend. The eggs are cushioned by foam shippers crafted to transport eggs.

  • Melissahof is unable to guarantee the hatchability of any eggs due to conditions outside of Melissa’s control during shipping and incubation.
  • Melissahof does guarantee that your eggs will be shipped fresh and in excellent condition.
  • All hatching eggs are shipped prepaid US Priority Mail, categorized as fragile, and are insured. Open the box(es) that contain your hatching eggs at your Post Office and report any damaged eggs to your Post Office or delivery driver, including separated chalazae.

Currently, Melissahof hatching eggs and live poultry cannot be shipped to Canada. Also, Melissahof does not ship live poultry – baby chicks or started pullets – outside of Wyoming.

Delivery within Wyoming for live poultry and hatching eggs is available through the EatWyoming.com local food hub. For this option, select Eat Wyoming shipping when you check out. Read more about this Wyoming delivery option here.

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How to Eat Melissahof

Melissa understands that you want to be a community supporter – of farmers, ranchers and landscape. For you to do that, you need good food. Food that connects us. That is raised and grown in a holistic manner to regenerate landscape and provide us with a resilient food system.

Melissahof holistic eatsMelissa raises the rooster chicks hatched at Melissahof Hatchery on pasture, with no hormones and antibiotics, and harvests them in the autumn. These heritage meatbirds are offered as packaged whole chicken, necks, organ meats and feet.

Where does the garlic come in? Melissa grows several varieties of heirloom garlic without synthetic chemicals. Because garlic is planted in the autumn and harvested in summer, tending it balances well with the spring hatch season of baby chicks. Winter, and its dormancy, is the season of rest on Melissahof.

Stock your kitchen with Melissahof holistic eats:

ONLINE ORDER

FARMERS’ MARKET

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Marek’s Vaccination

Marek’s vaccinations are available for your baby chick order. To order it for your chicks, please purchase the Marek’s vaccination product and select the number of chicks in your order.

From Mississippi State Extension:

Marek’s disease is one of the most widespread poultry diseases in the world. The first report of the disease was in 1907 by József Marek, for whom the disease is named. It is a highly contagious viral disease caused by a herpes virus called Alphaherpesvirinae.

Marek’s disease can occur in chickens 3 to 4 weeks of age but is most commonly seen in birds between 12 and 30 weeks of age. Female birds are more often affected than are males.

Transmission of the virus occurs by direct and indirect contact between chickens. Once the virus is introduced into a chicken flock, infection spreads quickly from bird to bird, even if the chickens are vaccinated. Seemingly healthy birds may be infected and, if so, will regularly shed the virus into the surrounding environment. Both infected and recovered birds are lifelong carriers of the disease; they will continue to shed the virus in their feather dander and through oral and nasal secretions for the remainder of their lives.

If you have infected birds in your flock and you bring in new birds, the new birds are at risk of becoming infected if they are housed with your birds and did not receive Marek’s vaccination at hatch. The disease is not transmitted through the parents to the egg. Unfortunately, there is no effective treatment for the disease and infected birds never recover.

Birds that develop clinical symptoms of the disease usually do so because of some form of stress trigger. This could be normal hormonal changes associated with the onset of egg-laying in hens or crowing in roosters, flock fighting and peck order establishment, extreme weather conditions, predator attack, change in management or flock ownership, high parasite load, or rough handling. Birds may suddenly go lame, and this initial lameness may be mistaken for an injury. However, the lameness worsens until the bird is unable to walk. These birds may develop the classic Marek’s paralysis pose in which one leg is positioned straight out in front of the body and the other straight out behind.

There are four different forms of Marek’s disease, and infected birds may exhibit one or more forms:

  1. Skin (cutaneous)
  2. Nerve (neural)
  3. Eye (ocular)
  4. Internal organ (visceral)

Read More…

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Orders Fulfilled Sequentially

Your order of Melissahof chicks will be scheduled for fulfillment according to when it is received. For instance, if your order is the first received it will be the first fulfilled in March. Your order will maintain its prioritization if you choose to have your chicks hatched out later in the spring. With your order, please note your preferential timing of your chicks’ hatch – if any. Melissa will endeavor to meet your preference.

  • Hatch season extends from March through May.
  • Chicks are available through pre-order only.
  • No minimum quantity required per order.

When you order started pullets, they will be available for pick up beginning in May at 8-weeks-old.

Orders for hatching eggs are also scheduled in the order received. You can choose when to have your order of hatching eggs shipped to you. Read more about hatching egg orders here.