We are a fourth-generation family-owned and operated hatchery offering over 230 varieties of poultry, shipped directly from our facility here in Missouri. Since 1936, it has been our mission to enhance your life by providing quality poultry for showing, meat, enjoyment, eggs, or pets. Specializing in hatching purebred poultry, we’ve been shipping day-old chicks right to your local post office for nearly nine decades.
Cackle Hatchery® is proud to have been raising quality, U.S. Pullorum clean poultry since our inception. We ship throughout the United States, including Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. Our breeding farms and hatchery, located in the heart of the Missouri Ozarks, work together seamlessly. We maintain our own breeding stock, producing the eggs that we hatch with care and precision. With 88 years of focused genetic selection, we are dedicated to producing disease-resistant and productive poultry for public use.
Our story began in 1936 when Clifford Smith and his wife, Lena, founded Cackle Hatchery, naming it after the cheerful sound of a hen’s cackle. Clifford, having worked in a hatchery before, brought his knowledge and passion to his own business. By 1937, Cackle Hatchery had expanded to three locations in Lebanon, Dixon, and Buffalo, MO. Clifford’s ingenuity was evident—he built most of his incubators and even held a U.S. government patent for them. Unfortunately, due to material shortages during the war years in the early 1940s, mass production of his incubators was not possible.
Clifford and Lena’s commitment to quality was unwavering. Clifford worked tirelessly with the Missouri Department of Agriculture to eradicate Pullorum Disease, a prevalent issue at the time. Thanks to his efforts, the disease is now almost unheard of. He also collaborated on a trap-nesting program to select birds that laid the most eggs while consuming the least feed. At one time, Clifford operated three hatcheries in Lebanon and nearby towns, during an era when nearly every town had its own hatchery. Over time, commercialization and refrigeration led to the decline of small-town hatcheries, but Cackle Hatchery endured.
In 1964, their son Clifton and his wife, Nancy, took over the operation. Clifton expanded the business, shipping over 2.5 million chicks and other baby poultry annually to customers across the U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. Clifton’s rare breed focus was a cornerstone of his success, as was his development of feather sexing programs, which allowed for a 90% accuracy rate in determining chick sex.
The third generation, Jeff Smith, has continued the family legacy, ensuring the hatchery’s growth and innovation. Jeff launched Cackle Hatchery’s website in 1998, opening up new opportunities to connect with customers nationwide. In 2023, the fourth generation, Nathaniel Smith, joined the team after completing college. Currently, Jeff serves as Chief Executive Officer, while Nathaniel is Chief Operations Officer, leading a dedicated team of 120 during the busy season. Together, they oversee 87 breeding farms, 230+ breeds and varieties, and operate 80 incubators.
We are also one of only 12 remaining hobby hatcheries in the United States. In the 1940s and 1950s, nearly every town had its own hatchery. Today, Cackle Hatchery continues to thrive by adding more breeds to our breeding program, leveraging superior tacit knowledge in poultry breeding for the best quality, and developing proprietary software that streamlines the poultry hatching process. We also host the annual “Cackle Hatchery Fall Festival” every October, providing a fun, family-friendly event. Our facility is located at 411 West Commercial Street, Lebanon, MO, 65536, and is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Storefront is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm. Closed Monday, Wednesday and Sunday. The best time to visit is between March and September.
Thank you for being a part of our journey. We invite you to explore more and join the Cackle Hatchery family
Take a Virtual History Tour of Cackle Hatchery®
Take a Virtual Tour of Cackle Hatchery® 1999-2009 (Change: Learn how Cackle Hatchery Hatched from 1999-2009)