Barry, call some local bait shops and ask them where you can find the Fatheads. Tell them you are stocking a pond and need a lot. That usually loosens them up so that they can give away their source. That's how I located the minnows for my pond. Otherwise, if you find a bait shop that will order them for you, you will likely pay a lot more for them and wait a week or so, but traveling a few hours adds up gas money pretty quick too.
A quick web search shows a place called Shepard's Sportfish in Maurice, LA. that sells the FHMs. I know nothing about them.. Here is a link to the website...
http://stockapond.com/pond-stocking/I searched "Fish Farms Baton Rouge" and got this one as well...
https://www.parkersfishfarm.com/AND, Red makes some good points to consider. I'm sure it all depends. My decision was based on waiting to see what the pond became as it was renovated by a dirt guy and I did not want to waste money on stocking if the pond failed to hold water well. I used the extra year to do research and decide on my stocking plans, to get a feel for the pond, and to plant some vegetation. I will say that I spent $30 on FHMs and gave them one year and I now have $1000 worth of live natural feed. Actually, I have no idea how many dollars worth of minnows are now in the pond, but I can say that my budget would not have allowed me to buy this many.
