Meyer Hatchery vs. McMurray Hatchery

I know this topic has been done before, but I wanted to have my own thread based off of my own experiences.

So far I have ordered from both places. I ordered from McMurray last year, and I had good experience with the chicks I bought from them, and the customer service was outstanding. I also had an excellent chick survival rate (until something funky went own in my own coop, but I don't think that it was a hatchery issue). About a week after I received my order, one of my chicks died, and when I called them, I got no hastle, no bad attitude, and the woman was so warm and nice. A friend of mine wanted to go in on the order with me, and we ended up ordering from both companies. What led to ordering from Meyer was the price of their chicks, and they offered a few different breeds with an option of ordering only pullets. I felt if Meyer would get online and personally respond to posts that I have seen, they must have great customer service so I wanted to make a point to support that as well. I also read many reviews to indicate Meyer is a good place to buy some back yard chickens. Both orders are scheduled to arrive first week of February so my review will take some time to complete.

From Meyer we ordered two Olive Eggers and several Easter Eggers, along with Barred Rocks, Salmon Faverolles, and Welsummers. Obviously the Olive and Easter Eggers are both Ameraucana mixes, so how will we be able to tell them apart? I had a couple of suggestions to have the Olive Eggers given dye marks at the hatchery. Horray! I get to put my customer service review to the test since I had to call them. I may as well add a couple more pullets to the order (two Buff Orpingtons). The woman who answered did not give me a good sense of customer service. She sounded depressed and tired, and when I told her what I wanted, she acted like she was being bothered by me asking. When I asked about the dye marks I received a couple seconds of silence and she said, "Well, all I can do is make a note on the account to see if they can." (remember, depressed tone) I said my thank you and hung up. I wanted her off the phone so badly I didn't even wait for a good bye. That experience was my first to ever talk to a representative from Meyer and I do not want to call them ever again. That was NOTHING like when I called McMurray.

From McMurray we ordered Speckled Sussex, Black Star, and two Mottled Houdans. (We also opted for the Free Rare Exotic chick). I haven't had to call them yet, but I did send them a message regarding ordering extras and what happens to the males that aren't sold. Here is their reply:

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Even though it is easy to fake a happy note through e-mail, I still appreciated they took the time to answer my questions honestly without giving me a sense of feeling bothered.

Summary: McMurray wins Customer Service hands down.

I was surprised to receive a private message from Meyer regarding this review.

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Meyer Hatchery
Today at 1:49 pm
Hi Jennifer,

I read your recent post comparing Meyer Hatchery to Murray McMurray. I am absolutely disgusted that you would have the impression of us that you do. I already have an email in to the General Manager, Office Manager and Customer Service Supervisor. The service you received is not typical and will be addressed with the rep individually and the situation as a whole used as a teaching tool for all of our reps. I apologize for the lack luster start to your relationship with our company. I hope to renew your confidence in our ability to work for you.

Jess
Meyer Hatchery

My thoughts of Meyer is currently being reevaluated. To go out of their way and reply to a post online with a promise to fix the problem is very impressive, and was more along the lines of what I expected originally. This tells me Meyer is big enough to correct something that should not have happened, so maybe I just ended up with the exception to the rule.

We still have other areas to review. More to come.

Both are very good hatcheries. I have used Meyer once, but I have only read good things about McMurray Hatchery. They also have a book which I took out at my local library and read. It had some pretty good information about the birds. I would whole-heartedly agree with the response Meyer gave...you cannot judge an entire business based off of one experience with an employee. Also, leg-banding is the more common way to differentiate between birds, not color dying. The response Meyer gave wasn't exactly that bad either (even with "depressed" tone). In the end, hatcheries come down to two things - shipping charges and quality of the products. As long as they sell you happy and healthy chicks (that are of the correct sex) then it should be chalked up as a win.

I don't agree. Regardless if it was leg-banding or some other type of marking. I'm new to ordering chickens. I didn't even know there was an option to mark different breeds, how was I supposed to know banding is what is typically done? I want suggestions and information, not attitude. Where the health and the order itself is important, customer service is going to determine if I would be a return customer and recommend a helpful company to some one like me not really experienced in ordering. As far as judging an entire company based off of one employee, the employees are the front of the business so to speak. The employees set the tone for the entire business, regardless if it is just one it could potentially put a bad vibe on the entire experience. One person not seeming like they want to be bothered could lose the company a lot of money.

I think I talked to that lady too! Lol!
I currently have 2 pending orders with meyer hatchery and I think I have called to change them like 3 times each! One of the calls I made I think was in the evening and the lady did not seem very happy. I almost had the impression that she was multitasking and trying to do to many things at once. I was frustrated at first but then I started asking some more questions and it seemed like she turned her attention towerd me and while not excited about it she seemed very knowledgable about the company, breeds and how they work. I appreciated that. All the other times I called they were all friendly as could be. One girl (I wish I remembered her name) had more personality then a box full of chicks! I almost ordered more just to keep her on the phone!!
The last one I talked to was a guy that seemed very nice but did not seem very confident with his responses to my questions. But he was trying very hard to make me happy and was patient with me while I messed up my order. Lol. I think he was new, but still I count it as another good expirance withe meyer.
I have yet to see the quality and health of the chicks ( health a lot of times is not so much there fault as it is the post office.) but when it comes to customer service as of right now I'm very happy with them. Five stars!!!!

I just want to add that one of my pending orders in aug, I selected 4 lavender orpingtons. I don't know why I chose a big hatchery for a rare new breed but I did. I've always been told that hatchery chickens are great for eggs and meat. But show quality forget about it. I'm not expecting perfect chickens but. Anyone can learn to breed a gene into there chicken it's getting a good type is the hard part. I hope that at $35/ female that they have a decent breeding program. I might be hoping for to much but just maybe Mayer will prove me wrong.

Let me know how those Lavender Orptingons work out for you. I saw then and thought they were so pretty, but I didn't really think spending $35/chick was good for me. Maybe some other year when I'm not stretching my dollars and pinching my pennies.

I w

JFreeman said:

Let me know how those Lavender Orptingons work out for you.  I saw then and thought they were so pretty, but I didn't really think spending $35/chick was good for me.  Maybe some other year when I'm not stretching my dollars and pinching my pennies.  

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I will. I figure if I don't like the type I will try to get ahold of a English Black Orpington and try to get something good going on. Looking at the pictures they seem to fit better with the Australorps. So I may try to breed them to some australorps and do better with that. But we will see how it goes. I'll try to keep you updated

McMurray chicks were delivered yesterday with a total of 30 chicks. Meyer chicks were delivered today with a total of 26 chicks.

About a couple of weeks ago, I called McMurray to add two more pullets to my order. No hassles, and the people were pleasant. I really enjoy speaking with the customer service reps. When it was time for the shipment McMurray sent text notifications and a confirmation e-mail to make sure I was aware the order was on its way. We (my friend who ordered with me and I) knew to expect the order when it was delivered, though I had a little trouble with USPS, but nothing devastatingly horrible. Out of the 30 chicks shipped, one arrived DOA. A Speckled Sussex (SS). Within the next few hours we lost the rare exotic chick (which happened to be a Golden Laced Polish) and another SS died. The next morning, my friend called me and said two more SS had died, and then later this afternoon another pair of SS were very sick and soon to parish. We ordered several breeds, and we aren't exactly sure why only the SS are dying at this point. All of the ones in my care are doing exceptionally well, so I really don't know what is going on. There was no heating pack, but they seemed to be able to huddle together for warmth.

Remember when I called Meyer and requested the OEs be marked? They were not. Didn't really expect them to be after the attitude of the woman who spoke to me. We did get a free EE pullet, and I don't think I was charged for the Buff Orpingtons I added when I called, which was nice of the Hatchery. When the order was shipped, I did not get any notifications saying the order was shipped, though I checked regularly for the tracking information. It was shipped via 2-day shipping which I expected, but it came in a day early. It was literally over-nighted! The chicks had a heated pack, and all were alive and happy when I picked them up at the PO. I didn't like how loosely the lid was placed. I personally didn't have any problems, but one side could bend enough a hand could fit through or a chick could jump out if the box was leaned over at the right angle. I personally didn't have any missing chicks, but it could happen. When it comes to shipping and the safety of the chicks, Meyer wins by a mile.

I would order from both again, though I will wait on warmer weather to order from McMurray. The next order I make through Meyer, I will be sure not to mix any EEs or OEs because I couldn't tell them apart.

I thought I should add the fact McMurray also added a free chick. It was a Barred Rock (we ordered 12 pullets, now we have 13). The free EE Meyer sent is also a pullet. We ordered nothing but pullets, so we received nothing but pullets. Score for both Hatcheries.