Cackle Hatchery reviews

[kenzier093]

Any reviews about Cackle Hatchery? Good or bad experience?

 

[MNKris]

Please be careful when accusing hatcheries of "sending sick chicks". Although we don't ship chicks, we hear this all the time.

Unless diagnosed by a poultry lab, one can usually assume the most likely cause of death / illness is the result of stress by shipping. I am not saying things don't happen at hatcheries, because they certainly do and I have personal experience with this years ago, but accusations should be formally diagnosed prior to posting on a public forum. JMHO.

 

[mrchicks]

Welcome to BYC!

I've ordered from Cackle and was very pleased. My bird arrived safe and healthy. I did get shipped GLW's instead on GL Polish, when I called to let them know that I had the wrong birds they immediately sent me the correct chicks. No charge. I believe I lost one pullet of the 25 in that order. Their sexing was great too, ordered 25 pullets and only ended up with one Marans roo. I'll definitely order from Cackle again.

 

[jc12551]

I have nothing but praise for Cackle. The only problem I have had that was not a post office problem was they accidentally sent me a box of turkeys one time. I offered to pay for them but they said keep them. Someone even called me to help when one of the pouts had a problem. That same year the post office crushed a box of chicks and lost a box of chicks. Neither was Cackles fault but they re shipped after the crushed box. That re shipment was lost. And they re shipped a box I finally got.

I like how they post videos of their breeder flocks (I don't know if any of the other hatcheries do that) and are upfront about how some of the pictures are not of their birds (I don't know if any other hatcheries do that). They sell their EEs as EEs and explain why. I called about the Spitzhauben and they were up front that the crests aren't perfect, which is common in the US, but they have imported new breeding stock to try and correct it. Their cinnamon queens are not cinnamon queens though. But they are excellent layers and foragers.

Last year I accidentally ordered cockerals and they called me to ask if it was a mistake or if I did it on purpose since I usually order pullets. Great customer service! They shipping charge is simply and straightforward. No half box up charge etc.

I always order in April when the weather is nice and rarely lose more than 2 out of 25. Last year they sent three extra and I had all 28 pullets until last month when a dog killed 6.

I agree with a poster above in that all of my show breed stock has been poor in health and too finicky for the way I keep chickens. I have ordered from other hatcheries before but decided to stick with cackle a few years back. I order every year.

 

[NYREDS]

I can only speak to their large fowl Old English Games. Two years ago I was judging a large fair show & there were several very nice Games all being shown by the same person. After the show I spoke with him & he reported that all the Games came from Cackle. I bought a Brown Red pullet from him & she was a real asset to my breeding program. I called Cackle & spoke with their flock manager. He stated that they did, in fact, maintain breeding flocks of the large fowl Games. I didn't ask about anything but the Games.
BTW-entered that pullet in a show that had a special $100 prize for the best game-she won it.

 

[MNKris]

Have to say I am extremely happy with my birds from Cackle. I purchased Wheaten OEGB, Bantam RIR, a few production egg layers, a few brown leghorns, a few BBR OEGB and a group of blue OEGB. The wheaten are tiny, tiny birds. As small as I have seen. The BBR are about the size of the ones I already owned and totally acceptable for showing. I did sell all the blue OEGB. I don't recommend them from Cackle. They are too large and the roosters are mean.

The RIR bantams are beyond awesome. The color is deep dark red, the appearance is the brick build I was looking for and out of 18 hens, I am regularly getting 12-15 eggs a day. AND, they are light BROWN eggs. Normally hatchery RIR bantams will produce an off-white egg at best. I really wanted a brown egg and I got it. They are the friendliest chickens I have ever seen.

As far as eggs being delivered to the hatchery - I would hope so. NPIP recommends separate locations for breeding flocks vs. hatchery. They do have their own flocks, but in order to offer a deeper product line, they also purchase eggs from a limited number of different breeds. Ask if you are concerned. All hatcheries that sell chicks across state lines have to be NPIP certified. In fact, all hatcheries in my state have to be NPIP certified if they want to sell chicks OR eggs. This includes a formal inspection of the site for cleanliness and humane treatment. I am NPIP certified and went through the process. I am also a certified disease tester. During my inspection I was concerned with some imperfections in setup. I was told by the federal vet that I had the cleanest small facility he had ever seen. Although our place is clean and relatively new, it is a backyard flock, not built for a business. It made me think about how many other people are selling chicks and eggs and what conditions other backyard breeders keep their flocks in.

Regarding hatchery cleanliness, this is their livelihood, not a hobby. The flocks are vaccinated for many more things than a typical breeder would vaccinate for. Not sure if that is good or bad, but definitely the norm. I haven't had any disease issues with my Cackle birds and they haven't caused any issues with the birds I owned prior to getting the Cackle crew.

Also, some of the worst experiences I have had are from show breeders. Over-priced chicks, not very hardy and I even got a Marans that had muffs - it was an olive egger! When I asked the breeder that I bought this chick from, the reply was "oh, I must have gotten it mixed up with my wheaten Easter eggers". No refund, worthless roo from a person that brags on having contributed over 50 birds to the breed standard authorization. Another "reputable" show breeder sent me chicks that looked great until they started to age. Had to cull nearly every one because of one issue or another. And, from both of these examples, the egg color was less than ideal. I have had to cull hundreds of birds to get my egg color where it should be. At $10/chick + shipping, that was an expensive lesson.

Guess what I am trying to say...it goes both ways. There is good and bad everywhere you turn.

 

[GeorgeGarman]

My order of Welsh Harlequin Ducks and White Leghorns shipped 2/19 of this year. Cackle did an excellent packing and shipping job. All except one of the birds, a leghorn, arrived well and they always ship extra birds. The one leghorn lacked energy and warmth; eventually became too runty and died off after about two days, even with special care. One duckling died after a few days, but that could have easily been from handling her too much.
Overall great birds and I would order from them again.

BTW, under their History on the website, it states in 2000 the breeder flocks are raised on 75 surrounding farms and each flock owner specializes in chicks, waterfowl, bantams, turkeys, etc. I am only a small flock owner, but I am can see good reasons to keep birds on separate specialized farms and have one centralized place specializing in hatching and shipping.

 

[StewedMammal]

Below find an email and response from Cackle that I found rather rude. I have ordered Brown Leghorns from them several years back, and did not get just one pullet out of six birds. In fact, I have ordered six birds of several different breeds this year and this is the ONLY one I've had this problems with. I have ordered from Cackle, Ideal, Meyer, and Estes, who was particularly nice and sent me an extra chick of each type I ordered. I have ordered 25 birds per shipment, staggered every two weeks since the end of July. Of the 129 birds I received I've only lost two. One from Meyer died the day after receiving the shipment. One from Cackle developed an extremely crooked beak and die at about six weeks. Cackle did replace that one.

I guess my point in all of this is that this ain't my first rodeo, and I was shocked and appalled at their response, even if what she said was correct. I've ordered over $150 worth of birds from them this year. I have always loved Cackle hatchery, gotten good service and healthy birds. I am wondering if I should take a chance and order from them again, complain some more, or do nothing and just take my business elsewhere. Thoughts?

There isn't anything they could do in a situation like that. As she said, it's a risk when you get straight run as you could get anything. I bought 15 turkeys from them this year and ended up with 10 toms and 5 hens. It isn't there fault, it was just bad luck.

 

[keesmom]

Below find an email and response from Cackle that I found rather rude. I have ordered Brown Leghorns from them several years back, and did not get just one pullet out of six birds. In fact, I have ordered six birds of several different breeds this year and this is the ONLY one I've had this problems with. I have ordered from Cackle, Ideal, Meyer, and Estes, who was particularly nice and sent me an extra chick of each type I ordered. I have ordered 25 birds per shipment, staggered every two weeks since the end of July. Of the 129 birds I received I've only lost two. One from Meyer died the day after receiving the shipment. One from Cackle developed an extremely crooked beak and die at about six weeks. Cackle did replace that one.

I guess my point in all of this is that this ain't my first rodeo, and I was shocked and appalled at their response, even if what she said was correct. I've ordered over $150 worth of birds from them this year. I have always loved Cackle hatchery, gotten good service and healthy birds. I am wondering if I should take a chance and order from them again, complain some more, or do nothing and just take my business elsewhere. Thoughts?

You knowingly ordered straight run chicks. That means you could receive anything from all pullets to all cockerels and any other combination in between. You took your chances. Just because you did not get the number of pullets you were planning on does not mean they are at fault and owe you a refund. If you want pullets then order pullets.

Last year I put 9 eggs in the incubator at the same time I gave some broody hens 7 eggs. Out of the 9 I hatched 8 were cockerels. Out of the seven the broodies hatched, ALL were male. I ended up with 15 out of 16 cockerels. It happens, so don't blame the hatchery.

 

[HenX]

First, I'm really sorry to hear about the losses mentioned in this thread. It is very hard to watch and I deeply simpathize.

I thought I'd post an update. Of the 30 chicks we received, we lost 16. I had one conversation with a service rep who said to call back with a final live count after 48 hours had passed. I haven't been able to get through to customer service now in 3 business days. I should mention that I think there may have been two reasons we lost so many birds. First is the bad experience with the shipping. Second is that some of the birds showed strange signs of illness or defects. In particular, we had at least two bantams die after experiencing strange limb position, rapid breathing and neck twisting/bending. The chicks who have lived show no sign of any similar problems. (Knock on wood.)

I was told by the rep who talked to me that the temperature in my brooder was "way too hot" even though I followed the directions they provided. (My max temp directly under the lamp was 105 on the floor, as suggested, and there's at least 3 feet available to move away and cool off.) She told me that the written directions were dictated by the son of the owner, and that there has been internal conflict due to the disagreements over brooder temps. She even mentioned that the son's mother disagreed and badmouthed the son over it. She told to me to ignore the temps previously suggested and lower it. I told her I provided a brooder with ample space, and a cool zone away from the lamp. Chicks who appeared healthy were moving freely about the entire space.

If and when I resolve this with Cackle, I won't do business with them again. I don't care for the confusing and disrespectful communication, when they can even be reached.