California Hatchery reviews?

[gharkins]

Attempted to purchase Bronze Broad Breasted Turkeys from California Hatchery. On order confirmation email state that a order and ship date would be sent within 72 hours. Six days later never got a order ship date email. Tried calling and message was to send a email. Sent email and did not get a response. Went to web site and the breed of Turkey I was ordering now stated 'SOLD OUT'/ Left a review of their service and this was the email I got!
"we received your review of our website. You are correct in that the broad breasted breeds are sold out currently, however, your order was placed before they were sold out and we were in the process of determining your exact hatch and ship date. However, due to the nature of your review we have cancelled your order and issued a full refund. Californiahatchery.com is a legitimate business and not a rip off website, we have thousands of satisfied customers, and in fact, a majority of our customers are return customers"
Looking at how they are rated on this site I would disagree the last statement in their email!!! Avoid this company at all costs. Go with Cackle Hatchery

 

[kfarthing]

 ive seen a few threads on this place http://www.californiahatchery.com/  [COLOR=000000]and some reviews are good others are bad so im curious are they as bad as people make them seem? i will be getting some silkies from them probably sometime this month (havent ordered yet) i think when it comes to online hatcheries its a 50/50 either way even with some such as murray mcmurray,efowl (which ive ordered from before),cackle (was going to order from them but the lady was snappy and quite bitchy with me) so what are your takes on CA hatchery?[/COLOR]

 

I ordered turkeys from them last month. Calling and emailing over and over because I didn't receive the birds over a month later I received a email they shipped. They do not answer emails or calls. I would recommend never doing business with them.

 

[apajudgeca1962]

Hope you all understand not all hatcheries actually have birds. It is not unusual for some to be simply a middle man business and have other hatcheries or breeders drop ship for them. Not that is the case in this situation but maybe ask before you order. Cackle, Meyer, Mt Healthy , Metzer all reputable and reliable . If you can't find the stock from them you like, maybe you should probably think of trying rabbits.

 

[jaybud]

Just sending a feeler question out on everyone's take on wanting golden sebrite, quail feathered d'anvers chicks and rueon pekin mix ducklings. Gonna buy an incubator soon and give it a try on selling them in a couple of months.

 

[apajudgeca1962]

The two breeds of chickens you reference are very specialized if your planning on good quality show stock. You should only have those two breeds as they are very challenging king. As far as crossbreed ducks, that's up to you but why?

 

[jaybud]

Just was curious on the ducks if anyone was interested. As far as the others there parents were show birds so the bloodlines r there. Not trying to get rich but trying as a hobby and make a little $ on the side. I know a lot of hatcheries will only let u purchase 20 plus on a order so I wanted to offer chicks with smaller qtys.

 

[dumbusername]

I call

 ive seen a few threads on this place http://www.californiahatchery.com/  [COLOR=000000]and some reviews are good others are bad so im curious are they as bad as people make them seem? i will be getting some silkies from them probably sometime this month (havent ordered yet) i think when it comes to online hatcheries its a 50/50 either way even with some such as murray mcmurray,efowl (which ive ordered from before),cackle (was going to order from them but the lady was snappy and quite bitchy with me) so what are your takes on CA hatchery?[/COLOR]

 

ed I called California hatchery and all you get is an answering machine that says to email them. It took them a day to reply. They are in Rancho Cucamonga, about a 30 m-45 minute drive from my house, so, I asked if I could pick up the ducks since I was local. They said no, I have to order online and have them shipped. So I'm thinking that the birds aren't taken care of well, and maybe they're farm isn't clean, nice, etc. and that they might be doing some non-animal lover type things that someone from say, PETA, would be upset about. They also have a 3 bird minimum order, which sucks. I asked them another question and will probably have to wait another whole day for a reply. I like Metzger better. They reply to email very quickly, and are super knowledgable and helpful. I'm thinking of driving to the California hatchery location to see what the conditions are like there, and will report back on this thread what I find.

 

[apajudgeca1962]

I wouldn't bother driving there. I definitely recommend Metzer. Family business for decades John is a GREAT guy I have been to the farm excellent facility healthy birds

 

[atastywing]

I checked that website this morning. It is near Monterey Bay, Ca. They sell ducks mostly, with only two breeds of (chicken) meat birds. Looks like a nice hatchery for waterfowl.

 

[apajudgeca1962]

Excellent hatchery I know first hand