Disappointed With Metzer Farms

[NJClucker]

I have been wanting to order waterfowl from this hatchery for a long time, I have read so many good things about them and their stock over the years. I decided to take the plunge this year and get some Saxony ducklings and white Chinese goslings. Birds arrive and right as I open the box I notice 3 of the 12 ducklings have bad wry neck. Ok I have dealt with that in the past with some of my own ducklings but never 3 at a time, at most I had one duckling or chick from a hatch get this condition. So I treat the wry neck with poultry vitamins and the ducklings improve. The next day 1 gosling is showing the same signs of wry neck along with splay legs. I reintroduce vitamin water, add brewers yeast to feed and tape splay legged goslings. By the end of this day I have 3 goslings showing the same symptoms of bent necks so bad they can no longer drink from water source, others are starting to get splay leg too. Out of 8 goslings I am down to 3 and 1 doesn't look like it's going to make it, the goslings do not seem to be responding the the poultry vitamin water as the ducklings did. The other 2 goslings seem to be in good health along with the ducklings but none of these birds are very active. They sit around in the brooder most of the day, I'm really thinking about bringing this bunch to auction, take my losses and look for new stock.

I am no expert but I have been raising waterfowl for 5 years now. I never have had to take care of babies like I have had to tend to this group, it's been a duckling ER the last 4 days. I have never seen a group of ducklings/goslings so inactive just sitting around most of the day. In my opinion these vitamin issues go back to the breeding flock.

 

[Birdielee]

Wow. Thanks for the info. Sorry for your experience, and the birds.

 

[ShadyGlade]

Did you contact the hatchery to report your issues and get their input?

 

[Kgbao]

Did you contact the hatchery to report your issues and get their input?

This would be my first step contact hatchery and politely explain what’s going on. Could be a number of reasons, why this happened.

 

[NJClucker]

This would be my first step contact hatchery and politely explain what’s going on. Could be a number of reasons, why this happened.

I contacted them, the employees do not seem to know a lot about water foul for working at a duck farm. The owner eventually emailed me saying it is a vitamin deficiency but offered no explanation on why the goslings never recovered other than stating they are bigger than the ducks and will need more time to absorb the vitamins. I already took the goslings to auction after a week of trying every possible solution I know and could read about online, hoping for the best out of the Saxony ducklings I have left. I just discovered one duckling today who can no longer walk, her left foot all of a sudden is all curled up. I rescued her from almost getting trampled by the other ducklings in the brooder. She was fine for 10 days then this came on.

I have been raising cayuga, saxony, buff, and white calls for a few years now. I also have Toulouse geese I have never had these kind of issues with my birds, at least not in these numbers.

The point I keep trying to make to them is that I as a customer should not have to deploy a medicine cabinet full of stuff to keep these animals alive and thriving. I understand the need for niacin in their diet and I provide that however that many birds showing the same condition while others are ok tells me it's not my diet/nutrition it's the lack of it in the breeder flock at their farm and why their babies are so weak.

 

[Kgbao]

I contacted them, the employees do not seem to know a lot about water foul for working at a duck farm. The owner eventually emailed me saying it is a vitamin deficiency but offered no explanation on why the goslings never recovered other than stating they are bigger than the ducks and will need more time to absorb the vitamins. I already took the goslings to auction after a week of trying every possible solution I know and could read about online, hoping for the best out of the Saxony ducklings I have left. I just discovered one duckling today who can no longer walk, her left foot all of a sudden is all curled up. I rescued her from almost getting trampled by the other ducklings in the brooder. She was fine for 10 days then this came on.

I have been raising cayuga, saxony, buff, and white calls for a few years now. I also have Toulouse geese I have never had these kind of issues with my birds, at least not in these numbers.

The point I keep trying to make to them is that I as a customer should not have to deploy a medicine cabinet full of stuff to keep these animals alive and thriving. I understand the need for niacin in their diet and I provide that however that many birds showing the same condition while others are ok tells me it's not my diet/nutrition it's the lack of it in the breeder flock at their farm and why their babies are so weak.

Wow I am shocked! No stand behind our products at all, i understand its live products but wow..

I agree hole heartily that you should not have to receive babies and immediately become an ER for them. Yes I expect a loss of 1 maybe 2 during shipping and 1st day or 2 once arrived, but not like the issues your having. I’ll be making a mental note never to order from here.

 

[dozen chickens]

I ordered 18 ducks of different varieties. They shipped on Monday, and didn’t arrive until Thursday! Only 17 were in the box! 5 were dead to the point of smelling and flies on them! 4 more died within 30 minutes of being placed in the brooder. There was no heat pack and the two small cups inside were bone dry and empty. What an awful experience! I emailed immediately and called and have received no answer!

 

[Renee Andrako]

This would be my first step contact hatchery and politely explain what’s going on. Could be a number of reasons, why this happened.

It could also be that your warming lamp is insufficient or too hot. It could also be the food you're feeding. Ducks and geese require more niacin than chicks. Brewers contains only 5 mg of niacin per 15 grams of yeast and ducklings need 70 mgs per day. Ducklings would have to eat 210 g (just under half a pound) of brewers yeast per day to meet their needs. Furthermore, niacin must be balanced with riboflavin, pantothenic acid, and tryptophan as these nutrients compete for absorption and any excess or lack of one or more of these nutrients will cause a deficiency in the others. Insufficient niacin cause weakness in the bones that impairs formation (including the neck and legs) leading to deformities in the neck, swollen joints, pigeon toe, and cow hocks. Since Metzer ships its birds the day they're hatched, duckling nutrition would not be an issue. Further, if their breeding stock was suffering nutritional deficiencies, they would not be able to mate, the eggs would not be fertile, or they would simply not hatch at all. Metzer takes excellent care of all of their birds and even vaccinates young where appropriate. I have raised ducks, turkeys, and chickens for more than 22 years. I got goslings from Metzer this year and I am very happy with the health of the birds. I found them to be extensively knowledgeable and caring. Further, the person that recommended Metzer to me has gotten her birds from them for more than 10 years and never had a problem. I suspect the problems you're having are of your own doing - or maybe just you want to bad-mouth Metzer for personal reasons.