Metzer Farms Review(s)

[Sosalty]

Day 2 Watermelon is best, strawberries nope.
Day 4 Bigger feeder.
Day 6 Tabby has the kill lust.
Day 13 1st swim
Day 23 40 yd walk to pond (?mudducks), then exhasted
Day 26 We're all friends here.

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At 3 weeks 5 days, the 6 Muscovies from Metzer are healthy, turning white, and seem content.

 

[Sosalty]

Another successful order/ship from Metzer. Black Muscovy ducklings. The white muscovies from May 19 are Big and about to fly (today 7/19) The black ducklings arrived at 8am 7/19 and have just been unboxed. The straw packed with 'em was helpful. All of 'em full of energy right out of the box. When I called the postal lady yesterday she thanked me for letting know that they needed warmth, rather than Air Conditioning. She placed their box outside on the ramp as soon as they arrived.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Do you let yours fly??? I used to years ago and would have to chase them down quite far from where I lived. I have to either pinion mine or clip them now to keep the two girls I have in my yard. Yours are beautiful!!!! I wish they could sell them sexed but I know that they get them from somewhere else so they don't.

 

[Sosalty]

"Luv ducks" I'm new to having ducks. The white muscovies are 10 weeks, and have yet to fly though their wing feathers appear to be mature. I plan to let 'em fly. I'm relieved that they can escape predation just being great swimmers. The earlier they fly the better their odds of survival. I've put a light sensing door on their feeder so they have unlimited access. They get treats and some interaction most days. When they fly, I hope they remember how good they have it at our small pond, 110' x 80' with an island, and stay. In winter, they will be encouraged to take shelter in a kind of duck coop.

When you speak of "flying quite far away" are you referring to Mallard or Muscovy ducks?

Of course plans could change as they mature.

 

[Luv Ducks]

"Luv ducks" I'm new to having ducks. The white muscovies are 10 weeks, and have yet to fly though their wing feathers appear to be mature. I plan to let 'em fly. I'm relieved that they can escape predation just being great swimmers. The earlier they fly the better their odds of survival. I've put a light sensing door on their feeder so they have unlimited access. They get treats and some interaction most days. When they fly, I hope they remember how good they have it at our small pond, 110' x 80' with an island, and stay. In winter, they will be encouraged to take shelter in a kind of duck coop.

When you speak of "flying quite far away" are you referring to Mallard or Muscovy ducks?

Of course plans could change as they mature.

Actually I have had both do that. I live in a housing development and the neighbor has hungry Pitt Bulls. If mine would happen to fly into their yard it would be very bad for them. That is why I have to clip mine or if I get them as babies I pinion them. Metzer Farms was supposed to pinion my two Mallard Ducklings I ordered from them three years ago but someone forgot to. Now I clip their one wing to make them not leave their small free range fenced in area. I allow them to go into there where there is grass and bugs while I am doing my duck chores in the large covered pen they stay in. I did not realize that Metzer did not pinion my ducklings until it was too late to do it. At that time I did not know how to do it, now I do and have done several of my ducks to keep them safe. Yours are very pretty. I had one drake Muscovy that got huge and was so hard on the girls that I had to rehome him. I have two white ones, one with blue eyes with a splash of black here and there and the other with a more light brown on her chest. They are sweet ducks.

 

[DomJonSC]

My experience with Metzer's customer service has been fine but I question the humaneness of their practices. I ordered 3 indian runner ducklings and 1 khaki campbell and shipping took 3 days. (For reference, I live 7 hours by car from their physical location.) 1 of the ducklings was so weak it died within minutes of pick up from the post office. Metzer charged me to purchase a second duckling so they could send a replacement for the one that died. The replacement ducklings took FOUR DAYS to arrive and both were dead on arrival. The shipping practices for this company are inhumane and I caution anyone from using this company. I will never purchase animals in the mail again: this is my first and last attempt as I do not condone inhumane practices.

 

[DomJonSC]

My experience with Mezter farms has been very negative. Yes, the customer service is excellent, but I believe at this point this company practices inhumane operations. I ordered 3 indian runner ducklings and 1 khaki cambell. It took 3 days for them to arrive (I live 7 hours by car from their facility), and one of the indian runners was so weak upon arrival she passed within minutes of being picked up from the post office. The company required me to pay for a second duckling to ship with the replacement duckling. This duo took FOUR DAYS to arrive and both were dead on arrival. This was my first-time shipping animals and it will be my last as I do not condone inhumane practices. 0/0 cannot recommend to anyone this company as I have ended up with otherwise healthy but dead ducklings due to their poor shipping choices.

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

My experience with Mezter farms has been very negative. Yes, the customer service is excellent, but I believe at this point this company practices inhumane operations. I ordered 3 indian runner ducklings and 1 khaki cambell. It took 3 days for them to arrive (I live 7 hours by car from their facility), and one of the indian runners was so weak upon arrival she passed within minutes of being picked up from the post office. The company required me to pay for a second duckling to ship with the replacement duckling. This duo took FOUR DAYS to arrive and both were dead on arrival. This was my first-time shipping animals and it will be my last as I do not condone inhumane practices. 0/0 cannot recommend to anyone this company as I have ended up with otherwise healthy but dead ducklings due to their poor shipping choices.

This is so sad! I am so sorry for you and your ducklings!

I ordered four ducklings from Metzer almost four weeks ago and all arrived the second day after shipping, and they were healthy (though a bit dehydrated, which was to be expected). I am in Florida and they were shipped from Tennessee. They got to my house the day before Thanksgiving, so I was super worried that, had they not arrived on time, the post office would be closed for four days and they may have perished, but that didn't happen and I am so grateful for my sweet girls. <3

 

[Miss Lydia]

I had a good experience with Metzers also, I ordered 4 Indian Runner females back in Sept of this year they hatched on the 9-11 and were at my PO on the 13th all healthy and happy.
I was very worried since I had ordered 4 Runner females in 2019 from a different hatchery and lost 2 to shipping stress but I am very pleased with these girls and with Metzers they came from Tenn too.

@DomJonSC so sorry you had such a bad experience I can sure relate. I didn't lose all of mine from 2019 but just losing those 2 turned me off to the shipping period until this summer when my Muscovy hatched 2 Runner drakes and that meant I needed more females and after looking for many weeks and not finding any I decided to order. I am glad that I did now I love these little hooligans.

 

[Luv Ducks]

I received my two little Call Ducks yesterday from the Metzer Farms plant in Tennessee. It was in the 20's F here in Ohio and I was quite concerned for them. They were shipped on Tuesday of this week and I got them on Thursday. They had three heat pads in with them and were pinioned just as I had asked and so far are doing just fine. They ate right away and drank and are soooooo tiny and cute. I would never order from anybody but Metzer as most other hatcheries get their birds from Metzer and then have them shipped out with oftentimes not good results. I am sorry that things go wrong sometimes when shipping birds out but for the most part I feel Metzer does an excellent job with their customer service and shipping practices.