Meyer Hatchery - 4 of 15 chicks dead

[Glen30458]

I wound up loosing a total of 9 chicks. 7 by the time i notified meyers then two more the next day. Meyers is going to ship me the 7 i reported (i won't even ask for the two that died after the 48 hours). I will get my replacement chicks near the end of april. Even replacement chicks have the same order minimums as any other order and that was the soonest that they will ship that few. I was happy and content with that but could have easily ordered more chicks to go with the 7 lost and get my shipment up to the minimum order to get them sooner. Overall, I'm satisfied with my experience with Meyers.

 

[jbs]

One of my 9 surviving EE chicks has developed cross beak. I could barely notice it last week, but it's gotten worse each day. I've read that cross beak is either a genetic defect/bad breeding practices or caused by some sort of head trauma. I'll never know, but I do wonder if it was related to my shipping problems, as the chicks seemed to really get banged around in their shipping box. I thought that watching my chicks die was pretty bad, but now I'm doing research on humane culling techniques. I've read thru the cross beak care threads and it doesn't seem right to let a chick survive when it can't eat properly, will get picked on and probably starve to death. I'm going to see if I can band her beak together for a few hours at a time to try to get it to grow properly, but it's not looking good.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I had a cross beak and it ate just fine.

 

[Twig Worley]

Please post back here when your chicks arrive because I have some coming march 12th and after reading all of this I'm starting to worry too
Good luck every one and I'm sorry for your losses

I recieved a phone call from my Post Office yesterday, that my chicks were in, I went over picked them up, and all 28 were alive and well.

However, last night my wife noticed that one was looking a little weak, he died a few hours later, I'm not sure why just yet, they were all fine and happy yesterday morning I guess that's just nature. This morning I checked on them, and all the rest were still doing fine. I will post of any changes.

 

[KBHatchery]

I recieved a phone call from my Post Office yesterday, that my chicks were in, I went over picked them up, and all 28 were alive and well.

However, last night my wife noticed that one was looking a little weak, he died a few hours later, I'm not sure why just yet, they were all fine and happy yesterday morning I guess that's just nature. This morning I checked on them, and all the rest were still doing fine. I will post of any changes.

Congrats Twig. The same happened with my chicks, I lost two after picking them up from the post office. They both were silkies, the first wouldnt move after a while n just stopped breathing. the other had a birth defect and its neck was warped so we had to put it down. other than those two the other chicks are healthy. my rhode islands and leghorns eat constantly and are getting bigger almost everyday. its amazing to see.

 

[BarredRockGirls]

im sorry for those who had any losses i bought 16 Barred Rock Pullets from MEYERS and all arrived safe and sound . they are 4 days old and happy. Polk. OH is 1 hr and 34 mins from my house . i could have driven to get them but eh ....
Now...i don't mean to offend - as this is just my opinion.
1. Meyers is a very good Hatchery. they go above and beyond to help customers out.
2. i live in Ohio so i know winters here can be quite cold . i picked my chickens accordingly- - some breeds do NOT DO WELL in the cold at all. i also picked my ship date as March 5th- hoping it'd warm up some- because of that too .... what happened here on that day ? a snow storm. - WEATHER neither MEYERS or I could control.. yet my birds were alive. thank goodness.
3. i just think everyone is so quick to blame Meyers and that's absurd. there are so many other factors . Esp the USPS shipping. Meyers has NO control over the individual handlers . they promise they can and will do everything possible to get them safely and alive w/in 3 days if not they will do everything possible to refund , replace,or credit you . i think that's awesome
4. speaking of shipping chicks . most they can last is 72 hrs w/o food and water - FROM THE TIME THEY HATCH. the USPS does NOT open it up at every stop and give them water . so winter or not if it will take more than one day to get to you ..IMO id try finding a closer Hatchery . and even tho our chicks are VERY important to us and we love and adore chickens it doesn't mean they are important to a handler having an off day ? what if they were set aside in a drafty area.or dropped?

im just saying its not just Meyers. things happen . sometimes A LOT . but Meyers has good quality chickens and cares about its customers .

just my opinions tho good luck everyone!

 

[atief1253]

I was going to order some from Meyer in the summer but with all the negative posts I've been hearing, I'm wondering if I should. I'm sorry to all that lost their chicks. I know how hard that is.

 

[gimmie birdies]

It is just the season. summer would be fine.

 

[Bellatrixed]

im sorry for those who had any losses i bought 16 Barred Rock Pullets from MEYERS and all arrived safe and sound . they are 4 days old and happy. Polk. OH is 1 hr and 34 mins from my house . i could have driven to get them but eh ....
Now...i don't mean to offend - as this is just my opinion.
1. Meyers is a very good Hatchery. they go above and beyond to help customers out.
2. i live in Ohio so i know winters here can be quite cold . i picked my chickens accordingly- - some breeds do NOT DO WELL in the cold at all. i also picked my ship date as March 5th- hoping it'd warm up some- because of that too .... what happened here on that day ? a snow storm. - WEATHER neither MEYERS or I could control.. yet my birds were alive. thank goodness.
3. i just think everyone is so quick to blame Meyers and that's absurd. there are so many other factors . Esp the USPS shipping. Meyers has NO control over the individual handlers . they promise they can and will do everything possible to get them safely and alive w/in 3 days if not they will do everything possible to refund , replace,or credit you . i think that's awesome
4. speaking of shipping chicks . most they can last is 72 hrs w/o food and water - FROM THE TIME THEY HATCH. the USPS does NOT open it up at every stop and give them water . so winter or not if it will take more than one day to get to you ..IMO id try finding a closer Hatchery . and even tho our chicks are VERY important to us and we love and adore chickens it doesn't mean they are important to a handler having an off day ? what if they were set aside in a drafty area.or dropped?

im just saying its not just Meyers. things happen . sometimes A LOT . but Meyers has good quality chickens and cares about its customers .

just my opinions tho good luck everyone!

I have to agree with this. It's sort of a pet peeve of mine when people get chicks that are either dead or arrival, or die shortly after, and immediately blame the hatchery and accuse them of sending out weak/sick/diseased poultry. The sheer logistics of a hatchery sending out diseased chicks to intentionally screw people over is just totally illogical. I can totally understand being upset by bad shipments. I ordered from McMurray once... nearly all of the babies were DOA and the survivors were very weak. But I didn't blame the hatchery. I assumed they had been through something awful in the shipping process.

Anyway, I have never personally ordered from Meyer so I have nothing invested in this, but people say the same things about every hatchery in existence. All you can fairly judge a hatchery on is its customer service and the quality of surviving chicks. It's sort of like the people who review a DVD on Amazon with 1 star and say "package arrived damaged." That's not the fault of the movie, so it's not a fair review! Same with DOA chicks/chicks with shipping stress.

 

[mimi14]

im sorry for those who had any losses   i bought 16 Barred Rock Pullets  from MEYERS and all  arrived safe and sound .  they are 4 days old and happy.  Polk. OH is 1 hr and 34 mins from my house . i could have driven to get them  but eh .... 
Now...i don't mean to offend - as this is just my opinion.
1. Meyers is a very good Hatchery. they go above and beyond to help customers out. 
 2. i live in Ohio so i know winters here can be quite cold . i picked my chickens accordingly- - some breeds do NOT DO WELL in the cold at all.  i also picked my ship date as  March 5th- hoping it'd warm up some- because of that too .... what happened here on that day ? a snow storm.  - WEATHER neither MEYERS or I could control.. yet my birds were alive. thank goodness.
3. i just think everyone is so quick to blame Meyers and that's absurd. there are so many other factors . Esp the USPS shipping. Meyers has NO control over the individual handlers . they promise they can and will do everything possible to get them safely and alive w/in 3 days if not they will do everything possible to refund , replace,or  credit you . i think that's awesome 
4. speaking of shipping chicks . most they can last is 72 hrs w/o food and water  - FROM THE TIME THEY HATCH.  the USPS does NOT open it up at every stop and give them water .  so winter or not if it will take more than one day to get to you ..IMO id try finding a closer Hatchery .  and even tho our chicks are VERY important to us and we love and adore chickens   it doesn't mean they are important to a handler having an off day ? what if they were set aside in a drafty area.or dropped? 

im just saying its not just Meyers. things happen . sometimes A LOT . but Meyers has good quality chickens and cares about its customers . 

just my opinions tho   good luck everyone! 

I agree with this post. My order from Meyer arrived with one DOA in the middle of very cold, snowy weather and it had nothing to do with Meyer, if I myself wanted better chances of no DOA I should have ordered for April or May being in Indiana, so that part was my impatients! Also if you read up on any livestock there is always weak little ones born. I have had experience with this in pigs, dogs, and cats you almost always get one that is the runt and either dies or struggles its a fact of farm life, sad but fact. So shipping something so small just adds to the chances that the weak will not make it and not everyone has a soft spot for small animal, so if the shipping workers don't care then that adds to the chances. I loved how Meyer has handled my one DOA so I will buy from them again and recommend anyone buying from them! Everyone take care out there and Happy Chicken Raising!