Midnight Majesty Pullet…Huh?!

[JedJackson]

That’s what we are afraid of. Just sent an email to Hoovers with pictures and info found here.

Perhaps I’m still naive, but just find it hard to believe an entire run of cockerels were mixed up with pullets, sent to the farm store, then placed in the bin, and nobody caught it other than my wife and I.

However something here isn’t adding up.

People at feed stores often have no clue as to what is what with chicks. and they will often mix the breeds together when stocks start getting low.

Hoover's doesn't have the greatest reputation, either, but this is clearly their fault.

 

[M2L2]

You are right to be suspicious. The head spots indicate the chicks will be barred, and only male Midnight Majesty chickens are barred. It's how the hatcheries can tell females from males at birth. It's possible you got some other breed, but I don't think you have Midnight Majesty Marans females.

Talk to Wilco and ask if they will take them back and give a refund. If not, contact Hoover's directly. These are sex links so the proof that they aren't what they were advertised to be is irrefutable. If both of these establishments refuse to do anything to make it right, get back to us. I'm thinking we might need a rating system on this website that takes into account incidents like this.

If it wasn’t for the fact we got a single Buff Orpington with them, (4 total chicks) , we would have already taken them back, however I think with everything we’ve found that is likely the best bet. (Taking back the “Midnight Majesty” chicks and the Buff this morning.)

We will update this thread as things develop!

 

[NatJ]

Perhaps I’m still naive, but just find it hard to believe an entire run of cockerels were mixed up with pullets, sent to the farm store, then placed in the bin, and nobody caught it other than my wife and I.

I can see it happening pretty easily.

If someone grabbed the wrong box or bin at the hatchery, they could easily send an entire box of males, or of another breed. So that's one small mixup to get all the chicks wrong.

At the store, if the employees do not know much about chicks (common situation), they might just believe what the label says, and not catch the problem.

For other customers, some do not know enough to catch the problem. The ones that do may shrug it off as a mistake, or they might be doing their own research and you just haven't heard from them (if they are asking on facebook while you are asking on here, or if they did call the store but talked to a different person than you did, or if the store makes a point of not letting any customer know that someone else has the same problem: lots of possible ways for you to not hear about the other customers.)

If it wasn’t for the fact we got a single Buff Orpington with them, (4 total chicks) , we would have already taken them back, however I think with everything we’ve found that is likely the best bet. (Taking back the “Midnight Majesty” chicks and the Buff this morning.)

If you really wanted Midnight Majesty Marans, and cannot have roosters, I agree that sounds like a good choice.

 

[M2L2]

Like always, I’m gratefully overwhelmed by the support, information, and advice on here.

And I guess it isn’t that surprising that a mistake like this could happen.

It’s 0530 local time, but as soon as Wilco opens I’ll call and see if they’ll make this right!

 

[M2L2]

The more research we do I would bet they are Cuckoo Maran chicks (as one person replied earlier in this thread)

 

[M2L2]

Update - The Staffmember at Wilco was very nice, and said due to state law they cannot take a bird back once it’s sold for disease prevention, which I suppose makes sense. Once we spent a minute looking at Hoover’s videos and showing the staffmember this thread, she agreed they aren’t Midnight Majesty Marens.

They did give us a full refund, and we found someone locally to pick up the chicks tomorrow.

All in all, not horrible, but a giant pain in the keister nonetheless.

 

[M2L2]

Final update!

We got a response from Hoover’s.

Here is the excerpt from their email:

“Good afternoon,

Based on the photos you have provided; these appear to be Midnight Majesty Marans.

At this age, it is hard to tell if they are males or females. Unfortunately, you will have to wait until they start to feather out and “grow” more features to be able to establish if they are female or males.

Thank you for contacting Hoover’s”



Now I wonder if we were missing something?! The hatchery themselves said they were MMM’s, but through all the research we did they couldn’t be unless they were ALL cockerels

Regardless, the babies are now happily rehomed and we have new chicks from a more reputable place