ashleymroles
In the Brooder
Update on my experience with the poultry hatchery in clifton springs:
First of all, keep in mind that the bulk of their business is shipping large quantities of chicks, and I was only picking up six.
Overall, I had a great experience and I will definitely be using them in the future, but here is how it went and you can decide how you feel about it:
I called yesterday morning (right at 9:00) to confirm that the hatches were successful. The employee confirmed that my babies had hatched and were all ready to be picked up. I still hadn't picked up organic ACV so I asked him if they sold it. They do, but were currently out of stock. He recommended I go to Walmart or Wegmans as they would have the same thing. He told me to bring a box to transport the chicks. He could tell I was excited and matched that excitement while still being informative.
I left at 9:30 and got there at 11:00 after I stopped at Walmart. The property has a home and a store front, with the brooder building in the back. I brought an amazon box with a puppy pee pad and some chick starter. I had to leave the box outside (a policy to deter theft of grocery items from the store). I was greeted by an employee and walked around the store while he gathered my paperwork. Another employee brought my box inside and asked if the feed was medicated. It wasn't, and he told me they don't recommend medicated feed (I was pleased my husband talked me out of it). There was another customer there picking up 10 chicks, some the same breeds as mine.
Once all the paperwork was done, the employee took me and my friend out to the brooder. I was immediately impressed with how clean it was (I was expecting at least a minor smell, but it just smelled like clean pine shavings) and how happy the chicks sounded. He gave me two barred rocks and two golden buffs. I had ordered two golden laced wyandottes too, but something went wrong with their hatch and they only had chicks that had hatched 5 days ago. I was really excited to have day olds, so he offered me two more of either the barred rocks or golden buffs. He recommended one of each, as the golden buffs are the really good egg layers. So i ended up with 3 barred rocks and three golden buffs. We went back inside the store and he gave me a detailed care sheet since he knew I was a newbie. I thanked him probably a thousand times, and I was glad to see he was excited for me.
So maybe I didn't end up with exactly what I wanted, but I was extremely satisfied with the service and care they give both their customers and birds. I'm not one to care about breeds of my animals, just that they're happy and healthy (my 7 dogs are all gorgeous mutts). I felt welcome and like they really cared that I was as prepared as possible. I also felt that they were the best source of information for chick care and they were able to guide me where others gave me conflicting views.
Also, its been almost 24 hours since the babies got home and they are absolutely perfect. No signs of disease or lethargy and they were already eating and drinking when I got them.
Take this as you will, but the poultry hatchery in clifton springs gets two thumbs up from me.
First of all, keep in mind that the bulk of their business is shipping large quantities of chicks, and I was only picking up six.
Overall, I had a great experience and I will definitely be using them in the future, but here is how it went and you can decide how you feel about it:
I called yesterday morning (right at 9:00) to confirm that the hatches were successful. The employee confirmed that my babies had hatched and were all ready to be picked up. I still hadn't picked up organic ACV so I asked him if they sold it. They do, but were currently out of stock. He recommended I go to Walmart or Wegmans as they would have the same thing. He told me to bring a box to transport the chicks. He could tell I was excited and matched that excitement while still being informative.
I left at 9:30 and got there at 11:00 after I stopped at Walmart. The property has a home and a store front, with the brooder building in the back. I brought an amazon box with a puppy pee pad and some chick starter. I had to leave the box outside (a policy to deter theft of grocery items from the store). I was greeted by an employee and walked around the store while he gathered my paperwork. Another employee brought my box inside and asked if the feed was medicated. It wasn't, and he told me they don't recommend medicated feed (I was pleased my husband talked me out of it). There was another customer there picking up 10 chicks, some the same breeds as mine.
Once all the paperwork was done, the employee took me and my friend out to the brooder. I was immediately impressed with how clean it was (I was expecting at least a minor smell, but it just smelled like clean pine shavings) and how happy the chicks sounded. He gave me two barred rocks and two golden buffs. I had ordered two golden laced wyandottes too, but something went wrong with their hatch and they only had chicks that had hatched 5 days ago. I was really excited to have day olds, so he offered me two more of either the barred rocks or golden buffs. He recommended one of each, as the golden buffs are the really good egg layers. So i ended up with 3 barred rocks and three golden buffs. We went back inside the store and he gave me a detailed care sheet since he knew I was a newbie. I thanked him probably a thousand times, and I was glad to see he was excited for me.
So maybe I didn't end up with exactly what I wanted, but I was extremely satisfied with the service and care they give both their customers and birds. I'm not one to care about breeds of my animals, just that they're happy and healthy (my 7 dogs are all gorgeous mutts). I felt welcome and like they really cared that I was as prepared as possible. I also felt that they were the best source of information for chick care and they were able to guide me where others gave me conflicting views.
Also, its been almost 24 hours since the babies got home and they are absolutely perfect. No signs of disease or lethargy and they were already eating and drinking when I got them.
Take this as you will, but the poultry hatchery in clifton springs gets two thumbs up from me.
