Warning for Poultry Hollow Hatchery Buyers

[HappyDog3]

Hello, I am new to chickens this year, however I have had numerous animals, horses, dogs, birds, etc my entire 48 years of life.

I purchased my first chicks at TSC in late February. Lovely little Speckled Sussex birds that have done wonderful. I decided since I had found a new love in chickens I would add more in June. Received my first order from Poultry Hollow delivered to Knoxville. 3 Easter Eggers (Ameraucana), 3 silkies and 3 polish. About a month ago I lost one polish to what I now suspect was Marek's. I had purchased two gorgeous 6 month old Jersey Giants from an acquaintance and really fell in live with these boys so decided in July I would order a couple of JG pullets to put with my boys. They cancelled delivery in July and August due to vehicle problems. Finally received them on Saturday September 21st. They were completely disgusting looking and smelly birds. Very small for supposedly being 18 week old pullets. One probably did not weigh much more than a pound and the other has very crooked toes and does a face plant every time she attempts to run. The following day I noticed another polish from Poultry Hollow had began showing signs of leg lameness and wing drooping (Signs of Marek's). I came home on Monday afternoon to find him on his back immobile and immediately ended his suffering. This morning, 6 days after receiving the JG pullets I found the low weight girl dead in the coop. I have contacted Poultry Hollow to share my disappointment with their poor business practices and received zero response from them. It is very sad that they would sell birds in such poor condition. I am attaching photos of the supposedly 18 week old Jersey Giant Pullets.

[/IMG][/IMG][/IMG]

 

[poultryhollow]

It is as simple as numbers...

*We sell around 200,000 birds a year. Do some die? Of course! Do we always know why? No. But to say it is mareks or some other disease is way off base!

* We have less than a 1% loss! Mostly being within the first few days of hatching, just being picked on & of course predators.

*Our website clearly indicates we are a All Natural farm. So we do not vaccinate as most people these days don't want vaccines in their food source.

* NO other hatchery will vaccinate for mereks unless you specifically ask for it and pay the cost.

* If we kept sick birds we would not have any birds left. We could not stay in business if this was the case.

* We have thousands of customers and there are only 2 to 4 with these accusations???

*Chickens get stressed, sick, and die just like other animals if not properly taken care of. I could go on for pages of stories I know about the human errors in raising birds. People make mistakes and always want to point blame to someone else.

* The following is cut and pasted from this forum:
We bought chicks from Poultry Hollow last week, and I was very impressed. It was a REAL chicken farm. I did a lot of research and talked to a lot of people about chickens before purchasing. One of the things I have found is that no matter where you get your chicks some might die. I recently talked to a farmer who has an established flock who just hatched chicks, and some of them didn't make it -same with the ducks. It seems to me that it's just part of life in the animal world, as I've witnessed the same thing happen to kittens and fish even when you do ALL the right things. Knowledge and experience increase the chances of survivial and make for happier animals, but sometimes things still happen. It's upsetting when a chick dies, but loss is part of raising animals. People die, too, even with all our modern technology and sanitation. It amazes me how some people can get so nitpicky about the smallest of details when it comes to chickens. No, I'm not saying disease is a small detail, but if chickens were as finicky as people they would have gone extinct years ago. If an animal lover is obsessed with getting ALL the smallest details just perfect I suggest they raise fish. They will have plenti of time devoted to pH, temperature, chlorine, etc., levels because you can't be off even the slightest bit or you will have a disease outbreak. I want to raise my backyard flock just like a farmer would, not like a diehard enthusiastic super human hen. I'm going to implement the same philosophy I do with my human children. My children are happy healthy individuals who don't need the latest iphone and don't eat everything organic. Heaven forbid I give them a little soda. No soccer mom here, just happy healthy children. Same goes with chickens (don't worry, I won't give them soda). I want to take care of them, give them what they need, and enjoy them and their eggs without having to stress myself out with every little perfectionistic detail. That is why I went to Poultry Hollow. They have healthy happy chickens raised just like my local small town farmers raise theirs (only on a much larger scale). No, they don't have the latest state of the art buildings with white painted walls, tiled floor, and hospitally sanitized chicken coops. And guess what? It smells like... you guessed it...chickens! Their animals are so happy and quite beautiful, and if you don't believe me, go see for yourself. You will have a lot of very happy dogs (eager to play fetch), donkeys, chickens, goats, and turkeys all wanting your attention.

 

[poultryhollow]

Cut & Pasted from this forum:
1st, I would like to say I have read almost every review on here about Poultry Hollow before visiting.
I am appalled at some of the down right unfounded and vicious things people have said about this farm.
This is a family run hatchery, who has been in business many years..
There was another elderly man who showed up right after I did and I asked him his opinion on the farm, his exact words were "I come here every year for 15 years now for my Thanksgiving Turkey and monthly for the chicken. You wont find a better tasting bird."

Also, after inspecting the birds and deciding for myself I would be buying from them after all, I decided to interrogate Judy on her side of the story to get a better perspective. So I thank her for tolerating my probing.

I personally believe the proof is in the pudding, and I go by facts not opinions. So, I went into Poultry Hollow with the intent of possibly buying a bird and giving a fair review. I spent almost 2hrs there on 11/15/12.

I am going to highlight the complaints I have read and I will give you my personal take on them.

Poultry hollow is at the end of a scarey long road with trailers along the way:
Really?? The drive is beautiful, and their land could not be in a better location to raise poultry. As for the trailers along the way... Welcome to TN.

Poultry Hollow smells:
Do any of you run a hatchery or own the amount of birds they do?
Yes, I also have a farm, barn, chickens and a slew of other animals so I am accustomed to the smells.. However, Chicken poop is known for being VERY VERY VERY bad smelling. So why would anyone in their right mind think a poultry farm would smell sweet. Most hatcheries will not even let you set foot where they keep the breeding animals.
All of their enclosures are outdoors (aside from the brooders/chicks) and well ventilated, which keeps the birds healthy. That is all that matters to me.
To be honest Poultry Hollow smelled exactly how I expected it to smell, a poultry farm...

Poultry Hollow is dirty and birds are cramped:
The first thing I saw when I pulled up unannounced was Judy and her Grandson cleaning the cages. The farm land itself is exquisite, there is a slew of free range VERY happy birds and other adorable, most importantly HEALTHY farm animals. Mostly the Turkey, Quail, Geese, Peafowl and some Bantam chickens were free range. They have a beautiful running creek with fresh water, I wish I lived there!!
The purebred birds in cages that I saw all had fresh water, they were NOT cramped. Take a look at commercial poultry farming, where birds are crammed in by the thousands in dark dank cages... Poultry Hollow birds are in outdoor pens and well cared for. Again, this is a poultry farm, not a hobby farm. In my opinion the birds were not crammed, not even close.
Some of the enclosures had muddy grounds from the rain but the birds all seemed healthy. I saw two pens with birds who has some feathers missing, but I know from experience that particular feather loss is from hens during mating or from other hens.
The buildings and pens are NOT professional looking (at all), but they are safe and healthy for the birds, which is what matters.

I did see a dead Turkey so I went to check out the body and it was quite obvious another animal killed the bird. That would be my only negative remark, I realize animals die.. Especially poultry, but the bodies should be disposed of out of sight

Poultry Hollow has poor business skills and their website is lacking:
Ok, so I agree they are very country and lack the "Customer is always right" mentality and their website is decent compared to some of the other hatcheries listed. With that being said, they are very nice as long as you are not attacking them unfounded.
I asked Judy why they do not post photo's of their own birds and winning birds that she is very proud of and she told me her son runs the website for her. Needless to say the man works and helps his single, elderly mother by running that site for her and she is thankful for the work that he put into it.
As for the "customer is always right" mentality, I will just say its a country respect thing. I have noticed since moving from Chicago that TN probably has the worst customer service skills.. Sure, the people are sweet and friendly but they think nothing of telling you where to go if you do not like the service.

No way any inspector would give Poultry Hollow a NPIP approval and/or is inspected properly:
I saw BOTH the NPIP and Health inspection certificates myself on their office wall.. Both inspections were done on different dates in Aug of 2012. The health inspection was a rating of 98 ...
ALL of poultry hollow's birds that they sell for consumption are sent off to be slaughtered in Georgia at a USDA poultry processing plant.
So, I guess all you naysayer's know better than the inspectors and myself.


The good reviews on Poultry Hollow are made by Poultry Hollow themselves:
I highly doubt this... feel free to look me up on FB www.facebook.com/jillnabors or check out my website at http://www.shangrilatms.com .. I am not Poultry Hollow nor have I ever met them before yesterday. I have been reading their reviews for almost a year now and I have found you either love them or hate them.

I got a chick that became sick and died:
Who hasn't? I avoid young birds for this reason, they are VERY sensitive.
I picked out a beautiful blue slate hen yesterday and Judy told me she could not sell me that bird because it had a leg injury, I did not even notice the slight limp until she pointed it out. So, that tells me Judy would not sell a bird she knows is not in perfect health. What more do you want from her??

Has anyone had their flocks die because they contracted a disease from Poultry Hollow birds?
Not that I have found.

Has anyone gotten sick from eating a Poultry Hollow bird?
Not that I have found.


__________________________________________________________________________________________________________


There you have it, please try to understand that just because YOU do not personally like them based on how YOU think they should run things does not make them a bad Hatchery. Judy loves her birds, clearly, and some of you need to try really hard to see things from her perspective.


Also Cut & pasted from another member in reply to the above:
Very well written. It's so true that Southerners are the sweetest friendliest people, but you better not mess with us. I totally agreed with everything you wrote. Those were also my observations about Poultry Hollow and exactly why I felt the need to defend them in other posts. I had a great experience when I went there.

 

[gal5150]

OK, I want to say this again.

**First, Mareks disease can NOT be diagnosed by vets. Vets will tell you it is mareks just to give you an answer since they are charging a lot of money to look at a chicken.

**Secondly, there are many strains of mareks that can affect  poultry.

**Thirdly and MOST important, our birds ARE vaccinated for mareks.

**Lastly, the state vet with the TN Dept of Agriculture was here last month February 2016 and we are disease free

So please before trying to hurt someone's business for a lack of YOUR knowledge, try to educate yourselves.

This is no better than Bullying or Bashing! Admins should close and delete this thread...

@poultryhollow
While this wouldn't help past customers, am I understanding this correctly that you are now saying that you currently vaccinate for Mareks...as in previous posts you said that you did not...?

 

[ZKF2011]

Just a personal experience regarding Marek Disease and Poultry Hollow. Please understand that I am just stating the facts as they happened. What conclusions you come to are up to you.

We purchased eight 12 weekish pullets from Poultry Hollow in June 2013, two each light brahmas, barred rock, black australorp, and red sex link. The visit was as expected for a rural hatchery. One dead chick in with the brahmas, but of course that happens. I understand that there is a fair amount of carnage in poultry, sometimes.

Approximately four weeks after bringing them home to a new coop, one of the brahmas began feeding poorly, hunched over, and began having trouble breathing. Two or so days later it began gasping for air and died rather abruptly. Didn't think much about it at the time.

Three or four weeks after that, the other brahma began to have difficulty swallowing food. We appreciated that there was a cloudiness to the eye and when examining the bird, found a large mass in the neck which was interfering with swallowing. We took a biopsy of this which was consistent with high grade lymphoid malignancy. She was maintained on softened food until she became progressively hunched like the other brahma, and ultimately lost the use of both of her legs and one wing. I euthanized her.

Fast forward several more weeks. One of the rocks began standing on one leg with an enlarged, firm thigh. We treated it conservatively, but soon she also began to hunch over and both legs became paralyzed. She was euthanized and necropsied by the State Vet with a diagnosis of Marek Disease.

I'm not a veterinarian, just a people doc, but the basics of infection are the same. The minimum incubation period for Marek is 6-12 weeks, depending on what you read. Even though it can exist in the environment, the brahmas became symptomatic way to soon (in my opinion) to have been infected by some passing wild bird . The time from placing all of the other birds with the brahmas to the rock becoming ill was well within the incubation period. All three birds had clear signs, symptoms, and pathologic findings of Marek. The rock was a proven diagnosis.

I discussed this with Judy at Poultry Hollow, who chalked the first one up to a respiratory infection. I asked if they were vaccinated for Marek and she said no and also something about the reason why they didn't having to do with the fact they sold many birds to Nashville?

Again, come to your own conclusions. Two birds die of almost certainly the same disease too quickly to have caught it at our farm. A third dies after the correct time delay and is proven to have Marek. The hatchery does not vaccinate for Marek.

Knowing what I know now about Marek I would not have bought unvaccinated pullets from them. This is a rather gruesome disease and is largely preventable with vaccination. Please do yourself a favor and educate yourselves about this common problem before you obtain birds from any source, especially the rammificantions of the highly infectious nature of the virus and the carrier status of infected birds that do survive.

 

[poultryhollow]

Cut & pasted from this forum:
We bought 2 chickens from Poultry Hollow when they were 3 weeks, a Cinnamon Queen and a Partridge Silkie. They are both so very beautiful and healthy. We have been so happy with the babies that we decided to go back for the remainder of our chicks. Judy is a great ol gal. She is SO incredibly knowledgeable about her birds. Don't go to her farm if you are in a rush, she will take the time to answer all your questions, but because she has such beautiful birds she is VERY busy. Like I said we have been out 2x and BOTH times she was super helpful. It is a true farm experience. I also was very pleased at how organized she was with as many breeds and birds that she has, at all ages. It is really impressive if you ask me. I also love knowing were my birds came from and that she has so many uncommon birds. This is a treat to have so close to home.

One last thing, we lost one of our first birds. It was COMPLETELY human error, no error to the hatchery. Sadly our toddler grabbed the chick when we were not looking and she didn't make it. Sometimes things happen, especially when you have young tender aged birds. I just want people to know Poultry Hollow really is a great family place. It is sad that the persons who posted had a bad experience, but I have had 2 GREAT EXPERIENCES! Give Judy a call if you need good advice, she answers all my calls, and there have been many!

How how do I post pictures of my beautiful ladies?

Also this is not to disregard the fact that someone lost their chicks, I just wanted to let you all know I had a really GREAT experience.

 

[poultryhollow]

Cut & pasted from this forum:
We got 3 BO's from them 2 weeks ago and they are doing great.They were 4 weeks old when we got them, we didn't want day old chicks. The woman we worked with was very helpful about the birds. She answered our questions and invited us to look around the property at some of the exotics chickens and other fowl they had.

One of our girls even went to a college class with my daughter her first week with us. She was doing a speech on chicken ordinances in TN. Maggie (the BO) was a big hit~~a real beauty and good natured.

We just got their coop and run finished tonight and they settled right in.

Maggie on the right, Ruth on the left, and a tiny bit of Joyce's tail feathers showing on the far left.

 

[poultryhollow]

Cut & Pasted from this forum:
Just wanted to say that my experience with Poultry Hollow has been nothing but favorable. I'm new to backyard chicken keeping and started by getting 6 day old clicks (2 barred rocks, 2 RIRs, 2 Buff Orpingtons) from Poultry Hollow. All were healthy chicks and were sexed correctly as girls by Judy. This summer I got 10 ten week old pullets of various breeds from Poultry Hollow. All growing into beautiful birds and have started laying. Poultry Hollow is well worth the 2 hour drive from my home in Knoxville. Very, very hard to understand the negative reviews.



So, be your own judge, the numbers talk...

 

[CoopDeVolk]

We bought 5 pullets from Poultry Hollow 2 days ago. Let me just say that the prices were far above the going rate, at least what is the norm locally. Also, she either lied about the ages of them or they are very undernourished because the ones we got were supposedly anywhere between 8-12 weeks and all of them are far smaller than the 6 week old RIR we got from our local farm store. The conditions on the farm were sad. Overcrowding so that most of the birds couldn't even fully spread their wings. They were all covered in feces and dirt. All ages, sexes, and breeds were intermingled. Of the 5 we got, 3 are very ill. One has a broken foot and a 50-cent-piece sized gash under her wing. We are working with a vet to hopefully save them all. Only one seems to be healthy so far. Our first instinct when we arrived there was not to give these people a cent of our money, but seeing that they were all so in need of a good home, we actually left with 2 more than we intended to. We are maybe not your average backyard chicken owners, as we treat our girls much more like pets/family members than just a means to get food. We understand commercial breeders cannot do this, but we expect that they treat them MUCH more humanely than the chicks there are treated. Throwing them around, using nets to VERY ROUGHLY catch them, keeping them all in such closed areas is just evil. I grew up on a farm with many different animals. Just 3 people cared for hundreds of animals on our farm and never did we get so busy that we neglected or mistreated any of them. I am glad we saved these 5 girls, but I wish we'd have heeded the warnings and never set foot there. I just hope we are able to keep them all alive.

 

[TNgbirdfan2014]

I feel like I'm still a beginner with poultry though I've been raising quail for about three years now. I bought my quail eggs from a well known online market place and incubated them with surprising success. 21 out of 24 eggs hatched and only one died. Had to put it down because it broke it's neck trying to get out of the shell. This year we decided to try our luck with chickens and again I went to the online market place for eggs. This time I was not as fortunate and only one egg hatched and it died shortly after hatching. The very next day we decided we were not going to go through the incubating process but would instead buy live chicks. I had seen Poultry Hollow online and we made the drive out that Sunday 9/30/17. I knew I wanted the BA's but also thought I'd like some of the Favs. They suggested that being new to chickens I should probably stick with the BA's. Only a suggestion. I bought six 2 week old chicks expecting some loss and possibly cockerels as my research told me so but 9 weeks later I ended up being one of the lucky ones. All pullets and all healthy. Here they are today at 11 weeks. Second picture is what they looked like at 2 weeks. Thank you Judy. We love our ladies.