just ordered from Meyer. freaking out.

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livmom22

livmom22

In the Brooder
5 Years
May 9, 2014
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I just placed my first order for chicks. I've raised a few and lost them to a coon the other day so I ordered 2 light Brahma 1EE and 2 left over chicks. And 3 barred rocks for a friend.
I'm now seeing a lot of horror stories about chicks not making it and chicks arriving with horrid deformities. What are the chances these will be ok?
What can I do to assure there survival?
 
livmom22 said:
I just placed my first order for chicks. I've raised a few and lost them to a coon the other day so I ordered 2 light Brahma 1EE and 2 left over chicks. And 3 barred rocks for a friend.
I'm now seeing a lot of horror stories about chicks not making it and chicks arriving with horrid deformities. What are the chances these will be ok?
What can I do to assure there survival?
Click to expand...


Be prepared for the arrival by having the brooder set up and at the correct temp...

Water and feed in-place .....


Try to pick up the chicks at the Post Office .....
 
Come on down to the Meyer's hatchery section of the forum located on this (click on the blue hyperlink located on the word "this") thread - a great group of people who have very recently received chicks from Meyers, or will be getting their chicks very soon. I think that they might allay your fears quite a bit.

Anytime you ship chicks, from anyplace, there is a risk of some chicks not being able to handle the stress - that is one of the risks of shipping chicks. This is not limited to any one particular hatchery; breeders experience this as well. It's just the stress of shipping. The only way to avoid this is to pick up your chicks locally. There are plenty of things that hatcheries and breeders to to limit the stress on the chicks. Meyer's can explain what their processes are if you call them.

Make sure to call your post office and alert them that you will have chicks shipping & the date they should arrive. You need to make arrangements to get them from the post office ASAP and take them straight home. Have your brooder set up & make sure each chick gets water immediately.

I hope this helps calm your fears a little! I'm sure you are a nervous chick momma after such a devastating loss!
 
Posted on 5/14/14 "I just want to share my experience with ordering from Meyer. My chicks left Cleveland Ohio at 8:49 pm Monday night, I got the call from my post office in Suffolk VA. at 10:30 Tuesday morning that my chicks had arrived. I had requested that my niece's 7 chicks be marked so that we could tell them apart from mine. The customer service rep. told me she didn't think they would mark the chicks, but she put it on the order anyway. The 24 chicks that I ordered arrived healthy. I was surprised that they had made a notation on the order slip that my niece's chicks were marked on their tummies with black marker. We were able to tell very easily which was my nieces chicks. We ended up with 2 Easter Eggers, 3 White Marans, 1 White Leghorn, 1 Welsummer, 2 Silver Laced cochins,2 Salmon Faverolles, 2 Partridge Cochins, 1 Light Brahma, 1 German Spitzhauben, 1 Cukoo Maran, 1Buff Orpington, 2 Buff Brahms's, 1 Barred Rock, 1 Gold Laced Wyndotte,1 White Cochin, 1 Speckled Sussex, my meal maker was listed as a Dominique, and they thru in a free Blue Cochin. Would I order from Meyer hatchery again? You better believe I would. Nothin but happy......
big_smile.png
"

I wanted to update the status of my chicks, they are now almost 2 weeks old. Everyone of them is doing just great, no problems. I couldn't be happier with my order from Meyer Hatchery.
 
livmom22 said:
I just placed my first order for chicks. I've raised a few and lost them to a coon the other day so I ordered 2 light Brahma 1EE and 2 left over chicks. And 3 barred rocks for a friend.
I'm now seeing a lot of horror stories about chicks not making it and chicks arriving with horrid deformities. What are the chances these will be ok?
What can I do to assure there survival?
Click to expand...

It's a shame you lost your other flock, but I really think you will be happy with Meyer and the quality of chick you receive. Over the years, I've noticed that most of those horror stories come from other hatcheries. I ordered my first batch of chicks from Meyer almost a year ago. My girls are wonderful. They all turned out to be girls (unlike some hatcheries) and they are healthy. My next batch comes in august and I cannot wait. You will be pleased.

As far as their arrival. Like others have said, just call your post office and tell them you are expecting chicks to arrive. Ask them to hold them at the office for you. You picking them up is a big advantage for them. It saves them a possible long day in a hot (or cold) mail truck bouncing around without food or water.

Once you get them home, your brooder should already be set up and warm. Each chick needs to be shown were the water is. Dip each one's beak into the water for a second.

If you need anything else, just ask. Feel free to come over to the Meyer thread. We'd love to help you and of course see pics of the new babies when they arrive. You can also read our stories and it may calm your nerves.
 
livmom22 said:
I just placed my first order for chicks. I've raised a few and lost them to a coon the other day so I ordered 2 light Brahma 1EE and 2 left over chicks. And 3 barred rocks for a friend.
I'm now seeing a lot of horror stories about chicks not making it and chicks arriving with horrid deformities. What are the chances these will be ok?
What can I do to assure there survival?
Click to expand...
I was a nervous wreck as well when I ordered chicks for the first time in 2013. My 1st set hatched on February 11th and I received them a few days after, 16 total. It is better to order them in warmer months, so you're doing the right thing. I ended up getting 6 more a few months later too. All from Meyer's. My problem was a stray dog coming and killing most of my chickens in late summer. They were beautiful birds and such a large variety and it was a sad day when that happened. My older girls had just started laying eggs. Once the initial shock of losing most of my flock wore off, I ordered 16 more and they hatched in July. Now everyone is laying, I have 5 older hens that survived the attack and 16 younger ones, I get a large variety of different colored eggs and all 21 of my chickens are beautiful and full of personality.

I will be ordering from Meyer's again, they have great chickens, a variety of breeds and awesome customer service. I just have to wait since I have too many chickens right now.
wink.png
(Oh and all of mine were girls which is an awesome percentage considering I received a total of 38 over the past year and a half.)

Just make sure like everyone said to be set up. Get their water ready early on even the day before so the water is room temperature by the time they drink it. Be ready with their heat source, etc. It sounds like you know what you are doing already since you had chicks before. Watch out for poopy behinds and wash those off as soon as you see them. You can add electrolytes to the water too. I got my electrolytes from Meyer's. Be advised one bag of electrolytes goes a long way. The best advice, "relax."
big_smile.png
It is always fun getting chicks and I think it is pretty cool that they still mail them like they did years and years ago.
 
Thank you guys on really exited for them to get here. We have everything set up from out last chicks so as soon. As I get the shipping notice I'll get water ready.
 

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