BACKYARD CHICKIES HATCHERY?

[Robert Kazlauski]

Has anyone heard of Backyard Chickies Hatchery? Are they legitimate? What is your opinion of them? Would you recommend them? I am looking to purchase good quality silkies.

 

[nuthatched]

Where are they?
Edit, they're southern California based, and are shipping partners for several small California hatcheries.
"we work with several other NPIP certified family farms in California and throughout the United States to offer you even more chickie choices. We are pretty particular on the chickies we sell to insure that you get the best, healthiest chickies available."

https://www.backyardchickies.com/pages/biosecurity?_pos=1&_sid=3e4f6b678&_ss=r

They look legit, from a breeding standpoint

 

[Memento Rose]

Ive done a lot of work with Renee. Shes legit.

 

[Robert Kazlauski]

Ive done a lot of work with Renee. Shes legit.

 

[Robert Kazlauski]

Great. Thank you. Good to hear. Are her chickens disease free and healthy?

 

[Memento Rose]

Yes. I think most of my flock is currently from her after I sadly had to replace them after 2 raccoon attacks.

Ive gotten everything from chicks to 22+ weeks from her.

Her shipping is always amazing, spot on and they are all well cared for.

If for some reason you have a bad experience, I would 100% say its a fluke and to reach out to her. She's super friendly and we've gone back and forth a number of times over text.

 

[Sneakychick]

Save yourself the heartache and don't buy from this place. Her customer service and selection is excellent, but of the 3 Ameraucanas I bought from her, all of them were dead before 2yo. I spent thousands of dollars trying to keep them alive. My youngest died in my arms at 6 months old from an aggressive cancer. The second was constantly ill and was in and out of thr ICU until the vet advised me to put her down. The last one had a seizure and dropped dead.

The one I had autopsied had tumors "most likely caused by Mareks" according to the vet. Maybe it was vaccine failure, maybe she didn't actually vaccinate, or maybe their genetics were bad, but I don't wish this experience on anyone (my hatchery hens were fine btw so it wasn't my animal husbandry). It wasn't until years later that I learned she had been banned from local chicken FB groups for selling sick birds to people. Apparently my experience was pretty typical. I wish there were more warnings on forums like here because at the time when I searched nothing came up and she was NPIP so I thought I was making a good choice

 

[Robert Kazlauski]

Save yourself the heartache and don't buy from this place. Her customer service and selection is excellent, but of the 3 Ameraucanas I bought from her, all of them were dead before 2yo. I spent thousands of dollars trying to keep them alive. My youngest died in my arms at 6 months old from an aggressive cancer. The second was constantly ill and was in and out of thr ICU until the vet advised me to put her down. The last one had a seizure and dropped dead.

The one I had autopsied had tumors "most likely caused by Mareks" according to the vet. Maybe it was vaccine failure, maybe she didn't actually vaccinate, or maybe their genetics were bad, but I don't wish this experience on anyone (my hatchery hens were fine btw so it wasn't my animal husbandry). It wasn't until years later that I learned she had been banned from local chicken FB groups for selling sick birds to people. Apparently my experience was pretty typical. I wish there were more warnings on forums like here because at the time when I searched nothing came up and she was NPIP so I thought I was making a good choice

Thank you Sneaky Chick, for your response. I checked with yelp.com and found some who loved her and would recommend her and others that said essentially the same thing that you said. I must say that I liked her website and it seemed positive. Mareks is serious and someone said that either it or the other chicken disease that begins with a C (cant remember the spelling) can be in the ground for years. I do not want to take a chance with either disease. Again thank you for responding. Do you know any place right now that might sell me a red silkie? Maybe a paint? I have been looking for a month every night for someone close to me in Maryland who might have one or even across the country. I hate to think I might have to wait until next year!!!

 

[Sneakychick]

Hi Robert! I'm glad I was able to spare you getting infected with Mareks too.

I have ordered Silkies from both Sunrise Silkies and Swanky Silkies and can vouch that both breeders were wonderful to deal with and sent me birds that were stunning show quality (miles better than the ones I bought off My Pet Chicken). I would not hesitate to recommend either of them. I live in CA and both of those breeders are quite far from me, but I received both birds in perfect condition through the mail.