Yeah that is just unfortunate. I hope they credited you the money back. That what I would if expected from them.My new order from Ideal for 15 chicks was not ideal... one died at one week old of unknown causes, one has scissor beak, another has a deformed toe and one has failure to thrive as best as I can determine as he's less than half the size of his flock mates from the same hatch day. I'll not order from them again since these problems seem to be genetic and it's 25% of the order! Now I won't be able to grow my flock from this stock and they are my only chickensI am going to call Ideal tomorrow and explain my situation. I emailed them about it, as I had a pending order for Bantams and I decided to cancel it and not take any more chances on their bloodlines. My 14 remaining chicks are now three weeks old, so hoping that no other problems emerge as they mature. Toe issue (Polish), scissor beak (EE) and runt chick (another Polish with his same age Australorp friend), and a pic of my wee runt peep by himself...
Nope, not even a "we're sorry".... I expected more from an older, well established company
As someone who is new to chickens, you need to remember that rarely do all the chicks make it. It is not uncommon at all to have several die - they are tiny and fragile. It's normal to have even 10 or 15% die before they make it to maturity.
No, I didn't order Bantams, just straight run polish. I still think a 25% failure rate is high. If they think that is acceptable it should be advertised on the website that the buyer can expect a percentage of deformities and death. I emailed on Friday to cancel my bantam order that was set up for August and explained the problems with my flock and that I was concerned about quality. I got back a one sentence email "your order has been cancelled"... no acknowledgement of my concerns which is crappy customer service in my opinion.
Give Ideal a phone call and express your concerns and give them a chance to make things right. I've never been anything but pleased with Ideal's chicks.
I will do that - I don't want to be demanding with them or expect anything in return - I just think they should know about my experience. For what it's worth, even with the deformities I would never part with my new little flock. I am keeping chickens as pets... so it's perhaps a little harder for me since they're not destined for the pot and I am thinking of them in the way others view their family pets and I really hate to see them have problems, like the gal with the scissor beak.
Thank you for the contact information. I just left her a voicemail at Ideal, and will send her a PM on here. I am worried about my little scissor beak gal, I make sure she's able to eat each day - I've been watching her closely. I've also made her some wet treats she really loved - cooked oatmeal with diced up fresh peaches and a pinch of cinnamon. I guess the issue is to make sure they can get whatever it is into their open beak and have it stay? The oatmeal seemed to work. What else can I feed her to make sure she's getting balanced nutrition? Thanks for your offer to provide advice on this condition.
