I had a terrible experience with Bresse Farms (bressefarms.com) in Pototoc, MS. I ordered 20 Swedish Flower Hen chicks @ $9.99 each on 2/9/21 totaling $259.80 (including $60 for shipping.) I contacted them about a shipping date and Justin (owner) said they were shooting for shipment on 3/8/21. All good! The chicks actually ended up shipping two months later on 4/6/21. So shipping got delayed by a month. That's okay, I know things happen. They were received on 4/8/21. There were 21 chicks - 1 deceased on arrival, 20 others active and healthy. Shipping box was great. Two heat packs and four cups filled with growgel. I thought everything was great until I started inspecting these chicks more carefully. I soon found out my order was completely wrong. Here's what I received:
11 Rhode Island Reds
6 Swedish Flower Hens (2 with vaulted skulls)
2 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes
1 Blue Bresse
1 Mystery Chick (Deceased, did not examine)
Once I realized I had a bunch of Rhode Island Reds in the order, I contacted Justin (owner). I sent him high quality photos of the chicks and asked politely if there was a mistake because these look like Rhode Island Reds. Keep in mind this farm also raises Bresse (black, blue, white), Rhode Island Reds, and Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. He reassured me there was no mistake and that I had 20 Swedish Flower Hens. However, contradicting himself he did say there should be 4-5 RIRs there for additional warmth. Well, I only received one extra chick. He said to let them develop and if they made a mistake they would make it right. I left it at that for the time being, but started speaking with Swedish Flower Hen breeders. All of them said these were definitely not Swedish Flower Hens. I then examined the chicks further and found two Blue Laced Red Wyandottes in the group. Their flat combs made it obvious. Lastly, I realized a blue chick was growing larger than the others and had blue legs and beak. Swedish Flowers legs/beaks should be yellow or white. It is definitely a blue Bresse. There were also two chicks with vaulted skulls. I believe these are Swedish Flower Hens. However, this is a trait culled for, but normally you would not get these in the first place as it comes from breeding crested to crested. Only non-crested should be bred to crested so you do not have this problem. The remaining four chicks appear to be Swedish Flower Hens.
After learning all this, I contacted Justin for the second time and called him out on it. He finally admitted that they were Rhode Island Reds. He claimed my order got messed up from a computer system error and that I instead received 9 RIRs and 11 SFHs. Well that was not correct either. He forgot to explain why there are 11 RIRs, 2 BLRWs, and 1 BB chick as well. When I sent him photos clearly showing BLRWs, he admitted that they definitely were BLRWs. He did not comment on the blue Bresse chick. Not only did he reassure me the first time I asked (and sent photos) that there was no mistake, but the packing label on my box also says 21 Swedish Flower Hens. I do not believe this was an accident. I believe he did not have 20 Swedish Flower Hens to fulfill my order, so instead sent what he had on hand. My order had been delayed one month and he also told me in March that they had poor hatch rates at that time due to weather. I have since be made aware that I'm not the only one who has had this same issue from other customers of Bresse Farms.
Bresse Farms has refunded me $120 of the $259.80 I paid them, as of now. Only 6 are the breed I ordered and 2 of those have vaulted skulls (culls). So I should get back at least $140 for the 14 I did not receive. Justin said he would send the remaining $20, but as of now has not. To say I'm disappointed in my experience with Bresse Farms is an understatement. I'm now left to care for and find homes for almost my entire order, along with being out $140!
11 Rhode Island Reds
6 Swedish Flower Hens (2 with vaulted skulls)
2 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes
1 Blue Bresse
1 Mystery Chick (Deceased, did not examine)
Once I realized I had a bunch of Rhode Island Reds in the order, I contacted Justin (owner). I sent him high quality photos of the chicks and asked politely if there was a mistake because these look like Rhode Island Reds. Keep in mind this farm also raises Bresse (black, blue, white), Rhode Island Reds, and Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. He reassured me there was no mistake and that I had 20 Swedish Flower Hens. However, contradicting himself he did say there should be 4-5 RIRs there for additional warmth. Well, I only received one extra chick. He said to let them develop and if they made a mistake they would make it right. I left it at that for the time being, but started speaking with Swedish Flower Hen breeders. All of them said these were definitely not Swedish Flower Hens. I then examined the chicks further and found two Blue Laced Red Wyandottes in the group. Their flat combs made it obvious. Lastly, I realized a blue chick was growing larger than the others and had blue legs and beak. Swedish Flowers legs/beaks should be yellow or white. It is definitely a blue Bresse. There were also two chicks with vaulted skulls. I believe these are Swedish Flower Hens. However, this is a trait culled for, but normally you would not get these in the first place as it comes from breeding crested to crested. Only non-crested should be bred to crested so you do not have this problem. The remaining four chicks appear to be Swedish Flower Hens.
After learning all this, I contacted Justin for the second time and called him out on it. He finally admitted that they were Rhode Island Reds. He claimed my order got messed up from a computer system error and that I instead received 9 RIRs and 11 SFHs. Well that was not correct either. He forgot to explain why there are 11 RIRs, 2 BLRWs, and 1 BB chick as well. When I sent him photos clearly showing BLRWs, he admitted that they definitely were BLRWs. He did not comment on the blue Bresse chick. Not only did he reassure me the first time I asked (and sent photos) that there was no mistake, but the packing label on my box also says 21 Swedish Flower Hens. I do not believe this was an accident. I believe he did not have 20 Swedish Flower Hens to fulfill my order, so instead sent what he had on hand. My order had been delayed one month and he also told me in March that they had poor hatch rates at that time due to weather. I have since be made aware that I'm not the only one who has had this same issue from other customers of Bresse Farms.
Bresse Farms has refunded me $120 of the $259.80 I paid them, as of now. Only 6 are the breed I ordered and 2 of those have vaulted skulls (culls). So I should get back at least $140 for the 14 I did not receive. Justin said he would send the remaining $20, but as of now has not. To say I'm disappointed in my experience with Bresse Farms is an understatement. I'm now left to care for and find homes for almost my entire order, along with being out $140!
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