Bad McMurray Experience

[Iluveggers]

I’m so sorry to hear about your order. Very surprised about their customer service. I’m petrified to order chicks in the winter. We split our chick order this year. 15 from McM, 12 from local hatchery. This way I know I’ll have chicks (he didn’t have all the breeds we wanted but his birds are friendly & healthy). I’ve never ordered online. Hoping it goes well. Did a June order partly because NY weather can be unpredictable. We get a random snowstorm in May every 10 years or so. June will avoid any freezing temps.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I’ve honestly had better luck from Hoovers. Not awful from McMurray, but I’m not 100% blown away. We’ve got a Meyers order coming up next month and then another McMurray order if I don’t cancel. It was all bantams and I’ve been picking up a bunch locally. The only drawback is my husband's silver Polish would be sexed vs trying to find that colour in straight run. It was supposed to have been in our last order, but it was cancelled and I picked no replacement

Yeah, that's the big appeal to me: getting the breeds and sexes you want. Let us know how it goes with Meyer. There are a couple of us with future orders coming in from them.

Good luck! I hope all goes well. Shipping is nerve-wracking.

 

[RaisinChicks7]

Oh my gawd. I am so sorry. I have had shipping disasters, too, but all 25????!!! My heart breaks for you.

I swore off ordering because I lost all of an order from MPC within a week. I always just picked them up from feed stores, but if there are specific breeds you want, that's not going to cut it. I broke down and ordered from Meyer. I'm PRAYING I won't have another bad experience.

I am SO SORRY. I was thinking about having my DH open the box for me when I get my order in May. I am also thinking about canceling. I just can't open another box like that. I really am so sorry....

Wow that’s horrendous. I know it’s the post office. They really don’t care about how they handle the babies. We’ve seen it. They aren’t gentle not to mention we don’t know what they go through enroute. Obviously there’s a huge handling problem. We have ordered from McMurray and Meyer. There was a snake in the box from Meyer that killed one chick. I can’t say who’s fault that is. It could have happened anywhere. They were gracious about it and gave us a credit. They were also astounded because they hadn’t heard of that happening before. The scenarios that run through my mind are endless concerning what these little chickens endure after they leave the hatchery. It’s not good. So I think there needs to be a major shipping change to a carrier that actually CARES about transporting live animals. All of our chicks arrived healthy but we lost a few from Meyer last Fall and so far this year, no losses from McMurray. My husband says he notices how they are not handling the chicks carefully like they used to years ago (before I met him he raised chickens for years.) He also said he’s never seen so many issues with chickens like we had with the Cornish X and the sudden deaths. Hopefully we can find a breeder and go and pick them up in person. I would prefer that at this point and I’m sure the chickens would be thankful.

 

[Yard Farmer]

Hi friends! I need to vent because I’m still not over what happened. I know McMurray has a great reputation, people generally love them. However I had a horrible experience with them exactly a week ago and it’s just weighing heavily on my mind. I had ordered 10 silver polish, a color I do not have yet, and to fill their requirement of 25 birds I ordered some golden polish and buff laced. Friday morning comes around and I check the status on my phone to find I am receiving absolutely none of the silver I ordered. While I know hatching issues happen I was annoyed that I was not informed (yes, I clicked substitute for same breeds but I didn’t think I would get absolutely none of the ones I ordered). The representative was not polite at all and just kept saying they couldn’t let me know. If other hatcheries like Cackle can, why can’t McMurray? I finally gave up and hung up. A couple hours later I get a call from the post office that our order has arrived. My husband leaves work to pick them up. When he arrives to the post office and tells the attendant he’s there for the order she says “oh” and then says she’s so sorry. He opens it to find all 25 babies dead. Absolutely horrible sight. Can’t tell you how much I cried. I know a lot of people become desensitized to death of animals but to see those babies like that? Just was horrible. The McMurray supervisor didn’t apologize and tried to give me store credit which I wasn’t okay with. Finally got a refund back to my card but gosh this experience was absolutely horrible.

I'm so sorry you had that experience..
I know how you feel, I lost all 9 of my rare Ayam Cemani chicks due to heat.

 

[Poodlemum]

Oh, no. My confidence is further shaken.

When did the order ship? I'm starting to think that cold is a big factor - maybe the most decisive. And the USPS, or course. This is based off reading many, many accounts on BYC and hatchery reviews. Many poor results happen early in the season. I'm also learning that Polish are fragile, and many die in shipping.

My order is supposed to ship May 2. There's a Polish on the list. Starting to think I need to push it back to July, maybe.

We also felt it was a weather factor. The heat pack was cold and we’d had a sudden dip in temps that week. It’s been an exceptionally wet and chilly spring this year. Still getting snow right now! I’ve been having horrible luck with Polish in general now. Just lost another yesterday My kid wants to replace it and I’m so burnt out on losses

 

[Chicks in VA]

Hi friends! I need to vent because I’m still not over what happened. I know McMurray has a great reputation, people generally love them. However I had a horrible experience with them exactly a week ago and it’s just weighing heavily on my mind. I had ordered 10 silver polish, a color I do not have yet, and to fill their requirement of 25 birds I ordered some golden polish and buff laced. Friday morning comes around and I check the status on my phone to find I am receiving absolutely none of the silver I ordered. While I know hatching issues happen I was annoyed that I was not informed (yes, I clicked substitute for same breeds but I didn’t think I would get absolutely none of the ones I ordered). The representative was not polite at all and just kept saying they couldn’t let me know. If other hatcheries like Cackle can, why can’t McMurray? I finally gave up and hung up. A couple hours later I get a call from the post office that our order has arrived. My husband leaves work to pick them up. When he arrives to the post office and tells the attendant he’s there for the order she says “oh” and then says she’s so sorry. He opens it to find all 25 babies dead. Absolutely horrible sight. Can’t tell you how much I cried. I know a lot of people become desensitized to death of animals but to see those babies like that? Just was horrible. The McMurray supervisor didn’t apologize and tried to give me store credit which I wasn’t okay with. Finally got a refund back to my card but gosh this experience was absolutely horrible.

glad i did not order from the
and i wont
im sorry and poor babys they dont deserve that

 

[Kittys Coop]

Terribly sorry to hear that. I've heard Murry McMurry has a mixed reputation. I'm not a fan of large hatcheries.

Had a somewhat experience couple years ago with my very first flock. Went to the local sport/farm store and picked up 14 chicks. 6 of one breed were suppose to be hens and the other breed a straight run. But the lady there suggested the most active are hens. Fast forward few months.. 9 turned out to be roosters. Those 6 supposedly hens only 2 were actually hens. From the same store, few of my friends bought chicks which died within 48 hours.

That’s awful. It’s hard because small time breeders have to charge so much to ship eggs and then you could have a bad hatch.

 

[Poodlemum]

Yeah, that's the big appeal to me: getting the breeds and sexes you want. Let us know how it goes with Meyer. There are a couple of us with future orders coming in from them.

Good luck! I hope all goes well. Shipping is nerve-wracking.

New notifications here reminded me to come update lol

First Meyers order was a disaster Salmon Faverolles cancelled (as well as her Easter Eggers I believe). Most Polish DOA, as well as several other chicks. Last count was 7 dead within 12 hours. Meyers immediately refunded and I’m unsure if she continued to have losses since I didn’t need to continue the conversation as all mine were dead or cancelled.

I did place a second order with them however since it was the only place I could get our needed breeds. It will arrive in June and that should put us past the avian flu issues

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

New notifications here reminded me to come update lol

First Meyers order was a disaster Salmon Faverolles cancelled (as well as her Easter Eggers I believe). Most Polish DOA, as well as several other chicks. Last count was 7 dead within 12 hours. Meyers immediately refunded and I’m unsure if she continued to have losses since I didn’t need to continue the conversation as all mine were dead or cancelled.

I did place a second order with them however since it was the only place I could get our needed breeds. It will arrive in June and that should put us past the avian flu issues

I, too, had great losses near 60% from April shipping. Hatchery was understanding and I am receiving replacement chicks at the end of June.

 

[Aunt Angus]

https://www.knowyourchickens.com/buy-chickens-online/

I know for me, the minimum size per order and breeds available are important. Some if the hatcheries suggested have pretty large minimum orders. I ordered 6 this time, which is the largest number of chicks I've ever had at once. I prefer to add 2 or 3 each year to hopegully keep my egg supply going after my older chickens retire.

I've split orders before so I could meet shipping minimums and still only add a few, but I couldn't find anyone nearby to do that with this time. So I have to look for places with smaller minimums, which is why I ended up with Meyer. They have the breeds I want and ship smaller orders.