Cackle Hatchery reviews

[ledbythelamb]

UPDATE:We will NEVER order from Cackle Hatchery again!
This is our first year having backyard chickens and Cackle is only a couple hours drive so we ordered our Speckled Sussex from them so the chicks wouldn't have far to travel.
The day before they were suppose to be sent in late April (we ordered 20 pullets, 5 straight run and 4 roos) we got a call saying they would not be shipping until sometime in late July!
When I asked why, I was told there wasn't enough to fill my order.
I told her to cancel and an hour later I got a call saying they were going to ship the next day. When I asked why they said Id have to wait until July, I was basically told there was high demand and I was going to be put at the end of the list..but nevermind, they would ship tomorrow.
Sothey shipped on the 28th and arrived early on the 29th, all looking good, all drinking and eating normally with 2 extras sent. I thought that was great.
UNTIL within a week some of them were showing signs of a neurological disease. Severe tremor, suddenly legs not working and falling on their sides, shaking their heads etc.
I looked up the symptoms and called them telling them I suspected poossibly Avian Encephalomyelitis.
The woman who answered told me she had never heard of the disease. And so I started quarantining chicks.. and several developed symptoms. Some died and one I had to put down myself and a few recovered.
I emailed the owner of Cackle to tell him what was going on (because the people on the phone didn't even ask for my name! Took NO record!) His response to me was that I was not the only one having this same issue with their Speckled Sussex shipments and he was having some hens and chicks sent for necropsy.
Over several emails he kept telling me different numbers for how many he was sending for necropsy.. sometimes it was 2 hens and 10 chicks, sometimes it was 1 hen and 7 chicks... even AFTER he told me he had sent a certain number, he changed the number he sent (supposedly just some chicks and NO hens).
I asked repeatedly for a copy of the necropsy in my emails to him. He never would say anything to my request. After some weeks he emailed that the necropsy came back clean but refused to send me a copy.. told me that basically I would have to just take his word for it.
I wish I had read all the other reviews before ordering from Cackle, as I later learned that there are plenty of others that got sick chicks sent to them and got the same treatment from the staff and owners.
Also, not only were a lot of our Sussex very runty (and still are at 26 weeks of age now) but one of our hens is SEVERLY roach backed.. which I am learning is likely genetic and likely from too much inbreeding. So I have no idea what to expect when these Speckled Sussex hatch any brood.
Next time we will pay a little more and buy from a trustworthy breeder. (And yes, I kept every single email for proof)

 

[sirrahm]

Well there you go, I had an issue with them in April with some black sex link chicks. One was pre-mature and after getting the chicks home noticed that the yoke sake hadn't been completely absorbed on one. It died within one day. The other black sex link just wouldn't grow. Took about 7 months but she is full size now. We'll see if she decides to produce any eggs. I called concerned that there was something not followed by their staff in hatching the eggs and got the same run around. Only breeders from now on. I don't want to feed and house em if they are genetically poor.

 

[kenzier093]

Well there you go, I had an issue with them in April with some black sex link chicks. One was pre-mature and after getting the chicks home noticed that the yoke sake hadn't been completely absorbed on one. It died within one day. The other black sex link just wouldn't grow. Took about 7 months but she is full size now. We'll see if she decides to produce any eggs. I called concerned that there was something not followed by their staff in hatching the eggs and got the same run around. Only breeders from now on. I don't want to feed and house em if they are genetically poor.

I have an EE that I just got from there this year back in February. She is 8 months and 8 days old today and still no egg. I look at her vent and the two bones are still close together. I'm starting to wonder if she will ever mature

All the rest I got there are laying eggs already. I do have to say that I LOVE their variety of Easter Eggers I got there. My 5 that I got range from white to gray with golden lacing and light red with blue lacing. They are so pretty!

 

[bhaugh]

I know this thread is a bit old but when I read that Sirrahm had a small black sex link from Cackle, I now know that the small black sex link I got will most likely stay small and not grow well. Actually the bird almost died but came around to my surprise. I named her Tiny but dont plan to keep her. Think Ill place her with another chick as a bonus. I was thinking today that maybe I got a male chick because of the size and lack of feather.

My experience with Cackle wasn't so good but I will say this is the first time ordering from a hatchery. I usually hatch my own but wanted some black sex links. 4 chicks died within the first 48 hours. I eventually got my money back from the 4 chicks after I sent a not so nice email. Overall probably would not buy from them again OR any hatchery for that matter. Chicks are super small. I have a rhodebar chick that is 4 days older than these chicks and 2.5 times the size and better feathering. These chicks are very flighty even though I spend a lot of time with them. I hope they grow to be better adults than they have so far as chicks. I'm only keeping 4 of the 15. Don't want to waste time or money on chicks that will stay flighty.

 

[Bushmansbliss]

People seem to still view this so I'll put me thoughts about cackle out there as well And maybe it will help someone. I ordered 15 chicks from them last spring, 5 Sipan and 10 red jungle fowl. I timed the order to arrive the same time as an order from another hatchery over 3 months before the hatch date. one week prior to the due arrival date I received phone call saying it would be 2 more weeks until they were ready. When i recieved my late shipment of chicks which I set up a second brooder for, most were dead, and by the next day all but 1 had died. I called and complained and the phone staff was very polite and refunded my entire purchase within a timely manner. My problem was not with Tue customer service but with the obvious fact that most birds were dead which says to me they did something wrong or not in a timely enough manner. I do live in pa so its a long trip, but I'm still not happy with chicks DOA. All that being said, the one red jungle fowl hen who survived is a beautiful bird that I'm very happy with and I've put her in my jungle fowl breeding project. So buyer beware, they have many issues at cackle, but can hatch some nice chicks........if they survive.

 

[sirrahm]

Hi, you may not want to give up on the black sex link. Mine finally did grow and caught up with the others I had. However you know how it usually takes about 5-6 months before they start laying? That batch of chicks from cackle didn't start laying anything until they were almost 9 months. The white Cochins I have to say they are very healthy, calm, and easy to deal with birds. The one roo I got is about 9 1/2 months and he has to weigh 10 pnds. What a lard butt. You can turn him upside down, sideways and he won't object in the least. Most laid back Roo I have ever had.. I'm not sure how protective he is with the girls the ducks rule the roost outside. I'm not going with a hatchery again either. Sending for some egg to hatch myself from a private breeder. We'll see how that goes. Looking forward to some Barnvelders Or Swedish Flower Chicks.

 

[tbishop]

I'm truly amazed by these bad reports. I've gotten nothing but amazing chicks from the three orders I got from them. I plan on ordering again this spring.

 

[ConPollos]

I've ordered a dozen EE's from Cackle through my feed store, due to arrive in mid-May, but after reading this thread I'm hopeful yet positively concerned. I'm new at chickens and not wanting to have to cull anything. I wanted to order EE's from MyPetChicken, but they're sold out. My TSC Golden Comets are doing great, and I don't know what hatchery they used.

 

[tbishop]

I really hope everyone realizes that the negative reports on here are a very small amount of the business that Cackle does. I wouldn't take it to heart-

 

[Eliaria]

These negative comments are part of the review. Some will be good, some will be bad. It is good to know both sides and take them both to heart, not just only take in the positive. You also have to think about how many people who have had good or bad experiences who don't comment on this thread. It is also mixed. Some have had both good and bad experiences. You can't ignore the negative reviews. That's what I did before giving them a 3rd chance last year and low and behold, they messed up again and would not own up to it.

I hope it would be noted that my feed store who ordered from them for years (for the 8 years I would go to them and who knows how much more), became fed up with Cackles lack of getting orders right and always lying to them told me they would be switching who they buy from in the future. My second feed store I go to refuses to buy from them. I hope those who had the huge amount of sick and dead turkeys should be noted... or those who had a problem with the neurological issues. We complain because the issues lie outside our control, and want others to know and be educated on what could possibly happen to them. Buyer beware with large hatcheries and shady breeders. Same with puppymills. Sure, you might always have good luck with getting a puppy from a petstore or a craigslist ad... but look at all the people who have sick and dead puppies because of it. We DO take those to heart, so why not CH? Pretty sure we don't want sick birds, and we don't want others to suffer or become inconvenienced because of it either.