Cackle Hatchery reviews

[littleseed]

You were one of the few lucky ones. I am however very glad to hear you had a good experience!!

worst Hatchery I've ever dealt with in my life. I don't care about the birds and they certainly don't care about the customers. Even though I gave my address correctly and had the receipt to prove it they shipped my birds hundreds of miles away from my home because they put the wrong ZIP code on. They offered to replace them because these birds didn't try for 5 days in the sweltering heat and work course all dead. I let them replace them and they did the exact same thing. It took a long time to get a refund and I never got an apology or an email or a phone call from the owner at all even though I've taken 2 days off work because the shipping information told me when they arrive well they never did. Worst Hatchery hands down don't waste your time.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Worst hatchery I ever ordered from! Most were sick and deformed! Then died.

 

[Joshbaker8452]

I haven't yet but this will be my very first time buying from a hatchery online. I've read many good things about cackle and their price are good. I would like to know things such as, how are their shipping rates? If any? What is their minimum? How long for arrival?

 

[cooleo]

read all reviews before you order I've read some communication issues with correct phone numbers and names and ALWAYS KEEP NEW CHICKS SEPARATE FROM OTHER CHICKENS IF YOU HAVE ANY VERY VERY IMPORTANT also I would def have some coccidia medicine just in case to be honest when I ordered they got my name and phone number wrong took 2 days to get to post office call them they'll tell you all that cheap isn't everything promise my advice is always try to buy from farmers if not Read all reviews here Google Facebook pages and ask friends I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK

 

[Amelia Egghart]

I haven't yet but this will be my very first time buying from a hatchery online. I've read many good things about cackle and their price are good. I would like to know things such as, how are their shipping rates? If any? What is their minimum? How long for arrival?

Minimum is 3 pullets for $50 which includes shipping and Mareck's vaccination.

https://www.cacklehatchery.com/city-town-pullet-special-3.html

Then from their FAQ:
What is my estimated cost to ship baby chicks to me?
Here is a rough estimate of cost for shipping and handling: 15 baby chicks $19.05, 25 baby chicks $21.75, 50 baby chicks $28.50 and 100 baby chicks $42.00.

 

[mountainrun]

I've ordered from Cackle and been pleased. All chicks survived (including the "spares"), are healthy, no defects.

 

[TheMallons]

Knock on wood, but 18 months later, we still have all 12 chickens that we ordered from Cackle. They have been good, productive layers up to now, when they are going through their first molt, and are well tempered with us and each other. I have noticed some trends here with regard to the type of chickens ordered, I think. We have barred rock, NH Reds and Speckled Sussex, and I think Cackle is strong in those breeds. Our BR lay just huge eggs, beyond jumbo. Sometimes they don't fit in the carton. I also had occasion to call customer service during the ordering process (They sent a note saying that they didn't have what we had ordered for that date, and I needed to negotiate an alternative) and while it took a couple calls, everything was resolved satisfactorily and I got exactly what we had agreed on. Our chicks arrived healthy and peeping, in very cold weather.
We had ours immunized against Mareks, which I recommend, and we always treat prophalactically with Corid before putting them outside or earlier if they show signs of Coccidiosis. Important to keep Corid on hand!
Oh and regarding sexing: we ordered pullets, and didn't get a single roo. I was impressed at that; our prior feed store "pullets" had been about half male.

 

[Joshbaker8452]

Knock on wood, but 18 months later, we still have all 12 chickens that we ordered from Cackle. They have been good, productive layers up to now, when they are going through their first molt, and are well tempered with us and each other. I have noticed some trends here with regard to the type of chickens ordered, I think. We have barred rock, NH Reds and Speckled Sussex, and I think Cackle is strong in those breeds. Our BR lay just huge eggs, beyond jumbo. Sometimes they don't fit in the carton. I also had occasion to call customer service during the ordering process (They sent a note saying that they didn't have what we had ordered for that date, and I needed to negotiate an alternative) and while it took a couple calls, everything was resolved satisfactorily and I got exactly what we had agreed on. Our chicks arrived healthy and peeping, in very cold weather.
We had ours immunized against Mareks, which I recommend, and we always treat prophalactically with Corid before putting them outside or earlier if they show signs of Coccidiosis. Important to keep Corid on hand!
Oh and regarding sexing: we ordered pullets, and didn't get a single roo. I was impressed at that; our prior feed store "pullets" had been about half male.

that's very good to hear, I've also been looking at McMurray n Meyer but I just can't decide, this will be my first hatchery order ONLINE THAT WILL BE SHIPPED, which will also decide which I will continue to order from. What was the shipping cost of your pullets?

 

[Amelia Egghart]

I have seen orders from all three but they aren't equivalent. Cackle orders have been huge, MMM order was for 4 week olds and Meyer was a small group of 8 pullets. All arrived safe and sound. Cackle standard breeds have been the strongest, biggest and healthiest but ONLY straight run for rare breeds. MMM birds were acceptable but didn't stand out (apparently their Minorca is top notch though). Meyer birds were pretty, but small and sexing wasn't accurate.

What I order from Cackle: standard breed pullets (sussex, rock, easter egger, faverolle, new Hampshire, rir, dominique, etc). Straight Run long tails (Phoenix, yokohanas).

What I order from Meyer: sexed rare breeds that are just for fun.

What I would order from MMM: I'm curious about their Minorca.

Anyway, just my opinion. You can't really go wrong if you're just doing it for eggs and fun. If you're wanting to show, you can still start with hatchery stock, but it may take a few generations and lots of culling to get what you want. But it might not!

 

[meltel]

that's very good to hear, I've also been looking at McMurray n Meyer but I just can't decide, this will be my first hatchery order ONLINE THAT WILL BE SHIPPED, which will also decide which I will continue to order from. What was the shipping cost of your pullets?

I ordered from My Pet Chicken who gets their birds from meyer and I have been completely satisfied. All my birds from Cackle are smaller and more skittish (of the ones that survived-more than 50% died). I have never had to treat my birds from MPC with antibiotics-can't say the same for Cackle and their customer service was extremely poor. Shipping is more expensive from MPC but you can get smaller orders. If i order again I will most likely use meyer or MPC-nice strong good tempered birds and good customer service.