Cackle hatchery's Hatchery Surprise- Anybody got this before?

[WPFarmstead]

Was the scissor beak an easter egger? Because mine from there with scissor beak is an easter egger. Its still alive. If it gets that bad its getting processed.

No, the one that is really bad was a black and white polish and the one that is more minor is a white Jersey Giant or something similar.

 

[SportTees]

I ordered a hatchery surprise at the beginning of the year and I received all healthy birds. In the last few weeks I have saw several complaints about Cackle on here as well as on other sites. My question is could the problem be more the time of year than the hatchery. The birds I ordered from Ideal seemed of less quality when ordered in hotter weather also. It seems that the earlier you order birds the better off you are because they have more time before it gets hot to get immunity from things that may be in your ground. I'm not trying to question anyone's experiences but to me this seems logical

 

[Liddy]

I attribute my problems to the great distance the chicks traveled. I'm sure the speed with which they were moved along was a factor as well. They left Lebanon, MO Monday late in the day. They spent almost a whole day in KC, and then hurtled across the country and up to far northern Maine within another 24 hours. That's a lot of jostling in a short period of time.

And yesterday I was told that it's tough to get turkeys through the first 3 weeks, that they are touchy and often will just keel over dead. This came from a woman who has had lots of different types of poultry for years. Of course, today one of the poults died.

I now have three Royal Palms and one Blue Slate in with the chicklets.

 

[Quail Barn]

Oh my...It does look like Mr. Burns

 

[WPFarmstead]

I ordered a hatchery surprise at the beginning of the year and I received all healthy birds. In the last few weeks I have saw several complaints about Cackle on here as well as on other sites. My question is could the problem be more the time of year than the hatchery. The birds I ordered from Ideal seemed of less quality when ordered in hotter weather also. It seems that the earlier you order birds the better off you are because they have more time before it gets hot to get immunity from things that may be in your ground. I'm not trying to question anyone's experiences but to me this seems logical

I got mine in early-mid March. Our issues were with the birds getting chilled on the way here, not the heat. But, the biggest issue is the genetics, with cross beak birds showing up in several different and unrelated breeds.

 

[Spazzyyarn]

We ordered this yesterday and got a ship date of 6/6!!

 

[Smallfarminwisc]

I got my surprise box yesterday with rainbow pullets package, 15 of them.
I got 54, 3 of which are ducks and I am SO excited about that. So 69 total with the rainbow pullets. No DOA's none looked weak or seemed to have problems. I definitely cannot complain and am very happy with my purchase. I will probably need help identifying them though I keep changing my mind on what they could be

 

[popsicle]

I got mine in early-mid March. Our issues were with the birds getting chilled on the way here, not the heat. But, the biggest issue is the genetics, with cross beak birds showing up in several different and unrelated breeds.

Cross beak can also be caused by nutritional deficiencies or the chick's position in the egg--neither would be the hatchery's fault. If the issue is happening across various breeds, I'd personally suspect a nutritional deficiency (smaller or less assertive chicks not getting to feed perhaps?). If it was all within one breed, I'd suspect genetic.

I've gotten two cross beak birds from Cackle, a Sultan (this year) and a Columbian Rock (last year). I've gotten one cross beak from Ideal, a Kraienkoppe. I've gotten several Columbian Rocks from Cackle, only one had the issue. Same with Kraienkoppe. I've only had two Sultan from Cackle. I'd likely blame egg positioning or nutrition before the hatchery considering the fact that I've had only two birds out of 200+ with the issue. I can handle blaming myself for some issues with my birds.

Since cross beak develops over time, and is generally not noticeable at hatch, you can't blame the hatchery for failing to do whatever-they-do-with-malformed-chicks.

http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyard-chickens/chicken-help/Crossed-beak-overview-H254.aspx
Of course a hatchery would not like to take the blame for crossed beaks.

 

[Jayzandra]

I have been losing chicks at a prodgious rate! I suspect it has been the weak that just can't hold their own in a crowd. Not sure any of them would have made it if I had fewer to care for, since I have had help and we've done what we could. It seems as though I'm finding half a dozen still, cold little bodies morning and night. I'm darned tired of this! Is it the distance or is it the quality of birds? I have no idea, but I don't care. I'm not doing this again. It looks like I will have enough colored egg layers to keep me happy for a while, and the turkeys will fill the freezer nicely. I thought about this on my way to work yesterday morning...why do I have these birds? I figure my goal is egg production to sell, and breeding colored egg layers. I can do that with what I have at this point, and likely supplement my current flocks with local purchases. I see no need to put any birds (or me) through this kind of trauma again. Now, to put me in a better frame of mind, here are some of the chicks I have that are thriving! I only know what a few of them are. 1 2 A little smaller, lighter in color 3 Maybe Polish, but not as well-defined head puff 4 White Polish, with a very well-defined puff 5 This one has a pronounced breast, it's not just a huge crop 6. I have about a dozen of these 7. From the cheeks and beard, I deduce this is an EE 8. Same for this one, although the head is a lot puffier than #7 9 I have one of these. Spangled Hamburg? 10 The turkey poult was obviously not a chick. Looks to me like Mr Burns! I'll have to call another one Smithers.

Your #3 is a spitzenbaugh It sucks you had so many problems. I live in AZ and order every single year from them for about 6 years now and never have any problems. And the birds always gross up to be beautiful. We eat the roosters and sell off the hens we don't want to keep.

 

[Liddy]

Your #3 is a spitzenbaugh

It sucks you had so many problems. I live in AZ and order every single year from them for about 6 years now and never have any problems. And the birds always gross up to be beautiful. We eat the roosters and sell off the hens we don't want to keep.

And just what does a spitzenbaugh look like when grown?

I can't find it on the Cackle site.

I attribute the high mortality to the distance traveled and the stress of said trip. AZ is a darned sight closer to MO than is northern Maine. I've heard of USPS drivers who will wrap their own jackets around the box and run the heater on high to keep them warm in the cab of the truck, and others who toss them in the back without a second thought. Their care en route is really potluck.

My very first poultry purchase was straight run from TSC and I have only lost one hen, on the coldest morning in January 2015 when it got to -35. I ate the roos and the hens are still laying, although they have slacked off from their peak production. I need to figure out who the freeloaders are, and make stew.

I am happy to hear of the successes folks have had ordering from Cackle, but I fear the distance is just too far for me to chance it again.