Cedar Creek Hatchery in Twin Lake, MI

[strawberryfields]

Yes, I got a partial order. Now this up and coming week will be week four. She did call me and left a message that she will try her best to fulfill the order this up and coming week. I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet, though. So we shall see.

Maybe you could post pictures of your chicks in "What Breed or Gender is This"? Give a little back ground on them just like you did here People generally love to help and there are some really good people here who will be happy to help you identify what you have. You are correct though, having ordered the blues, it might be hard to tell for awhile yet. It will especially be exciting to see the eggs they lay !

I bet your chickens are really pretty! I would enjoy pictures, too !

Yes, live and learn I guess. I am mostly annoyed with myself because I should have known better, but I had been intrigued by the hatchery for a while.

Thanks so much for your nice notes and well wishes! I hope you are really pleased with your end results. You might be able to get good money for some of those roosters given where you purchased them and that the marans are so popular now, and you have such beautiful colors! Very nice !

 

[TaytsFlock]

Anyone thinking of using this hatchery needs to read this, sorry for it being long winded. It will give you the information you need to know about Cedar Creek.

Add me to the list. I was a little skeptical, but my 7 year old daughter wanted Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, after her flock was destroyed by a fox. So I had seen this hatchery before and I bought without doing enough research. I contacted Cedar Creek to check availability of the chicks. Reply... "Could have them in 3 weeks" I added some other less expensive breeds to the 5 BLR's to fulfill the 15 chick minimum. I was emailed a ship date. Ship date came and went, didn't hear a thing. I emailed for status of my order. Got a call the next day while I was a work, garbled voice message received, but I thought it was basically saying that my order would be sent out next week. So I tried on multiple occasions to call back as the voice message had stated if there are any questions please call back. Finally on the 4th attempt I left a message with my work hours and 2 separate phone numbers to contact me at. Next day I received a call (during my work hours that I had specified not to calll in the message) verifying that they didn't have the BLR, but they should next week. OK. No problem, but I did attempt to call multiple more times. I should note my daughter had already gotten impatient and bought 10 birds locally cause of the wait, standard breeds

Well the following week came, and I received a phone call with a tracking number. The call came during those hours that I had told them I worked, but I happened to be on break when the call came in so I answered, but was short on time. Besides the tracking number she told me... they couldn't fulfill the BLR's, gonna refund me the money. Frustrated since this was the only reason I ordered from them, but things happen so I just figured "My daughter will have 10 new birds even though they weren't what she wanted". . Anyways I asked what exactly they had shipped. Only then did she tell me... "The other breeds I had ordered, and a few of the substitutes". I had listed one substitute breed, but had stated "few", and not for the BLR's. I came home from work and told my daughter, "Your birds will be here tomorrow, I won't be able to pick them up in the morning, when the post office calls I will instruct them to just deliver them, but you and your brother be sure to answer the door, the mail lady usually comes around 11 a.m."

Delivery day comes and sure enough post office calls. I told them to Proceed as previously stated. I call my son, who is 13 and extremely responsible for his age by the way, let him know and he says "OK". Told him I'll be home at lunch, right around the time they get there. Well the mail lady comes and my son is greeted at the door with "Here are you chicks, I hope some of them made it, there are definitely some that didn't" Son calls me, he doesn't really want to mess with them as he says "not sure how many are dead a few are moving in that box, but it stinks terrible. I told him "No Problem already on my way home, just passed the mail lady." First thing I see on the box when I get home is that of the birds I ordered only 5 were shipped, the other 7 were the subs that I had stated a "few" would be OK. The smell is horrid, but I open the box to find 3 birds that had to be dead from almost the time they were shipped as they were just a mess, those were the smelly ones. Then 2 birds that appeared to have died more recently. The last casualty was unable to walk and on its last few breaths, which I had to explain to my daughter needed to be euthanized as it had no chance. So the survivors consisted of 1 bird I ordered, and 5 of the subs. I immediately attempted to call Cedar Creek, no answer. So I emailed, got a reply later that evening. Refund would be dependent on calling the Post Office and verifying dead loss.

Well that's where I stand today. I'm not expecting to ever see a refund as my son didn't open the box in front of the mail lady. I didn't expect so many problems. We've received over 60 chicks in the last 3 years prior to this with not a single injury or death via USPS. So I did make the mistake of assuming there wouldn't be many problems. I do take partial responsibility, I should have told him to verify what was alive in front of the mail lady. I also should have clarified that a few substitutes didn't mean 75% of the order!!! But still feel the Hatchery is mostly at fault and a substantial refund should be made.

I can tell you however that in the short time of speaking to Cedar Creek, they have very poor communication and customer service. You won't get a hold of them via phone. Their shipping methods are extremely poor, just a plain flat rate Postal Box with a few holes in it. I would lean towards there being some health issues with some of their chicks, as it is awfully odd that of the 3 breeds shipped to me, only one had a good mortality rate over 2 days. Also, I did research after these problems. Kind of like buying fire insurance for your house after it burned to the ground, right? As previously stated they have an "F" at Better Business Bureau. I looked up 5 other hatcheries, the lowest rating aside from Cedar Creek was a "B+". Also, I found this thread... So, If I should to my surprise receive a refund of more than just the BLR's I'll be sure to post, but my recommendation is to avoid this mess of a so called hatchery at all costs.

 

[TaytsFlock]

As of Day 3 of receiving the chicks... Only 3 left. That's a 75% mortality rate.

 

[strawberryfields]

I didn't really look to trash them. I was looking for confirmation of my thoughts. I hope to educate other people who want to breed chickens that excite them that feather sexing is a myth. Nothing more, nothing less. I am absolutely appalled by the number of people who blindly believe that feather sexing is accurate. It is NOT! Do the research and do not rely on these forums for your answers. Today everyone seems to be looking for a quick fix rather than learning how to vent sex, which, when done properly has the highest percentage success rate. It is absolutley horrifying to me that so many people latch upon this idea of feather sexing and don't let go of it.

The woman at Cedar Creek Hatchery actually lied to me and said she spoke with Townline Hatchery and said Townline Hatchery told her they feather sex. I knew then she was lying when she told me that because I have also had several conversations with Townline Hatchery and I am aware there are a few breeds of chickens that can be sexed by their feathers but they are sex linked varieties, NOT THE NORM.

No legitimate hatchery would feather sex.

Feather sexing is only legitimate when sexing certain sex linked chickens that were bred for the purpose. Kind of like some breeds, like black stars for example, or comets, for example that can be sexed at birth because of the color they are hatched at. Let me continue... for example, female ISA's are golden as opposed to white. That is a sex link chicken. You can buy straight runs at your local feed store, but HONEST feed stores only sell pullets of sex linked varieties. They will not try to sell you the roosters of sex linked varieties, unless they have clearly marked them as straight run - buyer beware!!!

That is my gripe with Cedar Creek. Because they are not being honest with many people who probably don't know the difference anyway, and they may themselves not know the difference. It doesn't matter. The problem is that they are selling themselves as a hatchery but they don't have all the information themselves to maintain a quality hathchery, and there for the birds they sell are questionable.

Are they knowledgeable enough to sell quality well bred stock? They may have spent big bucks on quality stock, but do they have the knowledge it takes to produce quality stock?

That is my question!

 

[strawberryfields]

@taytsflock - Are you keeping your chicks under a heat lamp and making sure it is neither too hot or too cold for them? Are you feeding them a good quality chick starter? Good quality water is also essential, and some people even use electrolytes. I don't usually use electrolytes but many people I know have had good luck with them. The sort of mortality rates you speak of are very high. In my past experience the sorts of mortality incidences you are speaking of only stem from very, very, very long shipping times. Like if you didn't get your chicks for three or four days after shipping. When ever I order chicks online I specify 24 hour shipping because otherwise the chicks seem to suffer. Beyond that it could be anyones guess, though I have found the post office really does try to make sure the chicks arrive safely.

 

[abmaddox1981]

That is ****** rediculous! I don't think I could ever deal with a hatchery like these people. Stuff like this is why I was terrified to order birds and have them shipped. I was looking for Silver Gray Dorkings and (of course there are no breeders in Georgia) so I took a chance and ordered from Murray McMurray. We ordered 20 SGD 15 pullets, 5 roos and we were told we'd be getting one "free bonus" chick. We were told shipping would take a full 3 days because they're in Iowa (I think). The order got to the post office Memorial Day and we got them the next day. As it turned out, they sent us 2 free chicks (both of which I have NO idea what they are) and the 20 SGD. I now have 22 healthy chickies in my brooder! I had been looking on here for other hatcheries, but after reading this, I am totally sticking with Murray! I am soooo sorry you had to deal with this!

Anyone thinking of using this hatchery needs to read this, sorry for it being long winded. It will give you the information you need to know about Cedar Creek.

Add me to the list. I was a little skeptical, but my 7 year old daughter wanted Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, after her flock was destroyed by a fox. So I had seen this hatchery before and I bought without doing enough research. I contacted Cedar Creek to check availability of the chicks. Reply... "Could have them in 3 weeks" I added some other less expensive breeds to the 5 BLR's to fulfill the 15 chick minimum. I was emailed a ship date. Ship date came and went, didn't hear a thing. I emailed for status of my order. Got a call the next day while I was a work, garbled voice message received, but I thought it was basically saying that my order would be sent out next week. So I tried on multiple occasions to call back as the voice message had stated if there are any questions please call back. Finally on the 4th attempt I left a message with my work hours and 2 separate phone numbers to contact me at. Next day I received a call (during my work hours that I had specified not to calll in the message) verifying that they didn't have the BLR, but they should next week. OK. No problem, but I did attempt to call multiple more times. I should note my daughter had already gotten impatient and bought 10 birds locally cause of the wait, standard breeds

Well the following week came, and I received a phone call with a tracking number. The call came during those hours that I had told them I worked, but I happened to be on break when the call came in so I answered, but was short on time. Besides the tracking number she told me... they couldn't fulfill the BLR's, gonna refund me the money. Frustrated since this was the only reason I ordered from them, but things happen so I just figured "My daughter will have 10 new birds even though they weren't what she wanted". . Anyways I asked what exactly they had shipped. Only then did she tell me... "The other breeds I had ordered, and a few of the substitutes". I had listed one substitute breed, but had stated "few", and not for the BLR's. I came home from work and told my daughter, "Your birds will be here tomorrow, I won't be able to pick them up in the morning, when the post office calls I will instruct them to just deliver them, but you and your brother be sure to answer the door, the mail lady usually comes around 11 a.m."

Delivery day comes and sure enough post office calls. I told them to Proceed as previously stated. I call my son, who is 13 and extremely responsible for his age by the way, let him know and he says "OK". Told him I'll be home at lunch, right around the time they get there. Well the mail lady comes and my son is greeted at the door with "Here are you chicks, I hope some of them made it, there are definitely some that didn't" Son calls me, he doesn't really want to mess with them as he says "not sure how many are dead a few are moving in that box, but it stinks terrible. I told him "No Problem already on my way home, just passed the mail lady." First thing I see on the box when I get home is that of the birds I ordered only 5 were shipped, the other 7 were the subs that I had stated a "few" would be OK. The smell is horrid, but I open the box to find 3 birds that had to be dead from almost the time they were shipped as they were just a mess, those were the smelly ones. Then 2 birds that appeared to have died more recently. The last casualty was unable to walk and on its last few breaths, which I had to explain to my daughter needed to be euthanized as it had no chance. So the survivors consisted of 1 bird I ordered, and 5 of the subs. I immediately attempted to call Cedar Creek, no answer. So I emailed, got a reply later that evening. Refund would be dependent on calling the Post Office and verifying dead loss.

Well that's where I stand today. I'm not expecting to ever see a refund as my son didn't open the box in front of the mail lady. I didn't expect so many problems. We've received over 60 chicks in the last 3 years prior to this with not a single injury or death via USPS. So I did make the mistake of assuming there wouldn't be many problems. I do take partial responsibility, I should have told him to verify what was alive in front of the mail lady. I also should have clarified that a few substitutes didn't mean 75% of the order!!! But still feel the Hatchery is mostly at fault and a substantial refund should be made.

I can tell you however that in the short time of speaking to Cedar Creek, they have very poor communication and customer service. You won't get a hold of them via phone. Their shipping methods are extremely poor, just a plain flat rate Postal Box with a few holes in it. I would lean towards there being some health issues with some of their chicks, as it is awfully odd that of the 3 breeds shipped to me, only one had a good mortality rate over 2 days. Also, I did research after these problems. Kind of like buying fire insurance for your house after it burned to the ground, right? As previously stated they have an "F" at Better Business Bureau. I looked up 5 other hatcheries, the lowest rating aside from Cedar Creek was a "B+". Also, I found this thread... So, If I should to my surprise receive a refund of more than just the BLR's I'll be sure to post, but my recommendation is to avoid this mess of a so called hatchery at all costs.

 

[Kassaundra]

Anyone thinking of using this hatchery needs to read this, sorry for it being long winded. It will give you the information you need to know about Cedar Creek.

Add me to the list. I was a little skeptical, but my 7 year old daughter wanted Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, after her flock was destroyed by a fox. So I had seen this hatchery before and I bought without doing enough research. I contacted Cedar Creek to check availability of the chicks. Reply... "Could have them in 3 weeks" I added some other less expensive breeds to the 5 BLR's to fulfill the 15 chick minimum. I was emailed a ship date. Ship date came and went, didn't hear a thing. I emailed for status of my order. Got a call the next day while I was a work, garbled voice message received, but I thought it was basically saying that my order would be sent out next week. So I tried on multiple occasions to call back as the voice message had stated if there are any questions please call back. Finally on the 4th attempt I left a message with my work hours and 2 separate phone numbers to contact me at. Next day I received a call (during my work hours that I had specified not to calll in the message) verifying that they didn't have the BLR, but they should next week. OK. No problem, but I did attempt to call multiple more times. I should note my daughter had already gotten impatient and bought 10 birds locally cause of the wait, standard breeds

Well the following week came, and I received a phone call with a tracking number. The call came during those hours that I had told them I worked, but I happened to be on break when the call came in so I answered, but was short on time. Besides the tracking number she told me... they couldn't fulfill the BLR's, gonna refund me the money. Frustrated since this was the only reason I ordered from them, but things happen so I just figured "My daughter will have 10 new birds even though they weren't what she wanted". . Anyways I asked what exactly they had shipped. Only then did she tell me... "The other breeds I had ordered, and a few of the substitutes". I had listed one substitute breed, but had stated "few", and not for the BLR's. I came home from work and told my daughter, "Your birds will be here tomorrow, I won't be able to pick them up in the morning, when the post office calls I will instruct them to just deliver them, but you and your brother be sure to answer the door, the mail lady usually comes around 11 a.m."

Delivery day comes and sure enough post office calls. I told them to Proceed as previously stated. I call my son, who is 13 and extremely responsible for his age by the way, let him know and he says "OK". Told him I'll be home at lunch, right around the time they get there. Well the mail lady comes and my son is greeted at the door with "Here are you chicks, I hope some of them made it, there are definitely some that didn't" Son calls me, he doesn't really want to mess with them as he says "not sure how many are dead a few are moving in that box, but it stinks terrible. I told him "No Problem already on my way home, just passed the mail lady." First thing I see on the box when I get home is that of the birds I ordered only 5 were shipped, the other 7 were the subs that I had stated a "few" would be OK. The smell is horrid, but I open the box to find 3 birds that had to be dead from almost the time they were shipped as they were just a mess, those were the smelly ones. Then 2 birds that appeared to have died more recently. The last casualty was unable to walk and on its last few breaths, which I had to explain to my daughter needed to be euthanized as it had no chance. So the survivors consisted of 1 bird I ordered, and 5 of the subs. I immediately attempted to call Cedar Creek, no answer. So I emailed, got a reply later that evening. Refund would be dependent on calling the Post Office and verifying dead loss.

Well that's where I stand today. I'm not expecting to ever see a refund as my son didn't open the box in front of the mail lady. I didn't expect so many problems. We've received over 60 chicks in the last 3 years prior to this with not a single injury or death via USPS. So I did make the mistake of assuming there wouldn't be many problems. I do take partial responsibility, I should have told him to verify what was alive in front of the mail lady. I also should have clarified that a few substitutes didn't mean 75% of the order!!! But still feel the Hatchery is mostly at fault and a substantial refund should be made.

I can tell you however that in the short time of speaking to Cedar Creek, they have very poor communication and customer service. You won't get a hold of them via phone. Their shipping methods are extremely poor, just a plain flat rate Postal Box with a few holes in it. I would lean towards there being some health issues with some of their chicks, as it is awfully odd that of the 3 breeds shipped to me, only one had a good mortality rate over 2 days. Also, I did research after these problems. Kind of like buying fire insurance for your house after it burned to the ground, right? As previously stated they have an "F" at Better Business Bureau. I looked up 5 other hatcheries, the lowest rating aside from Cedar Creek was a "B+". Also, I found this thread... So, If I should to my surprise receive a refund of more than just the BLR's I'll be sure to post, but my recommendation is to avoid this mess of a so called hatchery at all costs.

Just curious are you dealing w/ the Cedar Creek the OP is asking about in WI, or a diff. one in a different state? I ask b/c your story is eeryly (sp) similar to mine and the statement of "verifying with the post office" made me twitch w/ PTSD over the memory of my odeal, but my Cedar Creek was in a diff state then the OP's.

 

[strawberryfields]

Most hatcheries are quite dependable. Especially Murray McMurray.

@ Kassaundra - I am the original poster. What hatchery do you refer to in Wisconsin? The one I am referring to is clearly stated in the post, has nothing to do with WI whatsoever!!!

 

[TaytsFlock]

ChickMama,
The one I am dealing with is in Michigan.

Strawberryfields,
They have a heat lamp, the temperature has been 95 degrees for them since I got them. I've raised closed to 100 chicks in the past 5 years without incident. I've ordered from both McMurray and Cackle without incident. I'm down to 3 of the 12 birds they sent now. I've researched their symptoms some over the weekend, and my best guess is the box was badly mishandled at sometime. They show symptoms of internal organ and brain swelling. As a former USPS employee I do know they try their best to not damage live shipments, but you to make it know to them it is a "live shipment". Writing "Lives" on the side of the box, not even the top, approxmately 1 1/2 inches tall and 3 inches long just doesn't cut it. They are in such a hurry they don't see it. My beef with Cedar Creek is they don't ship what you ordered, and their packaging method is a joke. Whomever mentioned they were lied to, I wasn't lied to, but they certainly made sure I didn't realize what I was gonna be getting until the chicks were already here.

 

[Kassaundra]

Most hatcheries are quite dependable. Especially Murray McMurray.

@ Kassaundra - I am the original poster. What hatchery do you refer to in Wisconsin? The one I am referring to is clearly stated in the post, has nothing to do with WI whatsoever!!!

Sorry I misremembered thought you had said WI. I did not go back and look at the state before posting. The one I had dealings with was not MI, it was a completely diff. state. I didn't post details about it b/c I knew it was a diff. hatchery then you were posting about and didn't want anyone to think I was posting about the same Cedar Creek you had the issue with. When I read the one comment it was so similar I thought it might have been the one I had dealings with but it was not. I am sorry for misremembering the state and not double checking before posting.