Cedar Creek Hatchery in Twin Lake, MI

[strawberryfields]

Kassaundra, It is all good.

 

[strawberryfields]

I too am wondering what I have here. We ordered French Silver Cuckoo Marans, California Greys and Barred Rocks, Speckled Sussex, Delawares, Super Bluebell layers plus some more. I have noticed some chicks have feathered legs, which was confusing but now I see that they are "French Silver Cuckoo Marans" and according to the brochure I got their French Silver Cuckoo Marans have feathered legs and is a rare variety. I sure hope they feather out nice.

I can also, at five weeks, already see I have a few roosters. Only time will tell how this all works out now.

 

[strawberryfields]

For what it is worth, I would also like to add that my four week old chicks are not thriving. I want to be sure to state that I have raised many, many, many chicks over the past twelve plus years. I have had very few losses over the years. These guys are not thriving. I start them out on a medicated starter and I purchase distilled water for them because our well water might be iffy. I have rarely had losses, but these guys seem to have some illness (respiratory?) and they are not nearly as active as they should be. I am really not happy. Suggestions would be appreciated, but I don't wonder if it has more to do with the stock I was given.

 

[TaytsFlock]

I only have one of the Cedar Creek chicks left, the rest died. But they seemed very uncomfortable from the time I got them. Like I said in a previous post, I think the atrocious packaging job aided in them getting mishandled by the USPS. Some of the chicks were having convulsions or seizures, and they were noisy like the temperature was wrong or they were without food or water... BUT they weren't, they had all the things they needed. I'm just glad the debacle is over. Just for the record, I received no refund for the dead loss. I've been ripped off for more than $50 before, but I hope others can learn from my mistake.

Strawberry,
I hope you make out alright with your chicks. Another symptom those chicks that died had is they would act kind of drunk or something, like they would have difficulty walking. They seemed to have a hard time keeping their eyes open also.

 

[strawberryfields]

TaytsFlock, I hope your one remaining chick does OK. I am so sorry for your losses. Praying for successes, but I am quite sure that birds that have so much trouble in the beginning also have trouble through the first winter. I am not hopeful, and yet I do have some that are doing pretty well. Others not so. I feel that truly healthy stock thrive throuhout the process of growing up and I am hesitant to lay blame, but I am concerned about these birds. I will keep this thread up to date as we go and I pray your chick does well!

 

[TaytsFlock]

Last one expired this morning, same symptoms, came on all of the sudden. Was perfectly healthy acting last night, I went down this morning and it was rolling on the floor having convulsions, and couldn't keep its eyes open. This may seem cruel, but in a way I'm almost glad that it passed. My daughter has other chicks in a separate coop, as these chicks would have eventually been integrated, I was concerned with what they could possibly take to the others. I told my daughter to let the dust settle for the rest of this year, just maintain what she has here (about 18 birds) and next year she could try to "add" again, next time from a REPUTABLE hatchery. Now I just have to keep the foxes out!!!!

I've read some problems with Cackle Hatchery birds, but have purchased there a total of 3X without a single loss, total of about 60 birds. I've ordered from Meyer once, no dead loss. Got 6 Buff Brahmas from Hoffman Hatchery this year, they are 5 weeks and doing great. If you are looking for some rarer breeds, my daughter got 8 Blue Laced Reds from H&H Heritage Rare Poultry, colors aren't quite as pretty as some of the BLR's I've seen, but still very pretty, and these people really do a great job shipping them to you. The birds were in top notch condition and they were like 6 weeks old. I've also ordered from Tractor Supply once, 25 birds of 5 different breeds, they all lived to maturity, but there was some dead loss once cold weather hit. The Tractor Supply birds weren't quite as lively as the other chicks we've gotten, but they all matured none the less. You are probably wondering, "Why has he tried so many different hatcheries?" Daughter likes a huge variety of breeds, so we have moved around to get what she wanted. From now on though sticking to who we've dealt with.

Good Luck Strawberry, hope this works out for you.

 

[DelcoChix]

Figured I'd update about my Cedar Creek chicks (MI)--received 22 live, healthy chicks on March 26--I'd ordered 20, two extras as insurance. Lost one the second night--first loss ever of a chick (only raised about 100 over the last 5 years), an unknown why.
BUT, they arrived when they were supposed to, and were all healthy and happy upon arrival.
Now, almost 13 weeks later, I have 18 very healthy, nice looking chicks--no, I didn't lose the last three--am trying to sell the cockerals and have sold three so far!
My order was supposed to be 5 Bluebells, 5 Ameraucanas, and 10 Wheaten and Blue Copper Marans mixed, hopefully 50/50. Yes, I paid for the "feather-sexing," first and last time I'll do that. BUT, they were upfront about it not being a sure thing. I was simply an optimist, hoping the odds would be higher pullet ratio over standard straight-run. They are not. I have 5 Marans cockerals, 3 Bluebell cockerals, possibly 4, and 1 Easter Egger cockeral with one more on the fence...so, I ended up with at least 9, possibly 11 cockerals out of 21 birds. Not a very good gamble--but I cannot really blame them--I was dumb enough to hope for better odds.
Here's my 2cents worth:
Pros:
*Nice variety of birds
*Prices in line with market
*Advertise breeder quality bloodlines
*When BCM's were not avail. on the hatchdate I wanted he offered to sub. the Blue and Wheatens at the lower BCM price--very reasonable.
*Responded to my inquiries with 48 hours--I like immediate response like everyone else in 2013, but let's be fair--they may have
outside jobs, and there's a lot of birds to take care of. He did respond.
*Healthy chicks shipped when promised.

Cons:
*"Feather sexing*--in my opinion, it is a farce. I know there are a couple of breeds that can be feather sexed with decent accuracy, but
overall if it does not have a better than 50% accuracy rate then it shouldn't be offered. Just my opinion.
*Pretty certain the "Ameraucanas" are really Easter Eggers. Ended up with green or yellow legs, four bearded (very nice beards) out
of five, and a variety of colors, not the usual Ameraucana colors...which is ok, they weren't expensive, BUT advertise them as EE's.
I was really hoping to get the blue eggs...
*Still don't know for sure what kind of bird I have for three of them. After three months I didn't think I'd feel so dumb. I know with the blue poultry you get splash, black and blue, but I'm still confused...here's what I'm talking about:

Thinking Bluebell--leaning towards cockeral...but the white bird on the left is a splash Bluebell--totally opposite. Yellow legs...what is it?



The next three, all boys (sigh), all Marans..the second one is a Blue Copper for sure, but what about this guy? Do Blues come in both types of coloration? I've searched for photos and haven't found anything definitive. His belly appears to be dark blue...or Black Copper? The third looked like a Blue Splash but now he has wheaten coloring coming in on his neck, with a few blue splash dots on his body.










That's my story...to summarize--not unhappy with health of the chicks, I sort of got what I expected, but have never had such uncertainty about what breeds or even genders that lasted so long. I will be contacting the hatchery to inquire about their thoughts on the above questions I have, so we'll see.

I'm sorry that you have had such poor, sad experiences with the chicks you ended up getting, That would really leave a sour taste...
but I think if it were me I would try to contact them one last time, just to advise of what happened--just to see what they'd say or do...if anything.

 

[Bird Nerd]

As a first time chicken owner (this is my first post too!) I ordered from Cedar Creek Hatchery because they were close and I only wanted 7 chicks, so I couldn't have them shipped. I was also impressed with their different breeds and the fact they say they were organic/gmo free birds. I ordered my chicks (1 Bluebell, 1 Silver Wyandotte, 1 Ameraucana, 1 Blacik Copper Marans, 1 Barred Rock, 1 Lavender Orpington, 1 Golden Comet) to pick up the first week of May. They were very helpful in my selecting the birds, and giving me advice as a first time owner what to get. They also responded within a day of any emails I sent. When we went to pick up the chicks, it was a large, noisy establishment and I thought it was a little weird we couldn't go past the fence and see all the different chickens. She told me that's not allowed, I guess they don't run a zoo so that was understandable. I received my 7 chicks, which they informed me when I got there they replaced 3 of them from what I ordered, so I got a French Wheaton Marans instead of the BCM, and a Speckled Sussex instead of the Wyandotte, and a Lemon Orpington instead of the Lavender. Not too big of a deal, and they assured me they were all females. The Marans was very weak in the box, and I mentioned it there that she didn't look so good, he told me she'd perk up, that she was a late hatcher. She didn't, within 24 hours she was dead. I contacted them and they offered a replacement from the same hatching, to pick up the beginning of the next week. That weekend I lost another chick, unknown why, she was acting fine and in the morning dead. I then ordered 2 more replacements and didn't think much of it. In total, I got 10 chicks from Cedar Creek 6 weeks ago and I now have 5. The fifth one passed yesterday. Being a first time owner, I may be to blame, but believe me I have researched chickens and raising chickens all winter. I was very prepared, they always had fresh food/water, the temperature was always just right, and my sister is a vet with chickens who has helped me. She is at a loss too as to why these chicks keep dying. We provided antibiotics when they started wheezing/acting weak, but they never revived. The remaining 5 (1 Bluebell (all white, no blue showing,) 1 Sussex, 1 FWMarans, 1 Ameraucana, 1 Barred Rock) seem to be doing fine, but so were the others, they just got weak and died within a couple days of showing symptoms.

My question: Could it be these are just weak chicks because of the breeder? Or is it normal to loose 5 chicks in 5 weeks? I am also worried there may be cockerels in the mix after reading they don't know how to sex them. I sure don't know!
Here is a picture of my remaining chicks in their brooder, they're being moved to the coop today!

 

[strawberryfields]

Losing five chicks in five weeks is not normal. It does happen sometimes, though. If you are giving them food and water and correct temps, then I would tend to assume the chicks are not of the highest quality to begin with. However, it is really hard to say because unless you have someone who can do an autopsy on the bird or have a vet do extensive testing, it would nearly impossible to say for sure why the birds have died.

Chickens can suffer from many illnesses or parasites, it really is better to get birds from experienced hatcheries, hatcheries have a lot of money and time invested in disease and parasite control.

I was there, too. I picked up my birds. I think they are nice people but next time I will stick to McMurray or some of the other hatcheries I have worked with before. I am guessing roughly half of my birds are showing themselves to be roosters.

If I am not mistaken, and I could be, that speckled sussex looks like a rooster to me.

@DelcoChix, those sure are pretty roosters. Those feather footed ones are maybe marans? Because the marans that Cedar Creek sells have feathered feet. They sure look like nice birds

 

[Bird Nerd]

Thanks for the input strawberryfields. It's nice to know it's not my fault! And I've learned my lesson.
DelcoChix does have pretty roosters! If mine turn out that pretty I won't want to part with them!