We ordered 30 Cochins of different colors and 6 Sultans chicks all from Murray McMurray Hatcheries.... they were shipped 2/11, last Saturday and have not yet arrived... fear they are dead ... called McMurray and they have already placed a replacement order due to arrive next Tuesday, the 21st ... they have asked for a call 'when and if' the original order arrives .......I really don't want that order as am sure it won't be pretty...... we ordered from McMurray last year for guineas and a few didn't make it..but otherwise the younguns' were fine.... Just sharing.....don't know but feel bad for the first batch of babies...
Same thing happend to me last week. My order was due to arrive on the 6th, didnt arrive til the 8th. So MM sent another order this week and THEY still havent arrive. I am so upset!!!!!!!! This is over 60 chicks DEAD!!!! So order that havent arrive. I dont know what to do.
My first order from McMurray arrived late and DEAD, well one survived. They send a replacement order. They were due yesterday, still not here today. They too will arrive DEAD. I will never order from McMurray again. I recommend that you avoid this hatchery. I'm looking for a hatchery in Kentucky.
I seriously doubt the problem is with the hatchery. You're shipping chicks across the country in winter and the postal service consists of unheated trucks, unheated airplanes and some people along the way that just don't care. Wait until the weather warms up, or find a hatchery in your state that you can drive to and pick up.
You seriously can't blame this on the hatchery!! I have had nothing but good luck with McMurray but the postal service???? Now that's a whole different story, especially beings they have made so many changes as far as delivery times for first class/priority shipping.
Ive also had excellent service with MMH. I think the problem lays not with them but with the postal service and the weather. The hatchery has no control over either....
seriously folks, every hatchery shipping chicks in February will have problems with the PO. For the Kentucky poster, if you want to insure they survive, get in your car and drive to Iowa. Not being sarcastic but the only way to guarantee that the chicks won't sit out in some mail container is to transport them yourself. Not bashing the PO, I've always gotten my chicks from MM and they have arrived on the 2nd day. We could fill up the pages with shipping problems in Feb, part of this is your responsibility also. I'd love to get chicks now but I'm realistic enough to know they wouldn't make the trip in the middle of winter. Wait for it to warm up a bit and they'll be fine. I heard these same complaints last fall when it was a heat wave down there. Chicks don't do great in to cold or to hot, you need to time your order to arrive in moderate temps. Yes, you may have to order in December like I did to get what you want when you want.
I live west of MMcM in SD, and I can tell you that after a relatively mild winter, this area did receive a couple days of wicked cold and snow. It's warmer and melting now, but I can see why MMC customers would have had bad luck last week. Not only do you have to pay attention to your own weather, but also that of the hatchery/breeder the eggs are coming from...is it too cold for MMcM, or too hot for Ideal? I can't imagine how hard that has to be farther south as you're watching spring coming around the corner while waiting for Iowa to warm up! I have to literally slap my own hands away from the "order" button while there are snow drifts outside in Jan! Watching the grass green up while waiting to order would be enough to drive me 'round the bend! But yeah, ordering from the Great White North can be really tricky this time of the year. I watch for the weather to start hanging out in the 40's, get my order in, and pray!! It's worked so far, and I hope my luck holds out...eggs are finally coming this week, and my MMcM order is coming in next week!
you called it EXACTLY right. I live in Texas and that was the ordeal we were under too. It was such a mild winter so we thought it would be fine.. then bam. Of course. But if we waited the only other shipping time would have been in AUGUST. Well... that woudlnt work obviously. Its hard to predict what the weather is going to do.
Yep, it's nothing if not tricky. It was sooo temping to order early, even up here. We were having days in the 50's, but I could see in the extended forecast that it was trending a bit colder, so I held off on picking a date. It was hard, and as a result, I'll not get the Delawares I'd wanted until much later, but I'm glad I did. With that cold snap we got, the only way they'd have made it alive is if I'd made the trip to the hatchery. I could have been smart and chosen a delivery date in late March or April, but, 1) smart is overrated, and 2) after a rough two years and no chickens, I don't think my nervous system could have handled it...lol!!! So yeah, I took an informed gamble, dodged a bullet in the form of a butt-numbing cold front, and am waiting with crossed fingers!
