MapleLaurelFarms
Songster
This has been a rough year for many hatcheries for a number of reasons, so I wanted to share our good experience with Valley Hatchery. I also mentioned our experience with Valley in a reply to another post, but I'll repeat some of it here so it will be easier to find in search and may help others.
I ordered back in February, and the earliest I could get shipment for my preferred breeds was early June. We have a risk of winter weather well into May, so this was fine with me. Our order shipped out exactly as promised on a Monday from a Valley hatchery in Ohio and arrived at our post office here in western North Carolina on Tuesday around noon. All of the chicks arrived in fantastic shape and are still healthy and thriving a week later.
And our French Cuckoo Marans have fuzzy feet!
I contacted Valley's customer service a couple of times with questions, and they were extremely helpful every time. When Valley notified me that my chicks had shipped, I didn't receive an actual UPS tracking number but a link to a tracking page on their website. We live in a small, rural area that is accustomed to dealing with chick shipments, so I called Valley to ask for the actual number to give to my postmaster who watches out for the shipment also. The representative was super friendly and glad to share it with me.
Valley couldn't ship one of the breeds that I ordered (quantity of 3), but hatcheries can't always control hatchings. They notified me at the time of shipping and immediately issued a refund. I wasn't charged a surcharge even though this dipped my chick number below the minimum 15. With the extras they sent, I still received 14.
For what it's worth, when I picked up my chicks, someone was also picking up a shipment that had just arrived from McMurray Hatchery. I heard a lot of peeping in her box, so I assume that she also had a good experience. In past years, we've also had good experiences with Mt Healthy (except for the sex-linked roo they accidentally sent me one year lol - but hey it happens).
There's always a risk with shipping chicks, and many on this forum have said that they would never order chicks from a hatchery. However, many more of us don't have any other options for sexed pullets or meat birds. Rural King, Tractor Supply, etc all have their chicks shipped. To get my chicks home as quickly as possible and to provide the best care available upon arrival and beyond, I simply choose to have them shipped directly to me.
We have meat birds arriving from Valley next month, so I hope and pray that we have just as much success with those. I'll try to remember to reply to this post in regards to that shipment, as well.
I ordered back in February, and the earliest I could get shipment for my preferred breeds was early June. We have a risk of winter weather well into May, so this was fine with me. Our order shipped out exactly as promised on a Monday from a Valley hatchery in Ohio and arrived at our post office here in western North Carolina on Tuesday around noon. All of the chicks arrived in fantastic shape and are still healthy and thriving a week later.
And our French Cuckoo Marans have fuzzy feet!
I contacted Valley's customer service a couple of times with questions, and they were extremely helpful every time. When Valley notified me that my chicks had shipped, I didn't receive an actual UPS tracking number but a link to a tracking page on their website. We live in a small, rural area that is accustomed to dealing with chick shipments, so I called Valley to ask for the actual number to give to my postmaster who watches out for the shipment also. The representative was super friendly and glad to share it with me.
Valley couldn't ship one of the breeds that I ordered (quantity of 3), but hatcheries can't always control hatchings. They notified me at the time of shipping and immediately issued a refund. I wasn't charged a surcharge even though this dipped my chick number below the minimum 15. With the extras they sent, I still received 14.
For what it's worth, when I picked up my chicks, someone was also picking up a shipment that had just arrived from McMurray Hatchery. I heard a lot of peeping in her box, so I assume that she also had a good experience. In past years, we've also had good experiences with Mt Healthy (except for the sex-linked roo they accidentally sent me one year lol - but hey it happens).
There's always a risk with shipping chicks, and many on this forum have said that they would never order chicks from a hatchery. However, many more of us don't have any other options for sexed pullets or meat birds. Rural King, Tractor Supply, etc all have their chicks shipped. To get my chicks home as quickly as possible and to provide the best care available upon arrival and beyond, I simply choose to have them shipped directly to me.
We have meat birds arriving from Valley next month, so I hope and pray that we have just as much success with those. I'll try to remember to reply to this post in regards to that shipment, as well.
