Has anyone ever gotten a "bad batch" of chicks???? I would love to hear others input

[kimmyd77]

I have to say that I am so very disappointed in my purchase from my pet chicken. 4 weeks ago today 16 birds were shipped out to me. i received them on wednesday. one died in my hand as the others were coming out of the box. another died over that night a 3rd died that saturday. one week later another presented with a weird wart-like thing near here ear, then it spread through her whole body and she now has welts and had to be put on antibiotics for fowlpox. on thursday of last week when i checked them one was laying upside down being run over by everyone. turns out she can't walk. it progressively got worse. she had to be put down on Saturday. the little pox bird is now regressing and becoming more lethargic. I have never had chickens on my property and I can't imagine that all 5 birds got some sort of disease from this environment. I will have to say that I would never order birds from my pet chicken again and most likely will never order chick in the mail. this has been such a heart wrenching experience. my vet seems to think that since there has been such a high mortality rate and I have never had chickens before that something happened at the hatchery and I pretty much got a "bad batch" I have been assured that my pet chicken could never have sent me sick birds, which seems to me like not the honest truth. I know most people have had a good experience, but you should also hear the bad ones.

 

[Leighe]

Oh man....that's horrible. I've never heard of my pet chicken. I have friends that order theirs from Murray McMurray Hatchery. None of them have had a problem.....though I'm sure others may have along the way. Hopefully someone can come along and give some insight into what you and those chicks have been through. All of that might would scare me off, but if your heart is full of love and desire to raise chickens, please try again using suggestions from others here. Your compassion sounds like you'd make a great chicken owner.

 

[kimmyd77]

Thanks! I love these girls and I really want this to work out and be a fluke. It's just so unfortunate. I think that my pet chicken is some sort of distributer for Myers Hatchery and does not actually hatch the chicks. It's been so super sad and stressful. I am hoping that the ones who are healthy now remain healthy. Thanks for your words!!

-Kim

 

[nj2wv]

welcome to BYC !! so sorry for your loss. It does happen at times that you get a bad batch every hatch is different. I hope you have success in the survivors !!

 

[mymilliefleur]

Glad you joined us.

Sorry about your losses, it's possible that your chicks were stressed in transit which can cause a high mortality rate. Some times the post office workers are rough with the chicks, which can also cause things like this to happen. I hope your surviving chicks do fine!

 

[kimmyd77]

Thanks, mymilliefleur. The first 3 I might have been able to chalk up to stress, but these last two definitely had some sort of diseases. We have never had chickens and they have been inside or if outside caged no longer than an our or so. It just seems crazy that I have lost 5 out of 16 chicks. But, at this point I seem to have no recourse other than to hope the remaining 11 survive.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[drumstick diva]

How very sad. Have you complained to My Pet Chickens? If so what was their reply? I do know they get their chicks from another hatchery - birds are traveling twice, I assume. Not the best thing for very young chicks.

You may want to post on your state thread, you may find chicken folks near you - so you could see the birds first and bring them home with you. I would wait however to see what else may befall your chicks.