Hatcheries in Comparison

[Pampered Hen]

I'm curious what you all have to say about the following Hatcheries in regards to chick survival rate and overall health and quality of the chickens:
McMurray
Meyer
Ideal

Thanks!

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

Welcome to BYC!
We have only used Cackle Hatchery and have had great luck with them. As with any hatchery, you will get the good and bad stories. When looking for hatchery chicks, we found that Murray and Ideal were more expensive, both for their chicks and also for their shipping.

 

[D Bar J Acres]

I'm trying McMurray this year for the first time, so have my fingers crossed. This is my experience with other hatcheries....

Cackle - won't ever order again, even with a delayed shipment, all chicks survived (in 0 degree weather), but I had to put down 2 EEs due to something just "wrong" with them by one week of age. The other 6 EEs had twisted toes. The 15 Wyandottes were terribly wild and a few had single combs. A friend ordered Barred Rocks and Orps from them last year and they were very small birds.

Privett - I ordered 6 Cayuga ducks which were as wild as a banshee from day one (I understand not normal Cayuga temperment) and one had it's eye squished out from when it was sexed and 4 of the 6 had angel wing as young adults. They weren't too happy about refunding me on that duckling with the squashed eye as they said "it's still alive, right?" Yes, but you guys shipped me a one eyed duck! I also ordered 10 broilers with that order and all died w/in one week. Privett is who drop ships for Welp.

Ideal - tried them in 3/08 for my "dream" chickens of Orloffs and Buckeyes. They arrived in 2 days, but all the holes on the box were punched out and there was only one "strap" around the box. Over half of the order was dead - all 8 of the orloffs and 2 of the 5 buckeyes. Of course the Barred Rock packing peanuts were fine. So, did they ship them that way or did the post office employees do something to the box along the way? Who knows. They refunded all my money promptly. I think they are just too far to order in as early as I do. I am getting goslings and ducklings from them in late March.

I've gone the "private" hatchery way too and used Gordie. I live just 20 miles away so go there. I've had problems with every single chick I've gotten from him. Last year the orloffs I got from him in place of the ideal ones, all 7 ended up with crossed beaks and the blue orps ended up being some sort of splash game bird cross and 2 chicks I put down at 4 weeks old as they never grew any feathers. I've got more opinions on that, but won't place "speculation" on a public forum. Gordie is a nice guy tho.

I got broilers from Meyer in May 08. Excellent, super healthy birds. 26/26 lived.

 

[Country Guy John]

I ordered 20 pullets and 5 cockerals barred rocks from Cackle in April of 2008 and I was very please all survived and I did not lose a single bird. They started laying at exactly 20 weeks and have continued to lay even during the shorter days and colder temperatures.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I think anyone ordering chicks to be shipped should consider the prevalent temperature at the time of shipment. If it is to cold or too hot it is going to impact the chicks. Even if the shipper makes every effort to keep the chicks at optimum temperature. The other thing I would consider is how long the chicks have to travel in order to get to your brooder. I would opt the shorted time period.
Backyard chicken keeping is a relatively new developement and neither the hachteries nor veterinary care has caught up the difference in care that we demand.

 

[fasbendera]

I've used McMurray for the past three years and a friend of mine has used it for much longer. No complaints. I wish they had pictures of real birds in their catalog. The sales people are extremely helpful. I was looking for another hatchery to get more variety but from what I have seen on the internet pages of those suggested McMurray is right up there if not better.

 

[pascopol]

Quote:
Absolutely right!

There is no "best" or "worst" hatchery.

Big hatcheries are selling millions of chicks per season.

If your chicks arrive dead or whatsoever, most likely US Post Office caused it, they most mishandled them or killed them by pure carelessness and neglegience.

I was a seller on Ebay for 10 years, shipped 1000's of items, nothing live though.

US Post Office misdelivered, lost, or returned hundreds of my shipments, some of them were run over by Postal Truck (tire marks on the returned package).

Guess who was to blame 100% of time??

Of course ME ,

not USPS, they are fricken sacred unionized cows, they will never addmit to do anything wrong, and they are always right.

So next time you blame a particular hatchery or any other merchant for your mishandled or dead chicks blame US POST OFFICE first !!!!!!

 

[kees]

Quote:
Absolutely right!

There is no "best" or "worst" hatchery.

Big hatcheries are selling millions of chicks per season.

If your chicks arrive dead or whatsoever, most likely US Post Office caused it, they most mishandled them or killed them by pure carelessness and neglegience.

I was a seller on Ebay for 10 years, shipped 1000's of items, nothing live though.

US Post Office misdelivered, lost, or returned hundreds of my shipments, some of them were run over by Postal Truck (tire marks on the returned package).

Guess who was to blame 100% of time??

Of course ME ,

not USPS, they are fricken sacred unionized cows, they will never addmit to do anything wrong, and they are always right.

So next time you blame a particular hatchery or any other merchant for your mishandled or dead chicks blame US POST OFFICE first !!!!!!

I've had good experiences as well as bad experiences with shipping companies.

Once I was in a car going to JFK airport. In front of me, there was an airline vehicle carrying peoples' luggage. I was horrified to see that suitcases were bouncing off! I remember thinking that the driver must have heard a thumping noise because traffic can't go quickly up a curved ramp.

I'm no longer sure if I sure mark packages that are sent with the word "FRAGILE" anymore because they are often not handled with care. Sometimes I've found boxes or packages that were marked "FRAGILE" that were thrown onto my concrete stoop.

However, whenever I've notified my local post office that I'm expecting some chickens in the mail they are wonderful about making sure that the chickens are safe. The last time that I had some delivered, I was called on a Sunday; went to the post office and saw a postal truck that ONLY carried the chickens!

Now that's service!

As in any profession, there are the good and bad eggs (pun intended).

 

[jhudson]

I have ordered from Ideal many times and have been very happy. I had a problem last year, but they were very quick to fix it. Their customer service is wonderful. I live in VA, and I just received an order this past Thursday. They ere shipped on Wednesday and got here in a day. I have never had any problems with dead chicks arriving. A Lot of times the shipper gets blamed for the handling of the postal service.

 

[dawg53]

I have ordered from meyer,ideal and mypetchicken with no problems whatsoever.