- Mar 31, 2015
- 91
- 302
- 151
I've had chickens over 8 year and I'm by no means an expert compared to a lot of people on here but I got some of this chicken math figured out or so I think.
I've had quite a few batches of meat birds as I like to do 2 batches a year. I usually order from ideal or McMurray for meat birds and egg layers. I've had very few deaths upon arrival which is an exception. Fast forward to this summer and no one has meat birds available for the time frame I needed. I live rural so getting them local isn't an option and when it is , they go within hours. And then I see tractor supply online has 10 for $25. Red flag number 1. I think cool so I order them, it was pretty simple. The only odd thing was I didn't get to pick a ship date. This was a Monday, so I called up the hatchery and they said they would ship the following Monday. The next Monday comes around and no shipping notification. They didn't end up shipping until Wednesday. They arrived Friday morning around 3 am at the post office. I called at 5 am and they post master is really worried, there's no noise coming from the box. so I drive like crazy because I'm over 30 minutes away. I get the box and most are dead. :-(. looks like they had been dead quiet some time, didn't smell good. Some died before I got home, I managed to revive 3 but well see. they are so small. I think what I'm most mad about is the lack of care in these birds. I understand accidents happen but it seems like this is a factory hatchery and they just don't care. I didn't do my homework and I went with the good reviews on tractor supplies site. Digging deeper there's a lot of people who receive dead shipments from this company and not very quality birds. It was just heartbreaking to get the box yesterday. nothing should suffer like that.
I got a refund but it does me no good to raise 3 meat birds. I started calling around and no one had any. by dumb luck I found a place 40 minutes away that had 10 left and they would hold them for me, paid way too much. They were received yesterday morning, so same age, and they are way bigger then the ones from hoover leaving me to wonder if they are even meat birds.
I've had quite a few batches of meat birds as I like to do 2 batches a year. I usually order from ideal or McMurray for meat birds and egg layers. I've had very few deaths upon arrival which is an exception. Fast forward to this summer and no one has meat birds available for the time frame I needed. I live rural so getting them local isn't an option and when it is , they go within hours. And then I see tractor supply online has 10 for $25. Red flag number 1. I think cool so I order them, it was pretty simple. The only odd thing was I didn't get to pick a ship date. This was a Monday, so I called up the hatchery and they said they would ship the following Monday. The next Monday comes around and no shipping notification. They didn't end up shipping until Wednesday. They arrived Friday morning around 3 am at the post office. I called at 5 am and they post master is really worried, there's no noise coming from the box. so I drive like crazy because I'm over 30 minutes away. I get the box and most are dead. :-(. looks like they had been dead quiet some time, didn't smell good. Some died before I got home, I managed to revive 3 but well see. they are so small. I think what I'm most mad about is the lack of care in these birds. I understand accidents happen but it seems like this is a factory hatchery and they just don't care. I didn't do my homework and I went with the good reviews on tractor supplies site. Digging deeper there's a lot of people who receive dead shipments from this company and not very quality birds. It was just heartbreaking to get the box yesterday. nothing should suffer like that.
I got a refund but it does me no good to raise 3 meat birds. I started calling around and no one had any. by dumb luck I found a place 40 minutes away that had 10 left and they would hold them for me, paid way too much. They were received yesterday morning, so same age, and they are way bigger then the ones from hoover leaving me to wonder if they are even meat birds.
.
