HORRIBLE Experience with My Pet Chicken

[OutInTheStiks]

Sorry you lost a chick. I'm not sure about MPC's policy, but most hatcheres state that blue chicks might be blue, black or splash based on the way BBS genetics work.

 

[dragonlair]

I did. I ordered 25 assorted pullets, received 24. Two were DOA, one had been killed at the hatchery when they put the lid on the box. The other looked like it had problems at hatching because its "navel" was ruptured. The chicks arrived cold and lethargic. I lost 10 of them within 36 hours because they just wouldn't eat or drink no matter what I did or gave them. The ones who died were all of 2 different breeds and were tiny, smaller than the bantam chicks I used to have hatch out. They refunded me the money for the 10 dead chicks, but I really wanted the 25 chicks. They didn't even respond to the fact that they only sent 24 chicks.

 

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

I rec'd my order from MPC yesterday too. Seven female Silkies. All are doing well, eating, drinking, preening. So far so good. Arrived when they said they would.

What was your bad experience?

 

[vfem]

I am sorry you had a bad experience. With any company, eventually there will be a problem. I've had problems with other companies before (not MPC as I haven't ordered from them) but I'm sure your business means a lot to them, and they will try to make it right. They've made several people happy as you've seen, I have no doubt they'll try to right your wrong.

 

[Mark & Nique]

Our 3 chicks all came from MPC -- all arrived well and happy. I would do business with them again. Sorry about your experience.

 

[elmo]

I'm pretty sure MPC is just a middleman. They don't actually raise chicks themselves. I'm not sure which of the commercial hatcheries they're associated with, or whether they use more than one.

Unfortunately, mortality with shipped hatchery chicks is just a sad fact of life. I wouldn't hold it against MPC, particularly.

 

[columbiacritter]

Quote:
They are just a middleman so they have a variety of hatcheries they deal with, the main one being Meyer. My experience with MPC was a total nightmare that was based in Meyers practices. I will NOT deal with MPC for live chicks again becuase they work with a hatchery that I found to have bad practices not with just my first shipment, which arrived with 5 of 25 alive, but the replacmeent shipment which arrived with 18 to 25 alive and of those 7 more died withiin a few days.

I have never had before or since that level of mortality with shipped chicks.

 

[featherz]

I have only received one order from MPC, but all chickens arrived alive and in only one day here in NY. All are still alive eight weeks later and appear quite healthy. They are a little slow to respond to emails, but I like that I can order fewer than 25 chicks. I have another order coming next month. Maybe it's the heat that's causing all these problems, as I see complaints about other hatcheries starting to increase as well..

 

[CalebtheChicken]

My experience with MPC was awsome! And they have so many helpful articles on their site,
I think you just had bad luck...
All of the 15 chicks I ordered are doing great and i've never lost one (yet).
They're now 14 weeks old.

 

[rapunzil]

Quote:
Well that is very similar to what happened to me. Please note that I've ordered chicks and raised them up many times before without any problems. But I usually order from McMurray or Ideal. I was so excited to get my order from MPC because they offered sexed birds that were hard to find elsewhere, such as frizzle bantams and Polish. They cost more, but I felt it would be worth it and couldn't wait to get the chicks to add to my flock.

When I received my order of 12 chicks one was dead. The next day more of them died, and over the course of a week 8 HAD DROPPED DEAD! I would check them regularly and they seemed healthy and bright, so to find them dead later on was a real shock.

At first I kept trying to call them and no one ever answered. I got so tired of waiting on hold for over 15 minutes that I resorted to email. I did not speak with anyone named Joyce. I understand that there is a 4 day mortality, but I felt for more than half my order die over a week was inexcusable. I told them I believed it must have been something wrong at the hatchery or perhaps with the vaccinations. At some points it would be DAYS between emails before they would get back to me. I had asked to have customer service call me and 3 reps did. Each rep had to rehash all the details over again and said "they would have someone get back to me." OMG it was so frustrating!

It took a course of about 3 weeks until my issue was resolved. I had wanted replacement chicks, and then they had the nerve to argue with me over the last chick that died I had to pay for it! I was furious but just gave up and said I would pay. When the order was FINALLY set up, it wasnt going to ship until August! After all that frustration, chaos and sadness of losing the birds, I told them to just cancel the reshipment and give me a refund.

I was so upset by the whole thing because I had looked MPC up here to see what people said about them, and most of it was good. Just my luck that the ONE TIME I have mortality issues, they were significant and unfortunately accompanied by poor customer service.

If Meyer hatchery is where My Pet Chicken gets their birds, I'll be sure never to order from them directly!