I think I got scammed…

[Lunes]

So I am a first time chicken owner and I felt like I did a decent amount of research but obviously not enough as you’ll see….lol.


I was looking online for local hatcheries honestly but couldn’t find anything close to Dallas, just places hours and hours away. So I looked up some “big online hatcheries” and everything was waitlisted or just sold out of silkies.

(Edit; didn’t know Facebook groups were a thing as I barely use FB and wish I would’ve thought of this- as I found so many local people on there after the fact, that I’m getting more silkies from today!)

Didn’t realise people didn’t ship until march usually, another mistake I should’ve researched more.

Came across a website called Feather Lover Farms, and placed an order, totaling about $350 (what a rip off!!!) for 3 silkie chicks. (Literally internally screaming thinking about how much I spent now)

This was in late Dec. they were in contact with me a bit late Jan, early Feb. and then again late Feb once they had an idea of when my chicks would ship. They are in Cali. They shipped a week ago. Tuesday. The day the big blizzard hit in north cali. So…definitely unideal circumstances, kind of wish they would’ve waited. I upgraded my shipping. Paid like..$80 or something for overnight USPS. Took 3 days anyway. Had no tracking updates for the first 2 days, besides them being in Sacramento the first day. Finally get here and one was dead (they sent 4 I guess for extra warmth or as a bonus) and it was a pile of mush. Two of them seemed a little bit smaller than the 3rd, but nothing crazy. They were also a bit less active.

24 hours pass- 1 dies within 30 min of “flopping” over. Can’t walk can’t stand neck is floppy and very weak chirps.

12 hours pass- another one dies the same way.

Went from seemingly fine to just dropping dead so fast.

3rd one is now ALONE at this point and very distressed. I’ve emailed Everytime something has happened with a detailed timeline and explanation AND pics of course, to further prove it’s a bad situation. That was Friday.

No email replies since then. They were guaranteed, mind you. Nothing. So incredibly irresponsible imo….they also shipped with no heat packs or anything, which another seller told me was shameful.

I also paid for a “lavender silkie” which honestly I don’t know if any of them were lavender, they all looked pale yellow to me besides one which was def painted. The other seller that gave me advice told me lavenders have a “death gene” and that’s why she doesn’t breed them. If this is true, then it makes sense why they just died out of nowhere.

So I’m pretty much out of 300$ and I’ve had no contact with this seller. Which really makes me sad. I don’t know. It feels like they have no regard for these poor things lives. I also don’t even want them to ship me more chicks. I feel like they’ll ship me half dead chicks again or chicks that are just doomed to suffer and die.

Posting this that hopefully someone sees it online and doesn’t make the same mistake I did. Once I found the bad reviews, I had already placed my order and it wasn’t refundable so I hoped for the best and thought maybe the reviews were wrong….well, they were right

 

[fluffycrow]

Definitely a really bad seller. You should get that chick a friend soon

 

[Lunes]

Definitely a really bad seller. You should get that chick a friend soon

I’m meeting up with someone in a few hours! Thank god.

 

[NatJ]

(Edit; didn’t know Facebook groups were a thing as I barely use FB and wish I would’ve thought of this- as I found so many local people on there after the fact, that I’m getting more silkies from today!)

I'm glad you found someone local to get Silkies from

So I am a first time chicken owner and I felt like I did a decent amount of research but obviously not enough as you’ll see….lol.

I was looking online for local hatcheries honestly but couldn’t find anything close to Dallas, just places hours and hours away. So I looked up some “big online hatcheries” and everything was waitlisted or just sold out of silkies.

For future reference:
Ideal Poultry is one of the big hatcheries, and is located in Texas. No, not in Dallas, but at least not on the other side of the country. So shipping from them to you would mean a shorter trip for the chicks, and less chance of running into weather you didn't know to expect.

They do sell Silkies.
They have much more reasonable prices than what you paid for the first batch of chicks.

Their chicks are usually healthy. When people complain about "hatchery quality" chickens, they usually mean cosmetic issues (color not right, wrong amount of head feathers or leg feathers, wrong shape of comb, not having the correct extra toe on Silkies, that kind of thing.) Hatchery quality silkies should typically be healthy little chickens with most of the right traits, and make fine backyard pets.

I have personally ordered from Ideal a number of times. Not Silkies, but various other breeds, in both standard and bantam sizes. Ideal isn't perfect (because no hatchery or business is), and shipping is stressful for the chicks in any case, but I generally have most of the chicks arrive alive, and most of them stay alive, and they look enough like the correct breed that I can tell which ones are which.

 

[nuthatched]

I'm sorry for your loss.
They couldn't have waited to ship, chicks have an yolk sack internally for a few days after hatching so thry dont have to eat or drink. After it's used up, it's not great to ship them. They likely would've been better off if they weren't stuck in a blizzard but this breeder has always been a bit sketchy. What exactly cost $300?

 

[mydaisy]

I'm in some FB groups and I have seen some really bad scammers post in the groups while posing as a reputable place, but is just a scam. I am sorry this happened and especially sorry for the poor chickies that were shipped that way. Some places have a minimum order of chicks to at least keep each other warmer while shipping.

$350 for 3 chicks though?? And $80 for shipping???? That is crazy. Glad you found the lone one a friend or two. Good luck with your chicken keeping adventures. Let it be a lesson that vultures are out there.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I feel like they’ll ship me half dead chicks again or chicks that are just doomed to suffer and die.

I'll be honest shipping is hard on chicks and even harder on bantams!

Feather Lover Farms

Straight scam artist.. I never got any chick or my money back.. about $350.. posted about it in other threads here on BYC. Very likely still have all my proof, they said they were refunding but never did and my credit card company wouldn't stop payment since I waited long enough to comply with FLF policy.. if anyone files a claim against them.. I may join in, pm me.

FB is NOT trustworthy either.

The other seller that gave me advice told me lavenders have a “death gene” and that’s why she doesn’t breed them.

Lavender is NOT one of the lethal genes. But it does go to show not to believe everything your told.

It's possible they are less hardy than some possibly less inbred colors.. bantam lav ameraucana almost all passed while bantam wheaten ameraucana almost all survived the same shipment.

Express shipping whether paid for or not is NOT valid to my location.. period. I still have to pay it for sellers that require it.. knowing full well my shipping time will be the same.

Spread the word.. Do NOT buy from FEATHER LOVER FARMS!

 

[nuthatched]

Can you do a cc charge back? Have you discused any recourse with your bank?

 

[NatJ]

I just went and looked at Feather Lover Farms website.
Based on the website, and the USPS website, and what you've said:
I think part of what happened is just normal but your research had not prepared you for it, but I also think they were providing substandard service in some ways.

They have a "live arrival guarantee"-- which means they guarantee that the correct number of chicks (in your case 3) are alive when they reach you (they were). This is fairly common among hatcheries: it's their business to get the chicks to you in good shape, and your business to take proper care of them after that.

The obvious problem with a guarantee like that is you don't have any recourse if the chicks arrived alive but then do poorly even when you take good care of them. That could be the hatchery's fault, or the fault of the way the Post Office treated them, or sometimes the fault of a new owner who didn't do enough research (I'm not accusing you of that, just saying it happens to some people.)

Didn’t realise people didn’t ship until march usually, another mistake I should’ve researched more.

Some hatcheries ship for more of the year than others.

It is partly based on where they are shipping from, because a northern hatchery doesn't want to send out chicks in the middle of a snowstorm.

And it is partly based on when most people want to buy chicks, so the hatchery doesn't waste their effort hatching chicks earlier than people want to buy them. People often wait for nice spring weather before they get chicks, and that happens in different months depending on where they live in the US.

Shipping chicks in very cold weather or very hot weather has more risk than shipping in moderate weather. So if a hatchery starts shipping in March, and stops in June, they avoid the worst of the cold winter, the worst of the hot summer, and the fall when few people would be ordering chicks. But that isn't as convenient for people who DO want chicks at those times!

They shipped a week ago. Tuesday. The day the big blizzard hit in north cali. So…definitely unideal circumstances, kind of wish they would’ve waited.

The only way they could "wait" would be to send your chicks to someone else, and send you chicks from a different hatch date. The chicks absorb the yolk right before they hatch, which provides enough nutrients for about 3 days. So shipping them a few days later would practically guarantee them arriving dead. (USPS policy also requires that chicks be under 24 hours old when shipped, for exactly this reason.)

I upgraded my shipping. Paid like..$80 or something for overnight USPS. Took 3 days anyway.

The Post Office has a list of exceptions, when they will not give a refund if the package is late. "Live animals" is one of the exceptions.

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/604.htm

9.5.5 Refunds Not Given

Postage will not be refunded if the guaranteed service was not provided due to any of the following circumstances:
...
The shipment contained live animals and was delivered or delivery was attempted within 3 days of the date of mailing.

So paying for upgraded shipping may not be worth the money. (There is another hatchery, I forget which one, that has a page talking about exactly that: it's not worth the extra money, because the chicks don't arrive any faster, and the Post Office won't give any refunds.)

Had no tracking updates for the first 2 days, besides them being in Sacramento the first day.

That is completely normal for any chicks, from any hatchery, shipped through the Post Office. Better tracking would be really nice, but choosing a different hatchery won't help

I’ve emailed Everytime something has happened with a detailed timeline and explanation AND pics of course, to further prove it’s a bad situation. That was Friday.

No email replies since then. They were guaranteed, mind you. Nothing. So incredibly irresponsible imo….they also shipped with no heat packs or anything, which another seller told me was shameful.

That is definitely poor customer service.
Also, their website states,
"Heat pack(s), plenty of nest material under and/or around the chicks and professional packaging are included with the cost of shipping."
https://featherloverfarms.com/pages/feather-lover-farms-faq

So leaving out the heat pack was not right, unless they had specific reason to think the chicks would do better without it in those specific circumstances.

But three chicks did arrive alive-- so maybe they were right to pack them that way in this case. (A heat pack and 4 cooked chicks would not have been any better, but a heat pack and 4 healthy chicks would have been much better. I have no idea which would be the more likely outcome with a heat pack in this case.)

I also paid for a “lavender silkie” which honestly I don’t know if any of them were lavender, they all looked pale yellow to me besides one which was def painted. The other seller that gave me advice told me lavenders have a “death gene” and that’s why she doesn’t breed them. If this is true, then it makes sense why they just died out of nowhere.

Lavender should have been pretty pale in color too, so it might have looked yellow. If you've got photos, someone here might be able to pick out the lavender. If they did not send it, then logically they owe you a refund for at least the price difference between it and what they did send.

I've never heard of a "death gene" in lavenders of Silkie or any other breed, but that could just meant that I haven't looked for information in the right places. If that is true, it might explain why the lavenders are priced higher than other colors on that site.

Came across a website called Feather Lover Farms, and placed an order, totaling about $350 (what a rip off!!!) for 3 silkie chicks. (Literally internally screaming thinking about how much I spent now)

Yes, their prices are very high compared to many other hatcheries.
They say their silkies are very good quality-- if that is true, they may be worth that much, for people who care about those details (like taking them to a chicken show). But for people who just want cute pets, I would consider them overpriced. And I don't know if their Silkies really are good quality or not.

So I’m pretty much out of 300$ and I’ve had no contact with this seller. Which really makes me sad. I don’t know. It feels like they have no regard for these poor things lives. I also don’t even want them to ship me more chicks. I feel like they’ll ship me half dead chicks again or chicks that are just doomed to suffer and die.

If they are shipping unhealthy chicks, then yes it would probably happen again if they ship new chicks. If they shipped healthy chicks and the storm + Post Office caused the trouble, then new chicks might be fine.

Posting this that hopefully someone sees it online and doesn’t make the same mistake I did.

And that is why I'm explaining some of these other details, too.
Hopefully some other newbies can have a better idea what to expect, and avoid the heartache and lost money.

You've had quite an unpleasant introduction to ordering chicks
Hopefully things will improve with your new ones that do not have to be shipped

 

[riss]

Talk about a horror story! I can't believe that. I always worry about buying chicks online just cause I worry about them dying. That's insane what you went through though. I remember one time I was scammed out of $300 and no one did a thing. Even when I reported it to police with all the transaction details and their account information. Nothing. Glad you are meeting up with people instead