Is it possible that Ideal Poultry is scam artists?

[JacinLarkwell]

For the record, I've never had birds sexed wrong from Ideal and I think only once have I gotten any sort of substitute for a breed I ordered. Every other time, they have been correct, and customer service has been very patient woth me and my absurd number of questions over the years

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

Most hatcheries do guarantee at least 90% females though so to get 90% males is the complete opposite of that and absolutely UNACCEPTABLE so they should do SOMETHING. However, that said, I do NOT believe they are a scam. They are a very reputable company who has been in business many years and I had excellent luck with them. Got exactly what I ordered and even an extra bird. OP just had terrible luck it seems. But I can’t believe they won’t at least refund the money. Although it kind of seems like they wanted to do a partial refund and OP refused as they felt it wasn’t enough???? If so, that’s not the company’s fault and doesn’t make them a scam.

A lot of their sales are straight run which should be approximately 50 /50 but from hatching here at home I've had 1 cockerel and 5 pullets or another hatch was 6 cockerels and 1 pullet so straight run is a crap shoot.. I get their flash sale alerts etc and 95% of them are straight run

 

[ShrekDawg]

A lot of their sales are straight run which should be approximately 50 /50 but from hatching here at home I've had 1 cockerel and 5 pullets or another hatch was 6 cockerels and 1 pullet so straight run is a crap shoot.. I get their flash sale alerts etc and 95% of them are straight run

Oh that’s a good point too.

 

[fancywyandottes23]

The point of sexlinks is that they can be sexed by color at hatch. Production Reds and Rhode Island Reds are not color-sexable at hatch.

If the chicks can be sexed by color at hatch, then they are sexlinks, no matter how they look as adults.

The common white-tailed red sexlinks are the result of one kind of cross, but not the only possible one. It is genetically possible to set up a sexlink cross where the females look exactly like a Production Red, and the males are Silver Columbian or Delaware colored (and according to the text descriptions on Ideal's site, they do have both of those, although one of them then has a photo of a white-tailed red hen and the other has no adult photo at all.)


Did you get any males? If you had no males, then there is really no way to tell whether your chicks were actually sexlinks (males look different) or Production Reds (males & females are colored alike.)

But does it really matter? If they lay the same, are correctly sexed, and look almost the same, is there a reason to want one instead of the other?

Do you remember which of their sexlinks you ordered? I remember them listing red, brown, and gold (although how they picked those names I can't say.) One of them has a description that mentions the white tail, one has a photo with white tail but description says black tail, and one has no photo but the description says black tail.

You might be right that they made a substitution, but for SOME of their sexlinks it would be impossible to tell for sure.

Yeah, I am not really worried about it, and what I received have been nice layers. But it's kinda the principle, and they're (ideal) probably going to make a few more people confused if they keep sending birds that look nothing like the listing picture. I get that you can make different looking sex link crosses that don't have the traditional white plumage that most people associate with red sex links. But if they're (ideal) going to have a product listing, don't really expect people to not be surprised when they receive an item that doesn't match the picture. That's not exactly giving people a clear picture of what they will ultimately end up shipping to the customer.

Regardless of what their description says, mine still came with a high variety, some darker and some lighter than their product description for red stars, and I still think they put a few birds together to just "fill the order." That also leads me to believe that they fill these red star orders with "production reds" or whatever they have a surplus of any red birds, New Hampshire, RIR, etc, to fill their red star orders, even though you ordered red stars.

Here is what I was trying to order, and is what is exactly pictured on ideals product listing for red stars. People ordering Red Stars from Ideal are thinking that they're going to get something like this bird below (however, this is a hoovers hatchery Red Sex Link):

Here are some of the birds that Ideal sent me for their "Red Sex Link/Red Star" listing:

That isn't all of them, but a good representation of the color variation that I received. Again, it's not a big deal, but some of these I don't believe are Red Sex Links.

 

[NatJ]

Yeah, I am not really worried about it, and what I received have been nice layers. But it's kinda the principle, and they're (ideal) probably going to make a few more people confused if they keep sending birds that look nothing like the listing picture. I get that you can make different looking sex link crosses that don't have the traditional white plumage that most people associate with red sex links. But if they're (ideal) going to have a product listing, don't really expect people to not be surprised when they receive an item that doesn't match the picture. That's not exactly giving people a clear picture of what they will ultimately end up shipping to the customer.

Regardless of what their description says, mine still came with a high variety, some darker and some lighter than their product description for red stars, and I still think they put a few birds together to just "fill the order." That also leads me to believe that they fill these red star orders with "production reds" or whatever they have a surplus of any red birds, New Hampshire, RIR, etc, to fill their red star orders, even though you ordered red stars.

Here is what I was trying to order, and is what is exactly pictured on ideals product listing for red stars. People ordering Red Stars from Ideal are thinking that they're going to get something like this bird below (however, this is a hoovers hatchery Red Sex Link):

View attachment 3733844

Here are some of the birds that Ideal sent me for their "Red Sex Link/Red Star" listing:
View attachment 3733849View attachment 3733850

View attachment 3733852View attachment 3733867
View attachment 3733857View attachment 3733865

That isn't all of them, but a good representation of the color variation that I received. Again, it's not a big deal, but some of these I don't believe are Red Sex Links.

With that variety of colors, yes I do see why you say they look like several different kinds.

"Red Star" is the one where the description says one thing (look like Production Reds) and the photo does not match (shows a hen with a white tail.) They really should fix that page, if the photo is not accurate for the birds they are sending out. And if that kind of sexlink really does produce that much variation, the description should probably mention it.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Potential scenario with Ideal Poultry posted for a family member who needs advice:

We decided that we wanted to raise baby chickens. We ordered 30 baby chickens from Ideal Poultry. We paid extra for them to be all pullets but they were also on sale. I don't remember the exact price but it was around $1.00 off per bird so they were around $3.50. For the sake of me not remembering, we are going to say they were $3.50 each which is very close to accurate. Weeks later, they run the same sale and we purchase 60 more. It did not take but a few months for use to realize that they were almost all roosters. We contacted Ideal Poultry who said that it was impossible to tell until they were at least 16 weeks old. They told us, if we did get more than 90% roosters, they would refund the difference between the price of a rooster and hen which is roughly 75 cents per bird. I was not happy. At 16 weeks old, these are clearly 95% roosters--both sets of them. I contact Ideal Poultry. They will not refund any money. Even I paid full price for the birds, it would be less than $1 per bird for a refund. I got them on sale for the same price that the roosters were originally so I get no money back. I ask for a replacement of birds and that is not their policy. Apparently you agree to this policy when you buy birds from them. I bet that it has cost me $20 per bird to raise these babies for them to be all roosters. I have fed them medicated chick starter at $25-28 per bag. I have 90 chickens and they are 95% roosters. They are not selling very well even at $5 each and we are slowly giving them all away--minus the few hens. We feel like we have been scammed: they were able to sell us almost 90 roosters and get full price for them from us. We are out tons of dollars on feeding these birds. We are so upset that we are considering consulting a lawyer after the holidays. Not sure that it would do any good but we are at least going to get his advice.

Leaving a nasty review on there google review page can make a company act fast.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Yeah, I am not really worried about it, and what I received have been nice layers. But it's kinda the principle, and they're (ideal) probably going to make a few more people confused if they keep sending birds that look nothing like the listing picture. I get that you can make different looking sex link crosses that don't have the traditional white plumage that most people associate with red sex links. But if they're (ideal) going to have a product listing, don't really expect people to not be surprised when they receive an item that doesn't match the picture. That's not exactly giving people a clear picture of what they will ultimately end up shipping to the customer.

Regardless of what their description says, mine still came with a high variety, some darker and some lighter than their product description for red stars, and I still think they put a few birds together to just "fill the order." That also leads me to believe that they fill these red star orders with "production reds" or whatever they have a surplus of any red birds, New Hampshire, RIR, etc, to fill their red star orders, even though you ordered red stars.

Here is what I was trying to order, and is what is exactly pictured on ideals product listing for red stars. People ordering Red Stars from Ideal are thinking that they're going to get something like this bird below (however, this is a hoovers hatchery Red Sex Link):

View attachment 3733844

Here are some of the birds that Ideal sent me for their "Red Sex Link/Red Star" listing:
View attachment 3733849View attachment 3733850

View attachment 3733852View attachment 3733867
View attachment 3733857View attachment 3733865

That isn't all of them, but a good representation of the color variation that I received. Again, it's not a big deal, but some of these I don't believe are Red Sex Links.

Those are Rhode Island Red and New Hampshire Red. NOT Red Sex Links - they have a white tail and white fletchings on their neck feathers. If I were you, I would have complained because they sent you the wrong breeds.

 

[Iluveggers]

This is the only post this new user posted and he hasn’t been on in a month. I always wonder when so many folks recommend a company and one person says something crazy happens, if it was a fluke or if they somehow have ties to another company. I have had nothing but great luck from Ideal. All pullets each & every time.

 

[NatJ]

Those are Rhode Island Red and New Hampshire Red. NOT Red Sex Links - they have a white tail and white fletchings on their neck feathers. If I were you, I would have complained because they sent you the wrong breeds.

SOME Red Sexlinks have a white tail. But SOME Red Sexlinks have black tails and do look like Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire Red or Production Red. Ideal Poultry sells some with black tails and some with white tails (according to the descriptions on the website).

The whole point of a sexlink is that they can be sexed at hatch by the color of their down. If yes, then they are a sexlink, no matter what color their tail is. The gene that controls black vs. white tails is not involved in making them color-sexable.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

SOME Red Sexlinks have a white tail. But SOME Red Sexlinks have black tails and do look like Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire Red or Production Red. Ideal Poultry sells some with black tails and some with white tails (according to the descriptions on the website).

The whole point of a sexlink is that they can be sexed at hatch by the color of their down. If yes, then they are a sexlink, no matter what color their tail is. The gene that controls black vs. white tails is not involved in making them color-sexable.

Interesting..... I didn't know that! Thanks for sharing!