McMurray catalog - some crazy stuff!

[Catstar68]

Maybe I just have no idea of how much these things cost.

I just received the McMurray catalog yesterday and it has been expanded from last year. I've ordered from MM and always been happy with my chicks. My red and black sexlinks are egg machines!
They are offering a lot more this year but some of the things they are offering are priced, IMO, outrageously. Are these prices realistic or is McMurray seeing if anyone is really willing to pay these prices??? Check out the cost for a pair of juvenile swans...and there is a $300 shipping cost. Three started red stars will set you back $40.50 plus $89.50 shipping. And it made me sad to read that on all the started pullets the beaks have been 'trimmed'.

If anyone within 50 miles of Franklinton, NC needs 3 started red stars, I'll drive them to you tomorrow for the $130....no need to wait! And none of them will be disfigured.

I'd happily order my chicks from MM again, their customer service has been great but I'm just a little 'bothered' by some of the offerings in the catalog this year. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive.....

Anyone else get the MM catalog and have some opinions?

 

[RhodeRunner]

Wow. When I first looked at what you said, I was surprised. However, then I actually looked at the situation.
McMurry is only making $13.50 per hen, which is actually pretty average for someone wanting to make a bit of a profit. What is the killer is shipping. McMurry shouldn't have to give away their birds because people don't want to pay shipping.
As for the swans those prices seem insane, but after looking up swans for sale, they seem to be pretty average.

 

[brahmapapa]

Like prices on everything else, prices on poultry and related products are creeping up. I do remember swans having a very large price tag for as long as MM has offered them.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Those prices are right on par with what it'd cost. The previous poster is correct, express shipping charges are quite expensive. Baby chicks, ducks, ect... are shipped reg. priority mail (unless the customer selects express shipping), costs much less to ship that way. An adult or started bird, typically, would not survive that long without food or water.

I had a started pair of birds shipped to me recently and it cost me right at $65 for shipping alone. That does not include the price of the birds themselves or the box they were shipped in.

 

[SuperPeacockman]

Swans are hard to find and expensive the raise on a large scale $300 plus shipping seems reasonable for a juvenile pair.

 

[StevenW.]

You can get a baby swan for $100 on http://hillviewexotics.net/water.html#Swa

 

[crash0330]

Yeah I agree shipping prices is what kill the deal!
I recently called a hatchery wanting to order a pair of quails who seem fairly unexpensive, they were $8 a pair I really wanted them til I hear the sipping cost $79 plust the price of the birds, it'd be $87 for a pair of quails. that made me pull back from ordering them.

 

[HBuehler]

Those prices are not that high actually..shipping a big ol chicken isn't cheap I know...I don't even ship my chicks Priority so they are expensive Express mail as well.
All the hatcheries that sell started birds de-beak them I believe..or all the one's I have seen state they are.
Do the math...3 chickens nearly ready to lay for that over 3 chicks fed for all those weeks with the price of chick feed going through the roof...buying eggs at the store for all those weeks since chicks can't lay and that's not a high price for nearly instant eggs.Its all in what you value more raising the chicks or having eggs quickly.
My husband would be tickled if I only paid $130 for 3 chickens 1- that would be cheap for me and 2- it's only 3 chickens

but most of mine are not hatchery stock.

 

[RAREROO]

I agree with some of the other posters that the prices on the started birds and swans ( considering that they HAVE to be shipped express) are pretty much average considering the price for the birds themselves . But the express shipping is the stinger that stops me from buyin started birds from breeders.

It is their chick prices that are creeping up every year that bother me when they seem to be a bit more expensive than the average of other hatcheries.

 

[Catstar68]

I know that the shipping is expensive but does it really cost that much to ship live birds?

I agree with RAREROO, the chick pricing is creeping up but I'm sure that costs are too. I'm not ordering chicks this year as I'm confident I'll have one of the usual broodies this Spring. And...I hate to say this...I have enough chickens. There. I said it. Blasphemy!

However, on supplies I think that MM's is still a bit pricey. I get most of my stuff from Cutler's Supply and have had good experiences with them. My Little Giant king size fountain was $22.15 as opposed to $34.10 at MMs. Shipping with MM is based on price, and with Cutler's it is based on weight and shipping zone. I suppose one needs to look at the big picture. Shipping was the same price for zone 4, 2 pounds (or under $50) for both so I went with Cutler.
Sure, the Cutler catalog is black and white and not as pretty but I already spend too much on my 'hobby'...okay, addiction.