McMurray hatchery good?

[Summer98]

Any experience with Murray McMurray hatchery?

 

[chasinglights27]

I say they are pretty good for hatchery quality birds.

I have ordered Turkens, Brown Leghorns, Easter Eggers , Partridge Rocks, Minocras; Buff and Black & the Frying Pan Special. All different orders of a 3 year span. All birds arrived alive and healthy. And I live in California. I've gotten some really good birds from them. They were jumping out of the boxes and really active. Although I have heard bad stories about them, with dead chicks and other problems. But I still continue to use this Hatchery.

 

[NYREDS]

They've been in business since 1917. A company that lasts that long must be doing something right.

 

[off-grid hen]

Ordered with a group for my first chickens from McMurray in April. Due to storms delaying planes, there was a delvery delay and had quite a few chick casualties. But they replaced the entire order and all of my chickens, while not show quality birds, are healthy, happy, and laying well. I'd order from them this spring, but I'm looking for a breed they don't carry. Your best bet for healthy arrivals is to contact the post office hub and pick them up there. You could save a day on delivery time. Good luck!

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

I love them. I have ordered from them several times and always get nice healthy chicks.

 

[silkielover5]

i know that alot of people love them but i have had very bad things happen with them. 1st batch turned out great. 2nd batch was left in mail truck and froze to death, they sent another shipment of chicks and those turned out ok, we had a few deaths and one chick that was dead appon arivel but our neighber (she picked them up for us) didnt want that chick to be dead so she placed in under a heat lamp and rubbed its stomach for awhile and it came back to life we also had to put down some chicks due to broken legs. and our 3rd order was the last. we ordered 25 chicks from them and 2 survived all the others got sick and died with in a month. 9 months later the other 2 just drop dead one day, we have no idea why, both had gotten sick but were the only 2 that got better so we are thinking it affected their hearts or kidneys. we now buy our chicks from breeders and ideal hatchiery. and we havent had a problem since

 

[Summer98]

What health problem do you think it was? I never thought about the broken legs. I wonder if it was the transit in the mail and maybe rough handling of the box that caused the broken legs? So how can I make sure that I can safely pick them up at the post office and not have them left out in the trucks to freeze to death? It sounds like maybe the post office doesn't do so well and now I am going to be worried about that. Can I drive to the hatchery and pick them up myself?

Do they throw a lot of extra males into the orders? If so, will they let you pick the breed of them?

 

[silkielover5]

i think you could pick them up there otherwise let the post office know that you are expecting chicks

 

[ChickiKat]

I have never done any business with the but somehow they have my email address and they send me things time to time....

 

[Bentley]

My start came from Murray McMurray birds. You have to understand they are commercial hatchery stock and you should generally not expect show quality birds. Although you can occasional get lucky with a few of the breeds, they typically are not selected to win in the show barn. I give them high regards for variety and quality and they are a great way to get exposed to many many different breeds.