Mcmurray~Positive experiences wanted~

[ole-crone]

I've ordered from MM since the 80's and have never had a bad experience. I have only had two sexing errors (both EEs that turned out to be roos). I've had a couple arrive dead.

My last order was from Ideal only because I wanted their Dark Egg assortment which MM doesn't offer. I'm still not sure I'm happy with that order. Of the 8 maran 'girls', one was DOA, one is a roo, two have yellow legs (indicating they aren't marans). The roo, one of the two with yellow legs, not only looks more like a barred rock but looks larger than a barred rock - he is huge! So huge that he has a hard time walking and he is only 21 weeks old! They had the worst pasty butts!! The Welsummers are the UGLIEST chickens I've ever seen - they all have the strangest shapped head/face. Their eyes sorta bug out of their head. Of that 8, one died a day or two after arrival, one of the ugly buggers is a rooster. All of the three breeds were puny compared to other chicks I've raised. I kept hoping that they'd grow out of it but they still aren't anything to brag about. Unfortunately, I bought them hoping to sell the extras but who would want them? The roos are so ugly - I sure don't want to waste my time raising them either.

All in all - I'm wouldn't hesitate to recommend MM but I'd think twice about Ideal. I doubt I'll order from them again.

 

[Katy]

I haven't ordered for several years since I started hatching my own, but McMurray was the only hatchery I ever ordered from and I always had great results with their chicks. I think a lot of the "horror" stories you have been reading were caused by the weather and it just being too cold to ship day old chicks.

 

[EmptyNest]

I picked up an order for myself (42 chicks) and my niece (38 chicks) on March 1 from MM. Since I live in Iowa I drove to the hatchery. My experience from ordering to receving the chicks was great. My order consisted of:
4 Jersey Giants
4 Golden Polish
4 Golden Campine
6 White Orps
5 Buff Orps
4 RIR
4 EE (received 1 extra)
5 Buff Silkies
5 Quail d'anvers (received 1 extra)
1 Free Exotic Chick (which I'm still not sure what it is but it's fun trying to figure it out)

My 42 and my niece's 38 are all still alive and very healthy. I will definitely order from again.

 

[joanna]

I have ordered several times from MM and once from Ideal. I wasn't really "unhappy" with Ideal, but I prefer to order from MM. the customer service is outstanding; I wasn't happy with Ideals shipping prices...why do I have to pay $1 extra for choosing different breeds? I was charged $1 per breed last summer when I ordered. that's probably the main reason I don't use Ideal on a regular basis.

 

[CritterHill]

Quote:
Jealous, jealous, jealous. Sold out of the golden polish hens by the time I ordered. No one around here seems to have them. Grumble.

 

[claud]

I ordered from MM last spring(May, 2007). All chicks were healthy and all survived.

24 Cuckoo Marans(straight run) - 11 pullets, 13 roos

1 Golden Laced Wyandotte pullet - grew up to be a beautiful hen

1 free mystery chick - turned out to be a white crested Polish roo(cute little guy)

I'd definitely order from them again.

 

[bluebellsilkiecritters]

I am very happy with my reship from MM and the customer Service I received when I got the wrong sex of the chicks.

If you do anything well a 100 times a couple go ugly--and MM ships thousands


Again the mortality was explained in the above post-

If a chick dying bothers you to the point it is a huge issue this may not be the hobby for you lots of death in this past time and for no good reason ---

 

[EweSheep]

I have ordered MM back in the 80's and yes, I do lose a few chicks now and then. I had better quality chicks back then than I do today.

I just ordered MM chicks last month and they did well, no losses except for my own mistakes I made along the way of not double checking the chicks before bedtime making sure none got out of the brooder pen. Even it was pretty cold that day but they all made it until my ignorance. From then on, I check outside of the brooder pen to make sure none of them slipped under the cardboard pen and flying over is their favorite thing to do until I had to clip their wings.

Even as I posted in the other forum about my friend that lost all of her Cornish X;s and she didnt want to order but I ordered MM anyway and she was pleased with the survivablity of the chicks at three weeks and still going strong.

Like Jody said, anything that goes over a couple to a month old old chicks and dies, its failure to thrive. Like some folks in here says, survival for the fittest and sometimes mother nature deals us a bad hand when we try to save every chick there is.

 

[tiki244]

I know a young man who ordered from McMurray last year and won some substantial prizes at the fair and it wasnt in 4H it was the adult class, I talked to him this year at a meeting and he had already received McMurray chicks this year and they were doing fine.

 

[Biddy]

I have ordered chicks for MM maybe ten times rangeing from 25 to 50. Out of those orders one chick arrived dead. All the rest did fine. The baby chicks I ordered last year are now grown, healthy, and laying well.

I really wouldn't worry much about the cold. Besides the chicks keeping each other warm in the box the postal folks keep them in warm surroundings and I have had them call me as soon as they came in.