McMurray's New Shipping Practices...has anyone heard about this?

[cocosandy]

I just got a box of 25 dead chicks and 2 live ones standing on top. when I called McMurray I was told that apparently the post office has told them they can only ship on Saturdays. So now they hatch on Thurs and Fridays for shipment on Saturdays. The post office wont guarantee express shipping on Saturdays so they send all chicks by priority mail. well, imagine if chicks are hatched on a Thursday and don't happen to get to you till Tuesday....that seems to be what happened to my chicks.
I was offered replacement chicks but I said that I wanted the express mailed out on a Mon, Tuesday or Wednesday...they said they cant do that because they don't hatch anything till Thursday.
I canceled the order and asked for a refund...they charged me for the chick get that I had used on the two live ones, and the electrolytes...they packed them under the dead chicks...AND because I have experience with medical stuff, I had tried to save 5-6 little gasping ones who were breathing their last by injecting some sterile saline under their skin....I had one up and around that afternoon, but they were ultimately too stressed and they all died except for the two that came standing....those are still OK....they are strong little birds.
I just wanted to put this information out there because I have told some people who are in the "business" only to be greeted by silence....
I wonder what happens if the post office actually does shut down weekend shipping in general??

I received a form email from them shortly after I hung up with them stating the shipping practices and they say its because they ship so many birds (they are the largest hatchery now??) that they were gumming up the post office there so the post office compels them to ship only on Saturdays. They say this is safe, and I asked them on the phone if they were finding that many chicks were dying...the woman said no...
I cant imagine shipping chicks by priority on a Saturday. what about when summer comes around??
Express at least ensures a Monday morning delivery....

I wanted houdans....and polish...and now Im waiting for an order from mypetchickendotcom in May because those rare breeds sell out quick. actually couldnt even get houdans.
argh!!

 

[Wifezilla]

The post office is getting flakier every day. I don't think this is a McMurray issue.

 

[sarabeth53]

The first polish I bought were from a feed store that shipped from McMurray's. They were left at a post office over night and the chicks started "dropping like flies" or so they told me.

I'm not sure if that is related...but I hope you find comfort in the fact that it has happened before. Hatcheries can be pretty flaky sometimes...

If you're still looking for Polish chicks let me know!
(4 eggs in the incubator)

 

[IggiMom]

Well, I don't know. I hear a lot of complaints about the post office, but at least my local one is good.

It is a possibility that they are going to have to close on Saturday here, and also not have Saturday deliveries.

This is certainly not their idea; it is coming from above. Or perhaps below.

It means for me that if they shut down on Saturday, I will have to be sure that anything living coming to me is shipped early in the week, as it will not be available on Sat or Sun.

We in chickens are going to be in terrible trouble if the PO ever quits shipping eggs or chicks. No one will ship them, right? Or does UPS or FedEx? I am thinking not.

They ought to replace or repay you for all your chicks, and if they cannot ship except on Saturday I would think they are in terrible trouble. I had not heard this before. I hope it is a fluke or something. I don't get chicks from Murray McMurray, but I would feel that the handwriting is on the wall for everybody.

It is sort of scary.

Catherine (IggiMom)

 

[cocosandy]

This is the mail they sent...the customer service rep told me that they are mandated to ship on saturdays...they go out on saturdays only...all the chicks that they produce on thurs and friday.
Mine arrived on tuesday and there is no guarantee that they will arrive on monday morning....unless you ship express; BUT the post office will not allow them to ship express on saturdays.
so they are shipped priority.
I am in a big city right outside of NYC and there is a main post office here that is huge! I live in the boonies north end but the mail comes through all major airports and I have never ever had any problem with dead birds...ever...and Ive shipped and received alot of birds.
here is the mail that came after our call...they refunded my money.
This is a slippery slope...The weather was perfect when they shipped my birds. Imagine when its hot outside.
Also, this is a new situation. Most places, in my experience, tell you a week because they are shipping mon through thurs of that week by express mail. McMurray tells you a week because they are shipping the weekend before. I think this is new. Does anyone know?



"Our chick shipping schedule is dictated to us by the USPS. Here are the following reasons for this schedule: 1) Saturday is when the most cargo area on the planes are available to us. 2) Tuesdays are the busiest day for the Post Office and they want our birds out of the postal stream before then. 3) The mail moves 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. So the birds travel by air to the the hub closest to you on Saturday. Then by ground from the hub to your distribution post office on Sunday. They should be at your local post office ready for pick up on Monday morning. This all happens within 72 hours of hatching, required by postal regulations. 4) The larger post offices and hubs have personnel there all weekend. A number of our customers are called on Sunday and asked if they would like to pick up their chicks. Arrangements are made to pick up the boxes at the “back door” even though the Post Office is closed to the public.

If your Postmaster has concerns about our shipping schedule he can contact the following USPS Personnel:

Joel Rosen, Air Transportation, Washington DC, 202-268-4329 [email protected]

Sue Lambertz, Air Transport Specialist - Twin Cities Airport Mail Center 612-970-7676 [email protected]

Express Mail and Priority Mail have the same delivery requirements when shipped on Saturday. Therefore you would not receive your birds any faster by Express Mail. The cost of Express mail is significantly higher.

At the beginning of each season we send out an email to all Postmasters and Hub Managers in the U.S. reminding them of the above information and to be on the look out for our boxes. We do everything possible to make sure your birds arrive safe and healthy.

McMurray Hatchery"

 

[wvgal61]

That is so sad

 

[dieselgrl48]

OMG so sorry you lost your chicks.We had a duck order from Mc Murray a few years ago We ordered 30 runner ducks and like 22-25 were DOA.BaaaaaaaaaWas most likely Postal We guess.I Just had to throw out 15 eggs i bought on Ebay because they lost them in mail with Priority mail.So sad. Make's me so mad.I shipped 18 duck eggs 2 states away last year Priority and it took them a week to arrive in summer and the box looked like a football by time it got to buyer and it was Claearly marked eggs very fragile.Half were broken and had rotted in heat and postal worker put in trash bag and ran to her car at buyer's house. What the heck! .Our local workers are awesome We got mis-diercted gosling's year before last but they got us or babies by 3pm that day. The postal workers were peeking in box playing with them lol.I dunno maybe some disgruntled worker's something .I Will NEVER ship one of my bird's thru mail. BAAAAAAAAAHUMMBUGGGGG

 

[TheReidHomestead]

This happened to me last year also with McMurray. I was fool enough to say ok, send the replacements, they were all gone but two. I won't order live chicks anymore. Got my self an incubator and feel better about chancing it with shipped eggs than with live chicks.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

has anyone check with the other hatcheries, has there policies changed, Ideal is a hug hatchery, if McMurry has a change like that wouldn't Ideal?

It took MM 3 tries to get my Blue Laced Red Wyandottes to me last year, 2 boxes arrived DOA, is it MM

 

[cocosandy]

well, the thing that gets me, is that its a LAW that they have to be shipped a certain way and arrive within a time frame...thats why they can do it at all. the industry is based on that. It is taking a chance and I dont do it often...I also hatch...but its a good way to get all hens, and to get rare breeds.
The thing is that all of this blaming the post office because of one bad story or another just overlooks that the hatchery that does the most volume in the country is being compelled to ship on only one day that is not the best day to ensure live delivery....and actually breaks the law about shipping...and the letter they send, when you complain (because they havent made it clear at all when you order) is written to gloss over the fact that they are sacrificing many chicks .
I was told that this is a new thing.... Maybe Im wrong...and we all know that shipping can go wrong. But this is a disaster.
My chicks had their hatch date on the box....and it was 4 days before I got them! That is illegal and its cruel.
Im just posting about this to warn folks...I tell all my members not to order from them and to be sure, if they are ordering, that the hatchery is shipping properly on an early weekday for next day delivery! Maybe McMurray is too big for that one plant and needs to expand themselves to another shipping hub or the like...that's their problem. But its our responsibility to let folks know about them so that they dont receive dead babies...trying to save those pathetic gasping others was horrible...but I really tried...and I got one actually up; 2 others were sitting up...but they couldn't make it. The two left are very strong!...but jumpy....oh well...at least they are houdans, which was half the order and what I am now unable to find except as hatching eggs or as straight runs.