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

[MNKris]

I live in MN and have picked up chicks at the hatchery in IA and also at the PO at Mpls International Airport. I was told the majority of chicks ship out of that airport, not the local Webster IA PO. Mcmurray actually sends truckloads of chicks up to the airport every 2-3 hours for shipment on days of the hatch. At least that is what they have always done in the past. If I remember right, I did pick them up on Saturday. So, I don't think this is a new policy, I think that is just how McMurray is set up to do business. You were probably just unlucky. It helps if you can call the post office and talk to someone in the know to tell them you want to pick up the chicks ASAP. Sometimes you can have them held at the hub post office for pickup as well instead of having the chicks sit there overnight (like we did at the Mpls airport). McMurray should be able to tell you which hub the chicks will travel through and it might be as close as an hour or two away - very much worth the drive!

I haven't had a problem with dead chicks from shipping, but I have had more serious problems with McMurray chicks and I won't purchase any birds from them ever again. McMurray has been around for a very long time, and I am sure they will continue to be around. They are well known, but I don't believe they are even close to being the biggest hatchery. Their response to me in 2008 when I had to deal with the AE they sent me (officially diagonosed by the MN Board of Animal Health and officially disclosed to McMurray) was enough to put me over the edge. They lost my business forever. Bad vaccine or not, they were very disconnected, rude and treated me and the rest of us like we were idiots. Breeders are a good way to go, but I have heard good things about other hatcheries too.

 

[dlolato]

I had a similar experience.........my shipping notification stated that my 30 chicks would ship the week of March 8th, therefore we assumed we would get them on the 10th. On the morning of the 8th which was Monday, we went to work which is 47 miles from our house. We had just arrived at work when we got a call from the Post Office that the chicks had arrived, so all the way back home again and then back to work!

We had four DOA's and within the first couple of days, three more died. The remainder are all doing very well, but I think that this new shipping schedule is too risky and does not allow for any mistakes in shipping delays with the Post Office (which happens often). I have two more orders scheduled, but not until late April and May to allow for better and more stable weather conditions!

There again is our Government in action..........dictating when a good, large volume customer should ship! What happened to that freedom?????

 

[IwannaBEaMERMAID]

Quote:
its not that they're flaky, its just that the post office has lost sooo much money(and theres nothing mr.prez is doing)theres nothing they can do about it. trust me,i would know.

 

[justmeandtheflock]

I ordered from McMurry last June and this was their policy then. I got a phone call Monday morning to hurry up and get my chicks because they were loud. I had 1 doa and 27 healthy. I'm sorry for your losses.

 

[pips&peeps]

This sounds more like McMurray is at fault here. Chicks are supposed to be less than 24 hours old when shipped.

If they are hatching on Thursdays and Fridays, they are in the wrong. I always set my eggs late Sunday night or late Monday night so the chicks hatch and are less than a day old to ship on Monday or Tuesday afternoon. Sometimes some of them hatch a little early, but never would I ship a two day old chick; they can't make it. This appears to be what McMurray is doing.

I think they need to spread out their hatching and shipping days a little more and it would be less influx for their post office and maybe the chicks would live. And, yes, the post office will deliver chicks on a Saturday when using Express Mail, it costs $10-12 more, but it can be done.

 

[MNKris]

pips&peeps :

This sounds more like McMurray is at fault here. Chicks are supposed to be less than 24 hours old when shipped.

If they are hatching on Thursdays and Fridays, they are in the wrong. I always set my eggs late Sunday night or late Monday night so the chicks hatch and are less than a day old to ship on Monday or Tuesday afternoon. Sometimes some of them hatch a little early, but never would I ship a two day old chick; they can't make it. This appears to be what McMurray is doing.

I think they need to spread out their hatching and shipping days a little more and it would be less influx for their post office and maybe the chicks would live. And, yes, the post office will deliver chicks on a Saturday when using Express Mail, it costs $10-12 more, but it can be done.

None of the bigger hatcheries do hatching on multiple days (except some hatch bantams, ducks, etc. on different days, or meat birds and production egg layers for large operations every day). Rare breed and purebred standards are normally hatched on the same day to accomodate the small orders, otherwise it isn't practical for shipping. Although most hatcheries have it down to a science and the chicks hatch very close in timing, keep in mind, not all chicks are going to hatch at exactly 21 days, 0 hours. Some hatch at 20 days, 20 hours, some hatch at 21 days, 3 hours, etc. so there is a variance there. The ones that are oldest when they ship might not make it as long as the ones that hatched last. Also some rare breeds don't have as much vigor as others. McMurray wouldn't have the success rate they do if they were shipping 2 day old chicks on a regular basis. As you said, the chicks would die.​

 

[1stepcloser]

OMG. That is horrible...I am so sorry for your loss. I know most folks have good experiences but I just cannot bring myself to order live chicks like they are inanimate objects.

I think the practice needs to change but that is just my opinion.

 

[ty_09]

i think my brother ordered 25 modern game chicks from them. got the chicks about two weeks ago and they were fine. not sure when it was shipped though.

 

[slackwater]

I read a while ago that it was actually a MM policy to ship on Saturdays b/c they had "cut a deal" with the PO/airlines to reduce shipping costs. Not sure how accurate that is, but...

I had a shipment of 30+ chicks in Feb. I got the call from the PO about 10 in the morning on Monday. None DOA, but the two Polish (the ONLY two Polish) died shortly after arrival. I had a "free" exotic chick, BO and black JG die within days. MM reimbursed me for the losses, but...I chose to place my next order w/Nature's Hatchery after confirming that they ship ONLY on M/T/W.

 

[Mahonri]

Two years ago when I ordered from them, they arrived at my house special delivery on a Sunday morning....