mcmurry sick chicks please post here

[MNKris]

Quote:
I do! I do! They go up to MPLS International airport via I35 and fly your way!

I have to say, I have had hundreds if not thousands of chicks from McMurray and I have never had anything wierd like this happen. And, I might add, they have went above and beyond what I have expected so far.

I totally understand Stormchaser's sadness and shock. If you had the chicks like we do, you would know how appauling it is. It's like your scared to go into the brooder because you are going to see more laying there. I too have repeatedly had chicks at this time of year, all from McMurray and with no problems.

McMurray customer service reps are not supposed to diagnose over the phone, and no one did with me. I asked a lot of questions and they were extremely helpful on giving suggestions. The hatchery is really trying to do right by all of us and so far I am very impressed. What else can they do but offer to replace them? Other than me being a customer, they don't know me. I could be some fruitcake trying to get free chicks (which I am not). When I got to the right people, I received 5 star customer service. I will order from them again and again and again. I think in general, their chicks have always been more healthy than other places I have purchased from and the quality normally is exceptional. Geez, even these 115 were great until 12 days old. Their policy states 48 hours after arrival for refunds. They didn't have to replace mine, but I am grateful they did and look forward to getting them Saturday. Hopefully this batch will be A LOT less eventful.

 

[mario2girls]

i was trying to see if it is certain breeds only,,,,
or a certain week,,,
i guess my thought is ,,,there would be an oh wow moment , seeing a pattern in a certain week, or breed or something,,
i am not going to worry, as i see mcmurry is great in customer service,,,so fingers crossed and hoping for the best,

 

[max13077]

Quote:
Me too. :|

 

[sBrickmanHouse]

I guess we were really lucky with McMurray. Beginner's luck, perhaps?

Our order of 25 chicks (a mix of Barred Rock, Speckled Sussex, Black Australorp, White Rock, Buff Orp and Silver Laced Wyandotte-- 4 or 5 of each), was shipped on the earliest date possible, February 10. We're on the East Coast, so weather was definitely a factor, but I guess we managed to squeak through.

They shipped on Saturday, and our post office called us to pick them up around 6:30 pm on Sunday. One little Barred Rock arrived DOA, sadly, but the rest, although hungry and thirsty (and clearly confused!) did well. We did lose a second Barred Rock at around 3 days old (she just never seemed to grow or thrive, although she was eating and drinking well).

The rest stayed in a brooder box in our house for about a week, until they got waaaay too rambunctious, and now they're happily ensconced in a brand new coop in our backyard, under two heatlamps and all the food and water they can possibly stuff in their faces.

And stuff they do-- they're growing like weeds, and appear to be happy and healthy... and slightly manic.

I should note, though, that although we received the types of chickens we ordered, we didn't receive the amounts of each we ordered-- we have a few more of one breed, a few less of another, and we do have one unidentified chick, though we requested that the usual "mystery chick" NOT be included.

So although our experience with McMurray wasn't 100% perfect, it was definitely satisfactory plus.

Take heart-- at least from our story, the early chick shipments haven't always resulted in doom and gloom!

 

[CayceV]

I ordered 31 from MM (though they sent me 33). I've lost 9 so far and have 5 more that have leg issues.

I don't know all the breeds I've lost... But I know for sure I lost:

1 Buff Cochin
2 Phoenix
1 Blue Laced Red Wyandotte

The other breeds I ordered are: Araucana, Blue Andalusian, Cuckoo Marans, Jersey Giant, Speckled Sussex.

Of the ones I have left the ones that are having problems are: my Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, 1 Araucana, and 1 Speckled Sussex.

My order arrived Feb 11. We had one upon arrival that was almost dead and died shortly afterwards. The others all died within a few days....

 

[Hawkster318]

1st, I think the scope may need to be narrowed. I see only orders being shipped in 2008 as being affected. Past season's shipments seem to be more typical as far as fatalities goes:

We ordered the Ornamental Layer Collection (25). First attempt was Feb 11th, Post office called with a box of dead chickens (not sure how many were sent...) (Windchills were around -35 in this area over the weekend. Not good,

Feb 16th, MMH called, they had a bad hatch, so would not be shipping the order this week.

Feb. 24th. ~ received call from main hub, they had our chicks in. 27 were sent. 18 alive (hatch time on box was 11 hours earlier...) 3 were quite iffy, but revived. Monday ~ 1 died. Tuesday ~ 1 died. Wed ~ 2 died. All the ones to die were significantly smaller than the rest. MMH said the birds are disease free when leaving there. Cold temps and stress are to blame.

Same person also told me that MMH's EEs are not EEs, but pure breed Ameraucana.

 

[coopist]

"Cold temps and stress are to blame."

Yes, that about sums it up, right? Any breed of chick shipped in cold weather can stress, and many, many will. It stands to reason, since baby chicks need a temperature of about 95 degrees in their first day or two of life. Ask yourself these straightforward questions:

1) "In shipping my birds in February to my home from Webster City, Iowa, is the temp in the box going to drop below 90-95 degrees?"
2) "Can I realistically expect that the body heat of newly hatched chicks during shipping can completely offset this chill factor to avoid stressing?"
And finally:
3) "Might it not really be better to wait until April?"

I'm not blaming people for wanting their chicks early, and chicks are surprisingly resilient, which makes an early ship date tempting, but, really, I'm surprised that anybody's surprised when they get chilled/stressed in February, especially when they're shipping from McMurray in Iowa. And yes, chilling can drastically weaken even healthy chicks, which will hang on and die days later.

The problem with McMurray isn't the quality of their chicks, but the fact that they ship them when they shouldn't.

 

[halo]

I agree 1000% with what Coopist said.....except for the part that says that Murray is shipping when it shouldnt.
They dont ship because they say its time to ship. They ship because the consumer says ship. And thats the bottom line.

Is anyone noticing a pattern here? Every post that Ive read that stated they got chicks last year said they were just fine. But they were also received in April, in September. How in the world can anyone be surprised when their chicks are shipped from Iowa to Indiana, to Connecticut, to Canada, in the middle of February, they they wont experience a lot of loss? I placed an order with them for delivery in March, and I live in Florida. And I wont be surprised if theres some loss depending on the weather from where they are shipping from.

 

[jjthink]

Both the hatchery and the consumer are culpable.

I would respect a hatchery that had a policy not to ship, not to even be creating these little beings left and right, when extreme conditions are likely in winter and summer. If the well being of the little munchkins fully entered into the equation, there wouldn't be so much death. There are other things these businesses could do during these seasons to make a profit.

Unfortunately the consumer can't be counted on to not order at these times, even though they should avoid doing so. If I had a business dealing in living beings, I would take it upon myself to protect them as best I could, and would not ship them in bad conditions, saying "the consumer made me do it".

JJ

 

[crysmom]

There are hatcheries and postal services that only ship during appropriate weather... Canada post only carries Day old birds March 1st through to Oct each year. There are likely a lot less weather related losses because of this