Meyer hatchery - never again

[Alexandra33]

I agree with you. Maybe the OP just got a batch that may have been diseased. Eggs that are a little bit contaminated with microorganisms can affect the chick after hatch causing morbidity and mortality. It also seems that yours are in very healthy condition.

Possibly, which is simply heartbreaking. Unfortunately, these are things that are beyond our - and a hatchery's - control.

They are.

~Alex

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Who's fault is it when my chicks I hatched at home from my own flock die? That is part of nature. USPS and the hatcheries are doing there best and provide us with thousands of successful delivered LIVE chicks every year.

I had a shipment clearly mishandled once... there was a lot of poo on the inside top of the box. So the chicks were clearly upside down for a period of time. I have had express shipping (get's handed off to fed ex) take longer than priority, as mentioned when dry ice is being shipped, they usually bump chicks off the plane.

Even ordering from reputable breeders... sometimes my route is harsh and 50% is my expected survival rate. I WON'T order from breeders who don't guarantee LIVE delivery or refund on lost chicks.

Dear OP... I am sorry they made you feel you were doing something wrong. None of us here believe that!

There has been occasion for outbreak of disease at hatcheries... thinking like salmonella or something to that effect. It is very rare. They get their eggs from contracted breeder farms. Doing ANYTHING large scale means you will see more stuff go wrong.

Whoever lost their chicks by the first week to "coccidiosis", I highly question the diagnosis... and consider it MORE likely to have been failure to thrive. Maybe due to genetics or breeder age or breeder nutrition. All the bantams I got from MPC were star gazers. Some breeds are more delicate than others.

The hatcheries... disinfect their eggs before incubation... still don't get 100% hatch rates. Seeing the struggles they have... I won't be shipping my chicks! It's AMAZING that ANY make it alive! And at such a cheap price.

Gives new appreciation for feed store chicks where they absorb the majority of failures before being offered to the public. It just means we work with their time frame and with the breeds they ordered.

Being on contact with your own personal post master DOES help a lot. They let me pick up chicks as soon as they come in at 6 Am. And have stayed as late as 8 PM for a back door pick up.

Hope the rest of the chicks are super hardy and lovely!

 

[patienceprudencecharity]

I have had a fantastic experience with Meyer birds. I drove many hours for my
first hens but picked them up and could see their facilities and many healthy birds. The local Amish farmers were lined up in buggies snd wagons to pick up their pullets, too. We have to face it— shipping in cold or hot months is dangerous, and birds should be shipped as close to overnight as possible. Shippers can easily kill animals with mishandling. Let your post office know to call you at 5 am when they arrive. Drive to get birds when you can. The best, strongest chicks won’t survive poor postal service care. ***All*** birds handle stress poorly and need as stress free transitions as possible. I agree, helping each new arrival drink repeatedly, checking vents repeatedly, maintaining the precise temp and following rearing practices precisely— it all matters.

 

[OasiVerde]

Thank you all for your responses. I am SO happy to read that many of you do have had a good survival rate and have healthy chicks.
This morning another one died, even after giving all of the survivors a round of Tylan (never had to use this before / this was my last resort of trying to safe as many as I possibly can). I have 5 survivors (down to 30% survival rate now ).
And I am SO happy I keep all my new birds quarantined. My adults and pullet flock is still super healthy .

 

[CradG]

I got 7 chicks from Meyer, through my pet chicken. Picked them up on April 4th. They were shipped during a blizzard and I was worried sick. They all arrived perfectly healthy and 7.5 months later are thriving. Much healthier birds than the ones I got from Murray McMurray the previous year. Overall I couldn't be happier. I guess what I am saying is I am sorry for your experience, but I am hoping it was just bad luck and it is not how my experience was.

 

[EggWalrus]

I am SO upset.
Ordered 16 chicks (and a meal maker) from Meyer hatchery in Ohio and they arrived 8 days ago.
Within 48 hours, 4 chicks died.
Then another 1 died two days later, and another 1 two days after that.
Last night 3 died, this morning 2 more. Some have trouble breathing, some have diarrhea (started Corid), some just die. I have them under a heat plate in a heated room (room temperature - advise from the hatchery). I keep them under the same conditions as I did with my previous batch of chicks with 100% survival. IMHO, and I am not an expert at all, if chicks keep dying under these conditions, there is something wrong with them. They either have an illness or it is genetics.
From the 17 chicks total I am down to 6 left . And who knows if they are going to make it

Chatted with the hatchery and of course they will only replace the 4 that died in the first 48 hours. That is their policy. Well, thank you. I will NEVER order at Meyer hatchery again.
Just my experience, unfortunately.

What breed (s) did you order? I heard Auracana chicks are bad about dying, that's if you can even get them to hatch.

 

[CradG]

I know you weren't asking me but the healthy birds I got from meyer were easter eggers and blue/black/splash orpingtons

 

[Alexandra33]

How are your chicks faring, @OasiVerde ?

~Alex

 

[OasiVerde]

What breed (s) did you order? I heard Auracana chicks are bad about dying, that's if you can even get them to hatch.

Welsummer

 

[OasiVerde]

How are your chicks faring, @OasiVerde ?

~Alex

@Alexandra33 Awh, thank you for asking !
I have 5 left. The 4 pullets are doing very well. They are super active and lively. As I am used to with chicks. They had their first field trip outside last weekend. The weather was great. They loved to scratch and dust bath . So much fun to watch. The cockerel is still struggling. I don;t know what is wrong with him, but I think something with the brain. He looses his balance a lot, has to lay down and is growing significantly slower compared to the pullets. But he is still eating and drinking and doesn;t seem to be in pain or discomfort. So, we'll see how it goes.
But, I can't wait for them to go into the coop outside. Because of the rough start I keep them inside until 6 weeks or fully feathered. It was not my intention to keep them inside, so they are in my study, but it is getting a bit dusty
I will take a picture of them tomorrow when it is light.