Meyer Hatchery Problems

[mammat]

I have never had a problem with Meyer. Did anybody else notice this person has only one post on here? The most common type of worms that chickens get do most of the damage in the first 2-3 weeks after they get them. If the birds had worms -deworm them. They dont die if you deworm them! Maybe you should not have waited until you lost 100 hens to check to see if they were sick. No laying is a pretty good sign.

 

[aoxa]

Quote:
I agree, I always do a treatment for worms if they have them or not when bringing in new stock. Thought it was common knowledge. You do it for cats and dogs, you should do it for your livestock as well.

 

[Dzwina]

As some one that is new to chickens I did not want to say any thing but...When it comes to the horses, every one is wormed when they come on the farm unless I have a clean fecal. Does this stand try with chickens(hens at the point of lay)??

 

[Oregon Blues]

Dzwina, de-worm and treat for lice and keep them in quarantine for a couple of weeks to make sure they aren't bringing in any sniffles.

It's a lot easier to treat a couple of new birds than it is to treat your entire flock. So don't put the new ones out there until they are absolutely free from vermin and germs.

 

[Stacykins]

Quote:
Just because YOU haven't had a problem, doesn't mean other people haven't. I have had major problems with Meyer, including rapidly dying birds AND misuse of my credit card information (double charging months after chicks were shipped). Never going to do business with THEM again, even though I have credit leftover with them. Not worth it.

 

[mammat]

Quote:
Just because YOU haven't had a problem, doesn't mean other people haven't. I have had major problems with Meyer, including rapidly dying birds AND misuse of my credit card information (double charging months after chicks were shipped). Never going to do business with THEM again, even though I have credit leftover with them. Not worth it.

Hey, you can read! That is exactly what I said. I have never had a problems with Meyer.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I have dealt with Meyer for years and not had any problems but I always get chicks.

As one poster stated it is just good animal husbandry to deworm your birds regardless if any birds had previously been there. Round worms are carried by many species of mammals so I am sure the pullets picked them up easily enough at their new home. They are in the soil and chickens peck the ground constantly. Roundworms also are fast growers in the body of an animal and the warmer the better.

It seems to me that this new owner does not have much of an idea of poultry farming. If I were getting into something as huge as that many birds and spending obviously a lot of money, I would certainly do my homework. Deworming is a monthly ritual at my farm and with as many pullets as that it should have been for them, as well. Anyone expecting to just purchase birds and make some money without constant care and maintenance will be sadly disappointed in the outcome.

I do not blame Meyer one bit for their reaction. I have sold birds and had people come back months later to complain about something as simple as their neglect of the animals. That is pretty much like buying a new car and then complaining once it runs out of gas. The new owner has to take care of their purchase.

At my peak this summer I had around 700 poultry here on my farm but each one is picked up and weighed, checked for wounds, exteranl parasites and dewormed, not to mention every 3 months a stool sample is taken in from where they roost at night to the vet to check for internal parasites. I don't want my investment to go down the drain.

 

[Cheapchicksfarm]

I agree with Amy If you have the birds for several weeks and then they get sick it is your problem.
In the future you should test them for worms the day you bring them home or just go ahead and worm them.

 

[Ariel301]

I've never ordered from them, myself. It's a shame what happened, but honestly...if I had sold the birds to you, I wouldn't have replaced/refunded/paid for treatment either after you'd had them several weeks.

Too much can happen in that time period.

A farm raising birds in that kind of quantity and trying to make the maximum amount of profit on them while keeping them as cheap as possible probably isn't raising them in the best of conditions either. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they came infected with worms. But as a person keeping large numbers of birds in confinement conditions, you also ought to know that disease can spread rapidly when your population is that dense, and you really have to stay on top of preventative care, including routinely checking your birds for parasites and treating as needed. I make a habit of assuming any new adult bird I acquire is probably carrying parasites, and treat them.

 

[winteree]

I'm sorry for you loss

and I'm happy I'm not the only one who had problems with them i ordered 6 hatching eggs after a 5-6 month struggle to get chickens but when i opened the egg's after they didn't hatch to see when they died their was nothing. No blood, no veins, no development of any kind, in fact they looked like $30 store bought eggs the yolks where almost perfect. When i called up Meyers the first time i was told that i would be getting a one time replacement of hatching egg's or my money back since the egg's didn't hatch which i made the mistake of hailing them for not a week ago. Then i got a e-mail saying that i in fact would not be getting a refund at all egg's or money. so i called Meyers again hoping to clear things up and i got in touch with one of their very rude supervisor. Who looked me up here on backyard chickens and used my posts in the cino de mayo HAL as an excuse not to give me a refund. Turns out if you don't buy one of their over priced incubators and haven't hatched in incubators before. Your word doesn't have any weight.

But thanks OK what that b - i - t - c - h doesn't know is that at the time she was talking down to me like a step child i had finished counting my pay for the night and was about to order roughly $120 worth of poultry from Meyers. i was going to use the $30 refund to see if i could add some ducks to my order. Now I'm am happy to say not only am i NEVER going to order from them ever again. I'm going to tell everyone who ever asks me where to get birds never to buy from them either.