Meyer hatchery reviews???

[autumnhearth]

I am new to chickens and went with meyer's as at the time they had many varieties of chickens available. I ordered 18 chickens that arrived on 5/20. Two were missing and four of the six bantams ended up dying. There was also only nesting on the bottom and lots of air holes punched out, so I believe they got cold. Called and they offered to refund/replace the ones that were missing. They arrived 5/28 and none of those died. I have a pending duck order through them for next week, but I'm throwing around maybe canceling it and going with someone else. Next year if I order more chicks I will be going with a different hatchery.

What state are you in? Personally I would go with whichever reputable hatchery is nearest to you. We chose Meyer because they are an hour drive away, though I've heard their chicks arriving safe and sound in Hawaii (probably get there faster on the plane than they do a couple states over knowing USPS. Either way most hatcheries aren't going to send heat packs in May, but I am sorry to hear about your poor experience. Maybe also look into nearby breeders.

 

[Briggadane]

I've had poultry for a long time. Peafowl, turkeys, ducks and chickens. I had to get out for a couple years when we moved around, but now I have started a new collection( minus peafowl). I was NPIP certified too. Monday I will be calling to get that done again.

With that said, I've ordered chicks privately, shipped peafowl and their eggs and so on.

I love Meyers for general selection and birds that do well. I pick my chicks up when I get them from Meyer. They have above decent conditions, the adult in pens you can see are all looking comfortable.

Keep in mind when you order from a commercial hatchery, you are:
Dealing with a business. They hatch thousands of chicks at once. Employees are NOT able to do much about culling as they go. I don't imagine they are even looking at the chicks as each does their job to get those chicks out to customers ASAP. NOT BECAUSE THEY DONT CARE, but because they do. The faster that chick gets out, the sooner it reaches its new home, and personalized care.
Meyer is excellent at trying to make things right equitably. They know an unhealthy chick is occasionally going to go out. They credit you back your loss. Even when the loss is most likely a postal caused issue. It's the risk of shipping. And just like people who fly on planes get sick when other passengers spread something they had, a chick can easily catch some avian illness just by leaving home. Or it can get ill from something your own chickens carry but developed immunity to. Most animal purchases give a 2 day refund because illness won't show up for 2 to 7 days after exposure. If you don't vaccinate for Mereks you can still lose chickens to it for up to 8 weeks of age. Now we add different strains of bird flu to the mix?

And back to postal workers. Again, people in a hurry to move items from one place to another don't necessarily care what's in the package. Chicks get bumped around a LOT!
They will get squished, stepped on, and sometimes crushed. Gravity tells you where that poor chick will be in the package when you open it. The hatchery did NOT send you a dead bird. But it is nice that they make up for losses beyond your and THEIR control. They certainly aren't under any obligation to do so, other than a willingness to try and please a customer. As for a policy we think(know?) is stupid? It's their business, they run it how they see fit. What right do we have to complain? It was stated in all those pages we had(should have?) to read before before completing an order.

And my favorite complaint of people who order eggs: I don't think they were fertilized. They didn't hatch at the rate expected... By ground shipping you have a longer transit time that jars the eggs at every bump in the road, and body that transfers the package. And if it flys? Really? In a non pressurized cargo hold? Why are we not supposed to have aerosols in luggage?

Now, addressing sexing of chicks. They do a great job. When I've gotten orders with more Roos than I think is fair, I mentally chalk it up to training a new person to know what they are doing, a bad day( we all have them), or an 'oops, wrong box, but I can't tell which chick it was' thing. I do it myself, so why can't they. It's why they give credit, they know it's human to make mistakes.

Please keep this in mind for all hatcheries.
*****************

I once sent out eggs to 2 customers and mixed up the labels. I then paid each person to forward, plus replaced the first batch of unhatched eggs from each person. Considering that was Marans eggs when they were $200 a dozen, that was one heck of a mistake!

And a tip for folks who get weak chicks that don't make it, reorder at a different time of year. Chicken breeds are not all suited for the time of year the eggs are hatched.
And also as for replacing chicks: it is against Ohio law to mail or sell less than 6 chicks that are under 4 weeks old.

 

[allpeepedout]

I just received my first order from Meyer earlier this week. All 10 chicks arrived healthy and are thriving and appear to be the correct breeds. I had made multiple calls changing my order and always got a highly cooperative response. I never had to hold long to speak to someone, despite it being peak order season. By watching availability online, I was able to add several rare breeds that had been sold out for a long time. The website worked well and the availability posting is really useful.

Transit time was 2 days going only about 300 miles. USPS routed them pretty far north.

My only complaint is they added an extra chick. With my order of 9 and warm weather, I did not expect them to add any extra and I didn't want any more. Chicken math is already getting me in trouble. I did not sign up for the Meal Maker. My order was all pullets, and the extra is acting like a roo right out of the box, so that has me worried as I already have a senior roo. I believe the extra is a Columbian Wyandotte, based on ID help on the forum, so this was also a larger breed than I wanted.

That said, I am impressed by Meyer, their selection, their service, and receiving live healthy animals. I would order from them again and recommend to others.

 

[carolinaheavies]

My chicks I ordered from Meyer last year turned out great. I lost 3 white Rock pullets (doa) and they credited me on my next order plus gave me extras. Mine are now almost a year old. My only negative comment would be the speckled Sussex roosters were very mean and aggressive but that happens on occasion with any breed. I'm about to place another order soon.

 

[Briggadane]

I went and got my order yesterday. All 30 chicks doing well. None are weak, but some are very tiny. Especially the one Serama. The next smallest is a polish. Even the banties I got from the bin are bigger. We did loose a SS Hamburg today. But that was not the hatcheries fault.
Tomorrow I go back to get another chick for my daughter...

 

[PensacolaBlue]

Chicks hatched monday and we received our 6 chicks tuesday (3 black australorps, 2 buff orps, 1 rir meal maker) - they seemed fine upon arrival; no problems getting them to eat or drink. One of the poor little buffs is on her way out - looks like an infected yolk sac w/ all the classic signs.

*edited to say Little died overnight

 

[trameghan]

I have bought from Meyer several times. Last year i lost 2 out of 6 the say after i received them and they gave me credit with no problems. This year the chicks i got in may all made it just fine but one of my 2 creamlegbar pullets turned out to be a boy! I was pretty dissapointed when he feathered in barred. He was a little chipmunk but darker than the female. I received another order just a few days ago. I couldnt pass up getting 2 more legbars when i saw they were available the next ship day! I think one of those is also a boy. He is darker than the other and has a dark spot on his head and super thick legs Overall i have been happy with meyers selection and customer serivce. I keep coming back because of the variety.

 

[allpeepedout]

I have bought from Meyer several times. Last year i lost 2 out of 6 the say after i received them and they gave me credit with no problems. This year the chicks i got in may all made it just fine but one of my 2 creamlegbar pullets turned out to be a boy! I was pretty dissapointed when he feathered in barred. He was a little chipmunk but darker than the female. I received another order just a few days ago. I couldnt pass up getting 2 more legbars when i saw they were available the next ship day! I think one of those is also a boy. He is darker than the other and has a dark spot on his head and super thick legs

Overall i have been happy with meyers selection and customer serivce. I keep coming back because of the variety.

Wow. I feel for you! Cream Legbars are pricey and supposed to be auto-sexing. That's a main breed feature, and a BIG MISS if they are not breeding for it. I'm feeling lucky that both of mine turned out to be pullets.

An update on my June review: 1 out of my 10 pullets was a rooster, the accepted sexing error rate. My Welsumer failed to grow for 3 weeks, but eventually caught up and is now doing well. My free and initially unwanted chick turned out to be a real beauty, a Columbian Wyandotte. I'll order from Meyer again.

 

[MamaDoolittle]

I ordered 3 chicks (BO, BA, & GLW) in July and received them next day and they did have a heat pack even though it was July. They were all healthy and thrived for a month. I lost the BO due to an accident. My Daughter and I drove 4 hours to pick up 2 chicks from Meyers in late August. Those 2 (another BO and a Golden Comet) are healthy and doing great at 3 1/2 weeks. I was so pleased with the service and the availability even this late in the year. I would highly recommend Meyers and will definitely use them again if I ever get to expand my flock.

 

[ImNotYogi]

I'm sure I wrote a review on this thread at some point or another but I'll give an update on how everyone is doing since a few have just started laying this month.

I received my flock on April 28 of this year. My first ever. I ordered 3 EEs, 3 Barnevelders, 3 GLW, and 2 Cream Legbars along with the Meyer mealmaker which later turned out to be a barred rock. Out of the 12 chicks received one of the EEs turned out to be a rooster. They all arrived with zero issues the day after they hatched. All were energetic eating machines. No issues of pasty butt or anything. One of the barnes got injured and it was severe enough that I eventually put her down. Obviously not Meyer's fault in the least. The Barred Rock was the first to lay an egg on Sept 2nd and was doing fine until this past Tuesday evening. I found her dead yesterday after work. No idea what caused it. All of the others are still doing great. One CLs did convince me she was a rooster though. She simply developed more quickly than the other. But she just laid her second of sky blue eggs today. The eggs I've gotten so far are light brown. I know one from a wyandotte and I think one of the Barnes is laying. As far as personality, so far the 2 female EEs and one of the legbars are the most people curious. Not affectionate but they don't react like you're Death either. The barnes seem to be the most skittish while the wyandottes are somewhere in between. The BR was a bit in between as well. I wish I had an idea on what caused her death.

Edit: I would order from them again in the future.