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