Meyer Hatchery Swedish Flowers?

[FlyingNunFarm]

Has anyone ordered Swedish Flower Hens from Meyer? I love Swedish Flowers but had a terrible run of luck with them this past fall. My concern is that they had a genetic issue that came up due to stress. I didn’t get my birds from Meyer so wondered how their genetic line is.

Any experiences would be appreciated.

 

[mamavolk2eight]

In September I ordered several chicks, one being a Swedish flower hen, from Meyers. All of the ten chicks I got thrived and all ended up being hens. I have been incredibly impressed with my Swedish flower hen and she has become my favorite bird. She seeks out my attention and loves to be pet. She will run up to me when I open the coop and stays close by my side as I walk around doing chores. She has such a beautiful feather pattern and while I don’t show my birds, she has no noticeable flaws that I can see. Among the pullets, she seems to have matured faster than the others and at 18 weeks, her comb and wattles are turning pink and she is filling out the most. My guess is she will be the first to lay of that group. I was hesitant about getting such a specity breed from a hatchery, but I have been more than impressed! I can post pics a bit later.

 

[Stephine]

I am really happy with mine. I ordered 2 hens and a roo from them. One died shortly after arrival but the remaining two have been healthy and absolutely gorgeous. My hen is a fine layer.
They will be two years old in April. I can absolutely recommend them!
(Pics: My rooster, my hen (in front of the white Brahma), the two as chicks ( the yellow one was the hen, the brown one the roo)).

 

[Hatchaholik]

Has anyone ordered Swedish Flower Hens from Meyer? I love Swedish Flowers but had a terrible run of luck with them this past fall. My concern is that they had a genetic issue that came up due to stress. I didn’t get my birds from Meyer so wondered how their genetic line is.

Any experiences would be appreciated.

Hi, I got 12 Swedish Flowers from Gold feather farms in Louisiana and they shipped them to Washington, surprisingly they all survived. They ship with some kind of gel food and heat pack hot glued to one side of the box! I will definitely order from them again. They also have egg and chick auctions on their Facebook page!

 

[Stephine]

Myself and another chicken keeper split an order of death layers. Some arrived dead, others obviously not feeling well. We each treated the birds and had no luck what so ever. When contacted they said give them medicated feed. We were both already treating for cocci. When we said we were treating and still losing birds they basically said we were stupid and must not know what we were doing. Refused to give any kind of compensation when we lost all but 3 birds in less than 5 days. Yes I realize there is a 48 hr guarantee but for them to obviously be sick upon arrival…. Something would have been nice. Even an apology for them dying.
Not a single bird made it to six months.

Wow. That’s really something. I have definitely been reimbursed by other hatcheries for birds that arrived unwell and died after the 48 hr mark, as long as I told them about the chicks doing poorly within the 48 hrs.
Also, it is highly unlikely for day old chicks to arrive with coccidiosis! They did not have enough time to develop that illness. Plus medicated feed is a preventative, not a cure. Ugh. That is a sad story, and I am sorry they did not support you or stand behind their “product”.
I had chicks arrive from Meyer’s last summer infected with what I highly suspect was Avian Encephalomyelitis. First chick started falling over and getting cross beaked a few days after arrival. Passed it on to the brooder mates who got sick a bit later. All terribly weak and buzzing. All survived because I babied them around the clock, but one had complications and died as a young pullet.
Just to say that you can have bad luck with other hatcheries, too…
I got tired of losses from shipped chicks and got some at a local hatchery this year…

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Wow. That’s really something. I have definitely been reimbursed by other hatcheries for birds that arrived unwell and died after the 48 hr mark, as long as I told them about the chicks doing poorly within the 48 hrs.
Also, it is highly unlikely for day old chicks to arrive with coccidiosis! They did not have enough time to develop that illness. Plus medicated feed is a preventative, not a cure. Ugh. That is a sad story, and I am sorry they did not support you or stand behind their “product”.
I had chicks arrive from Meyer’s last summer infected with what I highly suspect was Avian Encephalomyelitis. First chick started falling over and getting cross beaked a few days after arrival. Passed it on to the brooder mates who got sick a bit later. All terribly weak and buzzing. All survived because I babied them around the clock, but one had complications and died as a young pullet.
Just to say that you can have bad luck with other hatcheries, too…
I got tired of losses from shipped chicks and got some at a local hatchery this year…

I do understand things happen. And no hatchery is perfect but how they talked to us was unacceptable.

 

[Stephine]

I do understand things happen. And no hatchery is perfect but how they talked to us was unacceptable.

I understand. It always baffles me when customer service people don’t say “I am sorry”. That’s so easy and makes such a difference. And of course make it right. A refund would definitely have been in order, those chicks are expensive!

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

In September I ordered several chicks, one being a Swedish flower hen, from Meyers. All of the ten chicks I got thrived and all ended up being hens. I have been incredibly impressed with my Swedish flower hen and she has become my favorite bird. She seeks out my attention and loves to be pet. She will run up to me when I open the coop and stays close by my side as I walk around doing chores. She has such a beautiful feather pattern and while I don’t show my birds, she has no noticeable flaws that I can see. Among the pullets, she seems to have matured faster than the others and at 18 weeks, her comb and wattles are turning pink and she is filling out the most. My guess is she will be the first to lay of that group. I was hesitant about getting such a specity breed from a hatchery, but I have been more than impressed! I can post pics a bit later.

Thank You! They really are wonderful birds.

 

[Stephine]

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I am really happy with mine. I ordered 2 hens and a roo from them. One died shortly after arrival but the remaining two have been healthy and absolutely gorgeous. My hen is a fine layer.
They will be two years old in April. I can absolutely recommend them!
(Pics: My rooster, my hen (in front of the white Brahma), the two as chicks ( the yellow one was the hen, the brown one the roo)).

Years have passed and my opinion has changed… I had gotten the roo because Greenfire states that they are never human aggressive. Well mine started showing aggression in his third spring (shortly after this post) and got worse with every year, to the point of being unmanageable this spring, when I got rid of him. He was gorgeous but a brute with the hens - only his tid bitting was great. The hen, while also gorgeous, was loud and obnoxious, stand offish and never laid well. Peck relentlessly hands reaching under her in the nest. I would not get SFH from Meyer again. Maybe from Greenfire or a breeder that pays more attention to temperament.

 

[Stephine]

Years have passed and my opinion has changed… I had gotten the roo because Greenfire states that they are never human aggressive. Well mine started showing aggression in his third spring (shortly after this post) and got worse with every year, to the point of being unmanageable this spring, when I got rid of him. He was gorgeous but a brute with the hens - only his tid bitting was great. The hen, while also gorgeous, was loud and obnoxious, stand offish and never laid well. Peck relentlessly hands reaching under her in the nest. I would not get SFH from Meyer again. Maybe from Greenfire or a breeder that pays more attention to temperament.

Should have added, my hen stopped laying before turning three years old, too.