Meyers Chick Problems?

[azelgin]

Just wondering if anyone has received a recent order from Meyers? I picked up 40 (no packing peanuts this time) from the post office on Wed., 2/92/12. All looked great and were active, when I introduced them to the brooder. I lost a couple the first day, which didn't concern me too much, as shipping stress usually takes it's toll this time of year. I called Meyer and they were fine with crediting me for the loss and said give them a call if I lost any more. I've since lost two more, one on Thursday night and the latest this morning. The one Thursday, didn't concern me much, as I figured maybe I didn't notice a sick chick. I cleaned pasty butts last night, at about 9pm and all seemed healthy and active. The latest fatality has me a little bit more concerned. They were checked on at 1am this morning and none showed any signs of anything strange. At 8am, we had another dead chick, that had been perfectly healthy at the early morning bed check. It was streached out in that sleeping position, that they sometimes take, when they are getting warm and comfortable. I first thought it was sleeping, until all the others got up and started miling about. As far as chick raising goes, this batch is far from my first rodeo, so, I'm following the same "rules" I always have for years, with excellent results. I not an expert, but, I seem to have good luck with hatching and raising chicks. Whatever killed the latest chick was very sudden. All four of the chicks have been of a different breed, so, I don't think the problem is breed/genetic oriented. I'm wondering if there is some new disease floating around with hatchery chicks, that I hadn't heard about. Anydoby else?

 

[mikecnorthwest]

I do seem to be reading a lot of posts over the last couple of weeks about dead or dying chicks from hatchery orders. Some are due to shipping delays and others like yours are unexplained. I've never ordered chicks from a hatchery so I'm not sure if this is the norm for chick loss or not.

 

[azelgin]

I'm not knocking Meyers. Yet. The chicks looked great and survived the trip well. The first two deaths did show signs that something was wrong. They started becoming listless, weak and not interested in food. If the third had a problem, it wasn't something that caught my attention. I hope the unexplained ones were just one of those things that sometimes happens. These girls are replacements for some of my older birds that have slowed down their production. The neighbors are going to be dissapointed, if our egg production doesn't pick up again this fall.

 

[mammat]

Meyers is in Ohio, very very far from AZ. Around 1900 miles. I dont think I would ship a plant 1900 miles via usps let alone live day old chicks. That may be your problem. .

 

[goldfinches]

I received an order of chicks from them last fall. Of my order of 10 or so, 1 was missing. They were very quick to credit me for the missing one. But, within a week, another one died. She seemed a little weak from the start, maybe she was the runt of the litter?

 

[azelgin]

Meyers is in Ohio, very very far from AZ. Around 1900 miles. I dont think I would ship a plant 1900 miles via usps let alone live day old chicks. That may be your problem.

Gosh, really? I guess I should have looked at the map. Distance is not the problem. Transit time is. They actually spent less time getting to me, than when I ordered from Privett, which is next door in NM. Go figure. I lost more on Privetts orders when I opened the box, than I have so far from Meyers. Privett only sells straight run these days, so, it doesn't work out for me to raise a bunch of roosters, just because they are closer. Shipping stress is apparant the first day, not three days later.
I just checked on the little ones and all seem to be doing great and growing like weeds. Time will tell.

 

[chickensinwasillaAK]

Not to start a fued by any means but I've had chicks shipped from Iowa, Ohio and Texas, all shipped to Alaska and no deaths in the box. The Iowa shipment I lost two on the 4th day, Ohio shipment was 100% as was Texas. Now I always ship in April, just warmer here and not so hard on the chicks.
My last order from Iowa was shipped on Thursday evening, arrived 6am Saturday morning. I don't give a lot of credence to distance, issue is more weather and screw ups in routing. I ***** about the PO daily living up here but when it comes to poultry, they moved my boxes like they were express mail. Now we'll see how they do this year with the PO's closing the distribution centers, I have chicks coming from Meyer and an Iowa hatchery. Since I'm a bit hesitant, I set a bunch tonight and will be setting about 60-90 a week till the end of the month.

 

[ibtombstone]

We are in Utah, always order from Mt Healthy Hatchery in Cincinnati. Never had any issues. It is a long way, but, we just got 25 chicks, hatched on Wed, recieved on Thursday. It is hot right now, but still they have done very well adjusting.

 

[ImNotYogi]

I received an order from Meyer back on April 28 of this year. All arrived healthy and are still doing great. The weather wasn't as hot as it is now and they were only in transit for almost exactly 24 hours.

 

[bigern26]

I ordered 18 broilers +1 free and 9 Layers from Meyer. Shipped June 10th and arrived at 6am at my Post office on June 13th in NW Wisconsin. I picked them up at 7am.
I had 1 broiler and 1 Barred Rock DOA. I lost 7 more broilers the first 2 days, had to cull 2 more since.

I dont know what went wrong. I am going to order another batch of broilers soon and see how that goes. If I lose any more than a couple, I will try a different hatchery.