Murray McMurray Hatchery?

[FernbergFarms]

Okay. Yeah that’s what I thought. Especially the boys.

 

[Birdsonghill]

Their ducks come from Metzer's Farms, a leading producer of ducks, and a reliable company from all my experience and what I have heard. There are very few Hatcheries that raise all the types of domestic birds they offer for sale. When a hatchery raises all their own, they are usually limited in what they offer! It usually has not taken any longer to receive birds from California than Iowa, here in the Mid South! The few extra flight hours are insignificant, it is the handling/processing by the USPS and truck regional/local transport that eats up the time! The warnings about delivery time is the USPS covering themselves. The deliveries mostly take less than three full days, common for it to be two days plus or minus a few hours. Three full days are very rarely exceeded, thankfully! I had chicks delivered from just a few hundred miles away and it still took two full days, and a couple hours. I am not so sure about the brooding situation. I would not put them in with older ducks! The temps here are reaching 90 degrees the last couple of days, but at night it still falls to the upper 50's. I am turning off the supplemental heat lamp, except a brooder "mother hen " type warmer in the day, after the brooder temp reaches about 82 F.(so they can go under it free will if chilled). I monitor the brooder temps and their demeanor regularly, all day. In the evening( about 10-11 pm), I turn the heat lamp back on to maintain 90 F(less than 95F) this first week in an area near the feeder/water. They should not get chilled, but they will not prosper and can die from excessive heat and too little space to get away from it! I will likely put them out in their house early, due to the seasonal temps rising . I have usually taken delivery in mid to late spring to reduce the effects of my cold garage(were I brood), so that they can go out as early as possible , safely. They should have some form of supplemental heat until the low temps(night time?) are above 70 degrees and they are at least 4 to 6 weeks old. (after 6 to 7 weeks lower temps <65 F are usually not a problem for spring started birds here) I suggest a low wattage, Run under "mother hen " type heater at the minimum, for chilled birds to warm under until at least six weeks old. The temps are very important, especially the first six weeks. It is imperative that the babies have enough room to escape too hot of temps near the heat source. In a smaller, tight brooder, heat build up is often as bad as chilled babies! Good luck and best wishes for your new ducklings!

 

[FernbergFarms]

Thank you! I’m thinking I’ll only have a heat lamp on at night...?do you guys think if I kept their brooder in the duck house where the big duck are it would be okay? The big ducks wouldn’t be able to get in it; they would just hear them.

 

[Birdsonghill]

Thank you! I’m thinking I’ll only have a heat lamp on at night...?do you guys think if I kept their brooder in the duck house where the big duck are it would be okay? The big ducks wouldn’t be able to get in it; they would just hear them.

I think it would be good to have the duck brooder within sight and sound of the adults. Monitor your ducks frequently during the day and watch for signs of chilling or over heating. A smart phone thermometer to check is nice, but observing the birds is best. I am not an expert on ducks( or anything really)! I have raised some, a couple times, with success, years ago! Generally, I tend to over protective, if anything, on all my birds! I hope to see pictures and to hear happy things soon!

 

[Cecisflock]

Thank you! I’m thinking I’ll only have a heat lamp on at night...?do you guys think if I kept their brooder in the duck house where the big duck are it would be okay? The big ducks wouldn’t be able to get in it; they would just hear them.

sounds fine.

 

[FernbergFarms]

Thank you all for the advice!! Pictures will for sure come when ducklings do!

 

[KCNC06]

It is a common practice in the retail hatchery business to have other growers, supply some of their diverse offerings. The better hatcheries will carefully vet the supplier. Many do not hatch all of the Ducks, Peafowl,Guineas or exotics, themselves , nor all of the chicken breeds they offer, sometimes! Murray Mcmurray hatches a lot of chicken breeds, but do you really think they breed and hatch exotic cranes, call ducks, vulturine Guineas and all the other diverse offerings? Their staff would have to be huge and they would need to be experts and care for a lot of animals that are not compatible with chickens! I seldom see any Hatchery specifically point out, that they do not breed/hatch all of their offerings! Some of the suppliers of chicks and etc. do not hatch most of what they sell retail and are mostly just middlemen/brokers! Some that hatch many thousands of chicks of commercial breeds wholesale, do not hatch but a handful of breeds, themselves! I also point out that, by jet airplane, the difference on delivery time in route from places 2000 miles further away, only translates to about 4 hours more travel time! They don't go by train anymore! The reputable hatcheries strive to handle your baby birds with care and expedite shipment by USPS air delivery and use only responsible partners in their business. When problems arise, they back their stated warranty and you must not blame them for USPS mishandling! Buy your birds locally, when possible, from reputable and clean flocks! However, I never would of enjoyed so many different breeds without Mail Order birds, many from Murray Mcmurray! In the days before the internet, the retail mail order chick hatchery business, almost died off in the 1970's. You found only a very few, tiny, adds in the popular magazines of the days, offering mail order chicks/birds. Most of the people in their rush off the farms in the 1940s through the 60's, abandoned all aspects of farm life, including chickens! Thanks, to the, just a handful of hatcheries, surviving (like MM), we have kept some of the heirloom breeds going, through the dark ages of the post agricultural period of the "Jetson's" age of the 1960's and 1970's. I am thankful for them.

I found this out last night. I ordered ducklings from McMurray in April and they were scheduled to ship this week. A little after 10:00 (EST) last night I got a shipping notification email from McMurray saying my order had shipped...from Gonzales, CA. I was really surprised by the location. This is my first time ordering live (hopefully) birds so I didn't know that the ducklings McMurray sells would be coming from Metzer. Definitely surprising that McMurray's price is lower than buying directly from Metzer. Maybe McMurray gets a bulk rate. Anyway. I called my Post Office this morning as the shipping notification recommended. The lady at the PO was very sweet and helpful but her end of the conversation had a lot of uncomfortable pauses while we were looking at the tracking information. My ducklings went out at 4:44 p.m. PST yesterday (5/25) , got to their Regional Distribution Center at 6:40 p.m. yesterday and the package hasn't moved since then. The estimated delivery is showing 9:00 p.m. on Friday 5/28, and the lady at my PO said her system shows it being extended to Saturday 5/29. Since day-old babies can be up to 24 hrs old when the package is received, I'm quite concerned about what condition they'll be in if it actually takes until Friday afternoon for them to get to my PO. Like I said, I've never ordered birds before. I either pick them up at TSC or my ducks make more babies for me. Based on my experience hatching ducklings though, they're drinking water by 3 days old. With the hot weather we're having already, delivery on Friday or Saturday sounds dangerous. In 10+ yrs of having ducks I've never lost a baby so I'm trying to prepare myself for the worst already.

All this made me wonder, why don't hatcheries disclose that the ducklings (or geese or whatever else) will be coming from a facility in CA or whatever other State if they get other types of birds from other hatcheries? When I was getting ready to order these ducklings I looked at Metzer and McMurray and decided to go with McMurray because they're in Iowa and closer to me in NC. If McMurray's website disclosed that their ducklings actually ship from Metzer I probably still would have ordered from McMurray since their price was lower by about $1/bird. But at least I wouldn't have been shocked by the information in that shipping notification. Their FAQ about shipping chicks and ducks, or chicks and geese, any combo, together even makes it sound like they have the different species separated into different hatcheries there...it definitely doesn't sound like they're shipping from a different hatchery. "Sorry, we are unable to ship day old chicks with other types of fowl. We hatch at different facilities, separating the species for disease purposes."

I don't know. Maybe it's just me but it comes across as dishonest. Hopefully my ducklings will arrive safely and will be healthy, but I still don't think I'd order from McMurray again. If something goes wrong, it seems like it would be easier to deal directly with Metzer since that's where the birds came from anyway.

 

[FernbergFarms]

@KCNC06 our situation sound very similar. The PO said they’d get here by Friday ( went to the first shipping place Monday) and I was concerned. Ten the email said it will not take more than 72 hours so that is tomorrow. So I guess I’ll see. I also ordered from McMurray bc it was in Iowa and I’m in Mn. The weather here has been nice enough that I wouldn’t say it’s dangerous maybe a little chilly at night. I’m more worried if they will run out of food. Well what can you do...

 

[KCNC06]

@FernbergFarms
Yeah, hopefully you'll get your call from the PO tomorrow! I don't think I'd be too worried about them running out of food before they're delivered because they go a few days without eating normally. I remember being concerned that some of mine still weren't showing interest in food 3 days after hatching even though I knew they wouldn't eat for a few days. The ones I hatched back in 2019 were interested in water before food. Pretty much all of them would drink a little on day 2.
I'm not sure why I assumed San Jose, CA would be having temperatures similar to ours here in NC. They are quite a bit north compared to us. Still, these poor ducklings have been sitting in a box at the PO in San Jose since last night. From what I read about shipping day-olds, the origination PO isn't supposed to accept live birds after 5:00 p.m., my tracking shows that my order was received at 5:25 p.m. yesterday.
My shipping notification email also says that birds will be delivered within 72 hrs regardless of what tracking gives as the estimated delivery day/time. I've seen a few too many posts and reviews over the past few weeks from people who said it did take the full 4-5 days for their order to arrive.

 

[Birdsonghill]

I am glad my order went so well. All my chicks arrived in good shape but one out of 28, trampled in a corner. The delivery time was about what I have usually seen in the past. Just over two days in transit. I have had much worse and dead chicks before. The time in air flight is not that big of a factor, it is the handling on the ground and local truck time that accounts for the late deliveries sometimes! My experiences have been similar with several reputable hatcheries, mostly positive and I like MMH for the service and quality I have received for 5 decades. Metzers Farms is a quality company as well , with a business relationship with MMH. Deliveries from either coast to me, have had about the same delivery time as more local places, within 400 miles of me. The wild card is always the USPS that we all rely on. Usually the good people there take care of us! Sometimes they fail. I was apprehensive this time waiting for my chicks! But , the USPS did it right for me. I hope all of you have a good experience this year! I don't have any ducks now, but I do have these 27 new chicks! 10 days old now and thriving!