Murray Mcmurray!

[boilermaker43]

This is my first time raising chickens and I ordered 13 Rhode Island Reds, 13 Black Australorps, 12 White Rocks, and 12 Barred Rocks from Murray McMurray. I also ordered McMurray's Quik Chik water supplement. They ALL arrived in perfect condition! And as of right now, which is about 29 hours since I picked them up, all are still alive and thriving! I would suggest Murray McMurray to anyone who wants to raise healthy chicks!

 

[1MrsMagoo]

I just received my order of ducklings and goslings from McMurray at 6:40 AM this morning. My only complaint is that they in no way notified me that my order had shipped. I called to ask them on Tuesday and was told it had shipped Monday afternoon.

Otherwise, all 8 ducklings (Cayuga, Khaki Campbell, Welsh Harlequins) and the pair of Toulouse goslings were active and looked healthy. All began eating and drinking the moment they were placed in the brooder: Not bad for them traveling 1,100 miles since Monday.

Two years ago I ordered 25 chicks from them. They sent a few extras and their was only 3 deaths overall. All but one of those chickens are still alive and doing great. I would not hesitate to buy from them in the future.

 

[MIchickens]

A little info on Murray McMurray. I received my chick a week ago (27 Jan 13). I ordered 47 total chicks of various breeds. I even went as far as to call my main post office hub and ask them to call me and I would pick them up whenever they got there. I received the call at 11:00pm on a Sunday. I drove the 2 hours round trip to get them faster to reduce the stress....if I had waited to get them from my local post office...who knows how many more would have died. 2 of the chicks were DOA in the box when I opened it. Later that day 3 more died. And the next day 3 more died. 1 day after that I only lost 1. Also, I ordered 4 Golden laced Wyandotte's...they didn't ship them to me. Their was a sticker on the inside of the box that said they said they ran out. Now keep in mind I ordered these chicks 3 months in advance. So there's no excuse for not sending them.

OK, now I have 3 chicks with crossed beaks and 1 with an eye problem. I will probably cull them tomorrow.

I would suggest trying to find a local hatchery around you and buy them from there. I am not happy at all with McMurray. Although their people were very nice on the phone each time I called...I believe their chicks are sub-standard. Be prepared to lose a 1/4 of them due to death or sub standard breeding.

I'm just sayin....lol

 

[pattikake]

We received our order on Tuesday of this week - ordered 110... 60 have died so far.
This is our LAST order from them.

 

[Avalon1984]

Same here. I ordered 26, down to the last 8. They ship them on Saturday so for people like us who live in an area where the post office isn’t open on Sundays, we don’t receive them until Monday. They openly admitted that they probably are all going to die and they’ll replace them but I still feel bad for those poor little chicks.

 

[HalfAChanceFarm]

We purchase a few if we cannot supply all the orders. Last year we had to purchase 300! I had done an experiment with Mcmurray hatchery Rhode Island Reds compared to other hatchery RIR's. Not only did they began laying earlier, they also produced more eggs and layed the longest before their retirement. They were also the best show birds. The hatcheries I am comparing it to includes Meyer, RandallBurkey, Strombergs, and a few more known hatcheries.

 

[Curly Beard]

I havent had Chickens in a while ( 20 years or so) When i ordered Murray chicks then, i ordered in may , i think there will be problems with any early orders because of temps during shipping and hatching the first eggs after a molt in early spring . That being said , often hatcheries will buy eggs for hatching so they are dependant on the honesty of the seller . Some sellers only care that they keep numbers up and dont cull bad birds properly just to have eggs to sell. When i got Speckled sussex from Murray i ended up culling about half the birds in the first season , i only kept the best 8 or 10 birds each year , by the third year my birds were looking pretty good ( even as just pet quality birds ) The more you cull for type and color early on the less you need to cull each hatch after ...so it goes

 

[Damiana]

Just remember - Their "easter egg colored" Araucanas and "Americanas" are actually mutts, as hatcheries do not sell Araucanas, and "Americana" is spelled wrong.

I've gotten over 40 different birds from McMurray and, well, I think they're like any other hatchery - Something I stopped buying from. One thing I will say is that their white crested black Polish are, in the odds of 1/5 - Really nice looking, comparing to the standards. Their Silver Laced Wyandottes are not attractive (nor friendly) their Brahmas range, infact it looks like they cross them with Sussex on occasion. For anyone curious, I have the following breeds from Murray McMurray and if you want a photo example of what yours may look like, ask:

Light Brahma
Turken / Naked Neck
Silver Laced Wyandotte
Silver Laced Polish
Easter Egger (claimed as an "Araucana/Americana")
New Hampshire Red

We also previously ordered Dark Brahmas, Buff Laced Polish, Gold Laced Polish, etc - But they all died before they were even 4 months old.

I just placed an order with Murray McMurray and included 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes and 2 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. I've heard a couple of time that the MM Wyandottes aren't friendly at all (after reading this is supposed to be a very friendly breed), and was wondering if this is the case? I honestly really wanted to order with Meyer, but got fed up with how difficult their checkout is to load on their website. I'm ordering hatchery mainly because I want backyard birds that are good layers, not looking for show quality, but above all I'm wanting friendly birds (another reason I went the hatchery route, so that I could choose my breeds) - are any of their stock known for aggression or being uncharacteristically unfriendly?

 

[LFchixranch]

I just placed an order with Murray McMurray and included 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes and 2 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. I've heard a couple of time that the MM Wyandottes aren't friendly at all (after reading this is supposed to be a very friendly breed), and was wondering if this is the case? I honestly really wanted to order with Meyer, but got fed up with how difficult their checkout is to load on their website. I'm ordering hatchery mainly because I want backyard birds that are good layers, not looking for show quality, but above all I'm wanting friendly birds (another reason I went the hatchery route, so that I could choose my breeds) - are any of their stock known for aggression or being uncharacteristically unfriendly?

I got an order from MM Nov 10. Ordered 47 got 52 I think, I got an assorted pack of 15 and 15 Rainbow layers. I lost 2 the first day and another a couple weeks later. I got a pair of SLW with the bunch (don't know which assorted pack they came with), and they are kinda skittish. The Roo is low in the pecking order of my flock and the female seems to be coloring out nicely, the male not so much. Trying to post a pic but its not letting me. As for temperment of the birds I got I think there is only a few that are aggressive, They are at 16 weeks now and the Barred rock Roo's are of the more aggressive to the hens mainly. But they also fight amongst themselves, mainly because I have 12 roosters right now. I plan on loosing 3 of them soooon. the rest of my order consisted of 7 Jumbo X rocks, 5 RIR, 6 BR. At about 14 weeks I had called again to inquire what exactly they sent. I had gotten the specific ones I had ordered but I needed to know which were part of the Rainbow layers and which were the 15 assorted. Once they were old enough to determine sex/breed I received 5 BR Roo's (I ordered 1) and 9 hens (ordered 5 and now I see one is a barred rock mix


darker than the other BR pullets and that tail is not BR).
), 1 RIR Roo and 4 hens which I ordered all, 7 Jumbo X rocks 1 roo rest hens I ordered, now the assorted...

..... I have a pair of Cochin's, what I think is a pair of Buff Orp's, 6 Dark Cornish 1 roo and the 5 pullets, 2 Jersey Giant pullets, 2 EE Roo's one bearded and tufted, the other just green legged, One unknown hen MM says its an EE but I find that hard to belive since it has a straight comb and willow legs.


. 4 Red stars pullets and a Roo (looks like a Delaware but is showing red in cockles now in the above photo directly above her tail).
All and all it was a good experience. Being I got them in Nov and only lost 3, 2 on shipping which I cannot blame on MM but the PO. As for the assorted bunches, I would not do that again, my rainbow layers all turned out to be brown layers except for the Roo's which wont lay. I am not impressed with the brown rainbow assortment I got. As for the 15 assorted I am glad I got so many pairs but the quality compared to breeding stock is noticeable. I spent about $150. So the bang for the buck is there, if your only looking for eggs, yes the pullets will lay. I was highly disappointed with the rainbow collection

. From the advertisement I was hoping for a white,blue, and brown shades but I got no white no blue and no dark brown Cuckoo. After I had ordered, I had found this site so THEY may have biased me

, but if I did it again I would go with breeders. There's is a couple in my area that I would love to purchase from that have Orps, Maran's and Top Hats

but hind site is 20/20.
So in my opinion McMurray did only minor misleading things as for advertising and me expecting more than I had received. Would I ever order from them again.. I don't think so. I think the $$ spent with a breeder will give better quality chickens/eggs. Now if your only looking for bang for the buck and want a barn yard flock for eggs, that's fine they can do that. Just be aware of the shipping problems, I am in Eastern TN and mine took 3 days to get to me. If you live closer to IA then you will have better results, If your in the sticks like me a few states away then your gonna loose some. And if you order in the dead of winter your gonna loose more. Their customer service is great with giving credit, but as for telling you what they sent you not so much.

 

[Avalon1984]

I received my 2nd McMurray order yesterday which included 15 of the exotic layer assortment and some leghorns and EEs I wanted. After complaining to them about the last batch (out of 26 chicks only 8 managed to survive) they included 25 replacement chicks. 4 were DOA and I have lost close to 15 since picking them up from the store yesterday. I doubt more than 8 will make it this time around. They were also in the mail one day longer than the last batch. This will definitely be my last purchase from them, I am really tired of picking out dead chicks every 3 hours for 2 weeks in a row. They know that shipping on Saturday is a problem , but their mentality is that they’ve done it like that for x amount of years, why change? When I called them last time they actually told me to not expect for any of my chicks to survive at all. Had I known that they shipped the chicks in such airy boxes and over the weekend I would have never even considered ordering. I am now trying to get a refund on some of my money since I am out about 150 bucks and so far I have only about 8 chicks that I am fairly certain might make it to adulthood not to mention the hassle of trying to keep the little peeps alive.