I know lots of people check this forum for hatchery recommendations, so I wanted to let you all know how my experience went this spring. Once DH agreed to getting chickens (
) I called Meyer Hatchery in January to place a pre-order. I'm glad I did, given how quickly the hatcheries seem to be selling out! My chicks were due to ship April 6.
The ship day was a pretty bad one for me at first. I had picked up a couple of supplemental chicks at TSC earlier that week, and had to make my first ever cull that afternoon. Just minutes after this, Meyer called to tell me that 2 of the 3 bantam breeds (white Wyandottes and buff Brahmas) I had ordered had bad hatches and were not available. They offered to push my order back by a week and see if I could get the breeds I wanted then, but I had split the order with a friend and had to have it ship out that day. They asked if I wanted to make substitutions. I suffered a brain freeze here; my first-grader and I had researched and agonized over our original choices, and I was not at all prepared to suddenly pick something else! (Next time I'll actually be ready for this possibility with a list of substitution preferences by the phone on ship day.) I waffled on the phone for a while, then asked if I could have 10 minutes to think about it and call back. Dawn, the Meyer employee on the phone, was clearly busy but was incredibly gracious as I wasted her time bumbling around trying to make a decision. After frantically researching the breeds they did have available, I called back. I ordered BRs and Mille Fleur D'uccles. Well, about 30 minutes after I got off the phone I realized the D'uccles were a mistake; I didn't really want true bantams, I wanted miniature standards. (Can you tell I'm a newbie?) I called Dawn back to see if I could just make the order all BRs, but it was too late. The order had already shipped. I asked how many of each were coming, but they hadn't had the chance to update their records yet. Dawn was very kind and carefully described to me just how everyone was going to look when they arrived, so I could identify which were which. She asked if I wanted her to go track down the paper with the changes on it, but I told her she didn't have to do that; I was feeling bad for taking so much of everyone's time with my indecisiveness. Then, to my surprise, later that afternoon she called and left a message on my voice mail telling me exactly how many of each were coming and how to identify each of them, and gave me her e-mail address in case I needed help once they got here.
The chicks shipped on Monday; they arrived at my P.O. on Wednesday evening. Of course there was a cold snap on Monday, sigh. Even though I had ordered the minimum of 25, they had still included a heat pack to keep everyone toasty. Those little D'uccles were so tiny, and several were pretty weak from the shipping. Despite my best efforts, I lost 4 D'Uccles and 1 banty BR in the first 48 hours. Everyone else looked great (and are still thriving). I e-mailed Dawn to let her know about the 5 losses. I expected her to tell me that their replacement guarantee only applied to greater numbers, and such a small amount would simply be refunded, since the small order shipping fees were so expensive. To my surprise, she arranged to ship replacements in the breeds I originally wanted on April 13. Even though this was a small order, Meyer did not charge me for the shipping fees. Imagine my surprise when my replacement chicks arrived by Express Mail within 24 hours of hatching, and instead of 5 chicks, there were 12! She had sent me 6 white Wyandottes and 6 buff Brahmas, which were what I had originally ordered. Needless to say I was thrilled. In the box with them were 3 heat packs and a big blob of Gro-Gel, as well as bedding on all four sides of the box, not just on the bottom. They are all doing wonderfully.
While I was disappointed by the bad hatches, I understand this can happen to anyone. But Meyer and especially Dawn went way, way beyond the call of duty to make this a good experience. Even though my order was small potatoes for them and I know I was a high-maintenance customer, Dawn was incredibly accomodating and helpful. If I order chicks again, I will most certainly go back to Meyer.
The ship day was a pretty bad one for me at first. I had picked up a couple of supplemental chicks at TSC earlier that week, and had to make my first ever cull that afternoon. Just minutes after this, Meyer called to tell me that 2 of the 3 bantam breeds (white Wyandottes and buff Brahmas) I had ordered had bad hatches and were not available. They offered to push my order back by a week and see if I could get the breeds I wanted then, but I had split the order with a friend and had to have it ship out that day. They asked if I wanted to make substitutions. I suffered a brain freeze here; my first-grader and I had researched and agonized over our original choices, and I was not at all prepared to suddenly pick something else! (Next time I'll actually be ready for this possibility with a list of substitution preferences by the phone on ship day.) I waffled on the phone for a while, then asked if I could have 10 minutes to think about it and call back. Dawn, the Meyer employee on the phone, was clearly busy but was incredibly gracious as I wasted her time bumbling around trying to make a decision. After frantically researching the breeds they did have available, I called back. I ordered BRs and Mille Fleur D'uccles. Well, about 30 minutes after I got off the phone I realized the D'uccles were a mistake; I didn't really want true bantams, I wanted miniature standards. (Can you tell I'm a newbie?) I called Dawn back to see if I could just make the order all BRs, but it was too late. The order had already shipped. I asked how many of each were coming, but they hadn't had the chance to update their records yet. Dawn was very kind and carefully described to me just how everyone was going to look when they arrived, so I could identify which were which. She asked if I wanted her to go track down the paper with the changes on it, but I told her she didn't have to do that; I was feeling bad for taking so much of everyone's time with my indecisiveness. Then, to my surprise, later that afternoon she called and left a message on my voice mail telling me exactly how many of each were coming and how to identify each of them, and gave me her e-mail address in case I needed help once they got here.
The chicks shipped on Monday; they arrived at my P.O. on Wednesday evening. Of course there was a cold snap on Monday, sigh. Even though I had ordered the minimum of 25, they had still included a heat pack to keep everyone toasty. Those little D'uccles were so tiny, and several were pretty weak from the shipping. Despite my best efforts, I lost 4 D'Uccles and 1 banty BR in the first 48 hours. Everyone else looked great (and are still thriving). I e-mailed Dawn to let her know about the 5 losses. I expected her to tell me that their replacement guarantee only applied to greater numbers, and such a small amount would simply be refunded, since the small order shipping fees were so expensive. To my surprise, she arranged to ship replacements in the breeds I originally wanted on April 13. Even though this was a small order, Meyer did not charge me for the shipping fees. Imagine my surprise when my replacement chicks arrived by Express Mail within 24 hours of hatching, and instead of 5 chicks, there were 12! She had sent me 6 white Wyandottes and 6 buff Brahmas, which were what I had originally ordered. Needless to say I was thrilled. In the box with them were 3 heat packs and a big blob of Gro-Gel, as well as bedding on all four sides of the box, not just on the bottom. They are all doing wonderfully.
While I was disappointed by the bad hatches, I understand this can happen to anyone. But Meyer and especially Dawn went way, way beyond the call of duty to make this a good experience. Even though my order was small potatoes for them and I know I was a high-maintenance customer, Dawn was incredibly accomodating and helpful. If I order chicks again, I will most certainly go back to Meyer.
