my pet chicken reviews

[Adenium]

I do agree emails should be answered - it was the expectation that a hatchery manage to answer all the messages about replacement chicks on hatching/shipping day that I think is a bit excessive. I can't speak to the egg experience and your frustration is understandable. I was writing more for people searching threads in the future, looking to order from a hatchery so that they might consider listing replacements, ordering in more mild weather, etc.

 

[stefan333]

I totally agree with you. On a more positive note: Here's a couple of suggestions for some great hatcheries/breeders:

Efowl.com -good hatching eggs but a limited selection, very fresh eggs (air cell not even visible, that's how fresh they were), clean eggs of decent size (not to big, not too small), shells were perfect, the chickens are the best quality I've seen from a hatchery (they're now 3 months old, and I can tell a difference between them and my other hatchery chicks), and they picked out a great selection for the assortment. I had my best hatch out of these -19 of 22 eggs hatched healthy chicks. AND shipping was free, prices were low.

Ebay -pickychicken -great eggs, good packaging, great hatch rate, beautiful chicks. She gathers the eggs AFTER you buy so they're really fresh (no visible air cell on arrival), she's also a very nice lady, and shows lots of pictures of the parents. The Lavender Orps have no brassiness or brown showing through -just a pretty lavender color.

I've orderred from others, but I was overwhelmingly impressed with these.

 

[Jakoda]

I also agree bad customer service can make or break a business...Maybe some with the bad experiences via MPC are ones that dealt with customer service in different parts of the country? The CS I used was in CT, I do believe they have other 'offices' so to speak.

 

[Bakersfarm]

Update: 7 chicks are left, one of them is a roo... i understand that things can happen but i disagree with the tendency of blaming the company! If you tell customer that you ship express overnight then do so and don't let them travell for 3 days!!! We reached someone and they admit that they did the shipping wrong. Now we try to find out if we get a refund for the chicks, the vaccination and the chicks....

We're going to order some eggs like Stefan333, i'm interessted in the Lavenders too.

 

[kynewbchickie]

Hi all, I'm new here - ordered 15 Australorps from MPC and they hatched yesterday (3/11). Received an email telling me they had been hatched from MPC, then an hour later received another email saying they'd been shipped overnight express via USPS, gave a tracking number and ETA of no later than Thursday. The package left from Mansfield, OH - destination Irvine, KY. All of a 6-7 hour drive, even allowing for the seemingly-constant construction on I-75.

It's now 9:30pm ET on Tuesday, more than 36 hours after my chicks were actually shipped from Mansfield, OH. USPS.com's AND their automated phone tracking is saying the box LEFT Lexington, KY at 8:16am this morning due to be delivered at the P.O. in Irvine (my postmaster is well-used to handling live chick packages in our area - it's very rural - and they've said they'll call as early as 6:00am to tell the folks they're there). The Lexington, KY P.O. processing center is only 40 minutes from my driveway, and 32 minutes from our local P.O. - so I have to wonder, why on earth is it taking them so long to get here? MPC said they will not refund for lost chicks that are left overnight at the destination P.O. and I can't get in touch with anyone from Express expediting - I've tried all day, since about noon.

MPC answered a concerned email from me earlier saying they have no control over USPS' transit times - but to me, if someone is paying for expedited, express overnight shipping ($37.00) for that service, and it's probably going to take over 24 hours to get them a distance of a 40 minute drive down a well-traveled state highway...shouldn't someone be concerned? I wanted to raise chickens so I could teach my sons humane treatment of our food. Somehow, making babies that just hatched and are cramped in a tiny box wait more than 48 hours to be delivered to a destination that is only 6-7 hours away from their pick-up location doesn't sound very humane to me. MPC hasn't responded to my question about reimbursing for shipments taking longer than 24 hours to reach their destination. I'm rather concerned for my little guys.

All in all, I hope they all make the journey. I've already got the brooder lamp going, temp is a consistent 96-97 degrees throughout, waterer is raised slightly with large clean river pebbles in the tray, and the feeder is ready to be loaded once I get them home so they can eat. I just wish I had better tracking info for the little ones...seems like with any animal, they'd have to know that the people are anxious to know where they are - especially in a situation like ours where we were so close to the hatchery they were coming from. Had I known this, I'd have just driven up there yesterday and picked them up. It would have been well-worth the gas expense and 13ish-hour drive to know they were safe and not just "stuck" somewhere.

 

[stefan333]

I'm a little confused. MPC sending you an email on Monday stating they were shipped overnight express and should arrive no later than Thursday just doesn't make sense. Shouldn't they have sent you an email stating "Your chicks were shipped overnight express and should arrive no later than Tuesday." If MPC didn't ship before the cutoff time, then they would arrive Wednesday. And that would be stupidity if they let them sit overnight at the PO because they didn't make the cutoff time. It seems they either don't know how to count shipping days, or they don't know what overnight express is. I highly doubt they shipped overnight. I'm very sorry for your experience, and I hope the chicks arrive safely and in good health, despite the shipping issues. I had an issue with the shipping on my hatching eggs,too. I waited 3 weeks after my original ship date for the eggs (with no communication), and I received emails stating they shipped after I already had my INFERTILE eggs. Clearly MPC didn't have their stuff together.

I've been using the Post Office for years, and I only had an issue one time with a crushed box and never a late package. I'm sure hatching eggs and baby chicks get shaken around, but the PO is usually great at getting it to you on time. Someone's going to argue this with a sob story about how the post office screwed up, but I can assure you bad hatcheries will blame the Post Office for their own faults. It's too easy to do in the hatching egg and baby chick business.

This is something for everyone to think about, before blaming the PO for taking too long. Below I listed the terminology you'll see when tracking your packages. IMPORTANT: When you get a tracking # or "Electronic Shipping Info Received" that does NOT mean the item was shipped. All it means is that a shipping label was created, which can be done from a seller's home or business computer. And a shipping label can sit around on someone's desk for a while without your package actually being shipped. Also, if a seller has the Post Office pick up packages from their business/home, rather than the seller dropping them off at the Post Office themselves, that's an extra step, and the driver has to get back to the PO with the package before it even gets processed to ship.

• “Electronic Shipping Info Received” – This scan indicates that the shipper has notified the Postal Service
  
  that they intend to submit the item for processing and delivery.
• “Acceptance” –This scan indicates that a Postal Service employee has accepted the item at a Post Office or that the carrier has picked up the item at a customer’s residence/business.
• “Processed Through Sort Facility” – This scan indicates that the item has processed through and left a Postal Service processing facility. The item is currently in transit to the destination.
• “Arrival at Unit” – This scan indicates that the item was scanned at the final postal unit where delivery of the item will take place.
• “Processing Complete” – This scan indicates, for Delivery Confirmation
  
  , Signature Confirmation
  
  , and Express Mail
  
  services, that the item has arrived at the Post Office
  
  for delivery.
• “Out-for-Delivery” - This scan indicates that the item has been given to a carrier for delivery to its final destination or placed in the customer’s Post Office Box.
• “Notice Left” – This scan indicates that the item is ready for pickup at the Post Office. If it is unclaimed after a certain number of days it will be returned to the sender.
• “Delivered” – This scan indicates that the item has been picked up by or delivered to the final recipient.
• “Refused” – This scan indicates that the item was refused by the recipient at the final delivery address and will be returned to the sender.
• “Forwarded” – This scan indicates that the item has been forwarded to a different address. This is due to forwarding instructions or because the address or ZIP Code
  
  on the item was incorrect.

 

[kynewbchickie]

The only updates to the USPS tracking were:
"Electronic Shipping Info Received" - Monday morning at 8:31 a.m.
"Processed through Sort Facility" - Monday morning at 9:36 a.m. in Mansfield, OH
"Processed through Sort Facility" - Tuesday morning at 8:16 a.m. in Lexington, KY (40 minutes tops from my local P.O.)
"Delivered" - just a few minutes ago as I was preparing to file the refund form 3533. (I picked them up this morning at 6:15ish, less than 15 minutes after I got the call from our local Postmaster.

Talk about a flurry of kids rushing to get ready, a cranky toddler who just wanted to sleep in, and a mama stumbling around with coffee, wallet for ID, and keys...

My shipping label clearly has it marked that it was Express Overnight Delivery - Rush Livestock - and "Fragile - Live Chicks" printed on their 8" x 8" box. So there should be no issue in getting a refund - and I honestly can't say it was the hatchery's issue. They marked everything right, got them sent out within an hour of notifying the USPS of pickup. From there, the USPS is at fault given that they were "Processed through Sort Facility" yesterday morning only 40 minutes from our local P.O. that requires customers come pick them up from there. There's no reason my babies should have been on a transit truck from 8:16 a.m. until they unloaded either after business hours yesterday, or this morning.

I can say this about MPC - they did include not just one, but TWO heat packs in their box under the bedding - so given the cold temps and later delivery time, they were toasty when I got them home and opened their box. The only thing I didn't get was their papers - I'm on hold now to see if they're coming in another letter, or if they accidentally forgot them. I have to show proof (due to local county ordinance) that my birds were vaccinated and have a vet sign off on them a week post-hatch on a healthy flock.

I will say I did see one other much larger box of chicks with mine there this morning - there was NO peeping coming from that box. My heart sank. My box, however, was boisterously peeping. I did not get close enough to read the label on that box to be able to say with certainty which hatchery those were coming from...I hope they all made it, and were just sleeping.

Our little guys are running around, very vibrant and energetic - then they just drop to sleep for a few minutes. Happy to report no pasty-butts!

All in all, happy with the chicks' outcome - unhappy with the USPS taking 22 hours to go 40 minutes' distance with clear weather and roads. They admitted fault.

 

[stefan333]

It does sound like you had a Post Office problem, and they got stuck either in Lexington or your local PO. Gotta love KY.

I'm a Kentuckian, so I can get away with saying that.

They should refund your shipping cost. I'm so happy you got peeping chicks. It's that in between time of shipping that can be so worrysome. I can completely understand running around crazy with kids and a cranky toddler, and having to deal with other stuff that can go wrong in life. Speaking of toddlers, I'd rather write more to this, but unfortunately something doesn't smell quite right. Diaper time. Just glad everything went well for you.

 

[kynewbchickie]

Thank you, fellow Kentuckian! They actually just called me back and decided to put in a request for the APIP paperwork to be sent directly to me here, since carrying around the lid of their shipping box to get it stamped, etc. seemed rather....LOL

The lady I spoke with was very nice. I'm sorry your eggs didn't turn out well at all. Since you're somewhat local, if you ever want Australorp eggs or chicks, I'm sure I can help you out. Until my son gets home today with some freebies from another school parent (YIKES - surprise!), that's all I know that I have as far as breeds go.

 

[stefan333]

Thank you very much for the offer, but I have over 60 chicks at the moment and 30 more eggs coming soon for the incubator. I'm way maxed out, and now I have to go outside to build our other two coop hoops to fit them all.