my pet chicken reviews

[ThePaintedHen]

I just had 7 chicks delivered from My Pet Chicken a week ago, a few days later some started to twitch so I emailed MPC and they replied that it could be an electrolyte imbalance. I stopped putting vitamins in their  water and gave them fresh water and all are doing great! I really like their customer service! A friend of mine ordered from Ideal Poultry and only wanted 8 hens, they told her that they were going to ship with 3 males free of charge for the added warmth but when her box arrived it had 9 extra roosters in it. So not only did she have to feed all 17 until she knew which were roos but had to find them a home too. So I think the shipping price is worth it from MPC so you get exactly what you ordered.

 

NINE EXTRA ROOS? I just placed my Spring chick order from MPC. Now I feel like I should call them and specify that I do not want any extras, thank you very much. The heartbreak of giving away a pet combined with finding someone that wants nine roosters does not sound like fun.

 

[ThePaintedHen]

NINE EXTRA ROOS? I just placed my Spring chick order from MPC. Now I feel like I should call them and specify that I do not want any extras, thank you very much. The heartbreak of giving away a pet combined with finding someone that wants nine roosters does not sound like fun.

Oh, I just re-read. It was Ideal that sent the extra roos. Well, MPC gets my vote in that category then.

 

[bruceha2000]

Hmm, that is odd. They say on their website that they refund sexing errors in full, if more than 10% of them were sexed incorrectly, as long as you report them within a specific time frame after ordering:
http://www.mypetchicken.com/about-our-company/policy/return-policy.aspx
(scroll down to "baby chicks - sexing guarantee")

Perhaps you missed that time frame?

If missed it was only because six weeks is not within the 10 - 17 weeks "requirement". This is from their web site:

"Provided you notify My Pet Chicken (by email or by phone) when your non-bantam chickens are between the ages of 10 and 17 weeks:

On large fowl (standard) sexing errors in excess of 10% of the total number of chicks purchased, My Pet Chicken will refund the cost in full for the mis-sexed baby chick, and may also offer a free, equivalent chick on a future safe-minimum order (shipping not included), at My Pet Chicken's discretion."

I ordered six hens- i ordered and have documents for all hens- i got 33% of them roosters. I live in a city with an ordinace of no roosters. there was nothing that they were willing to do on their end to resolve the issue. I have two roosters, live in a metro area, involved with chicks in the city org and MPC cannot figure out sex. yes, errors on a few, i understand, but 2 out of six is pretty bad odds. Plus, when calling the response from customer support or customer lack of support was nill. Go figure, you got the live chickens and it is your problem....so be very careful as their is no recourse and you are left hanging with roosters. I knew they were roosters within six weeks telling them.

As far as I know, the only recourse any hatchery will do is money or replacement bird. You are still stuck with figuring out how to get rid of the cockerels. For those that either do not want, or can not have, roosters, the $3-$4 doesn't really cover the problem. If one is willing to eat a cockerel when it gets to a proper age, at least you get dinner.

NINE EXTRA ROOS?

That is why I ordered later from Ideal (June 13th ship) so they WOULDN'T have to "pack heat". Want no cockerels, got no cockerels.

Bruce

 

[janinepeters]

As far as I know, the only recourse any hatchery will do is money or replacement bird. You are still stuck with figuring out how to get rid of the cockerels. For those that either do not want, or can not have, roosters, the $3-$4 doesn't really cover the problem.

Of course. It's hard for me to imagine anyone expecting a hatchery to do anything more than give a refund. It is abundantly clear that there is a risk of getting roosters, so if one is not prepared to deal with that possible outcome, one should not order chicks.

 

[janinepeters]

If missed it was only because six weeks is not within the 10 - 17 weeks "requirement". This is from their web site:

"Provided you notify My Pet Chicken (by email or by phone) when your non-bantam chickens are between the ages of 10 and 17 weeks:

I actually think this is quite reasonable. A lot of people might suspect a male at younger than 10 wks, but it turns out to be female after all. It's also reasonable to have an upper limit, so there is a time after which the hatchery's end of the deal has been fulfilled. Otherwise people could pull something like, "oh by the way, last year my order of 10 pullets had 5 males, so I would like the cost of 4 chicks deducted from this year's order". By 17 weeks, it's highly likely that each bird will have declared its gender. Very, very few surprises after that age.

 

[Lone Wolf]

I have not ordered from them but I know other people have been happy with them. Like all hatcheries they might not be as good if you went with a breeder but you would get some nice looking pets.

 

[deidreschultz]

They are great! We ordered 12 chics from them last yr. They arrived on time. I was a little nervous about having them shipped. I thought they would be weak and perhaps need TLC. But as soon as I opened the box all 12 were active, scratching and pecking. You would have never know they just flown half way across the country. I am actually getting my wish list ready for this yr There's not too much that's as cute as baby chics. Good Luck

 

[jha31452]

I know this is an old thread but I have to add my experience. I ordered 6 chicks from MPC last year. I ordered 3 Easter Eggers and 3 Red Star (sex link) chickens. One of the EEs was DOA and the other two turned out to be Bantam size (I ordered all standard size.) Believe or not, one of the sex-link chicks is a rooster. I knew immediately when I saw the small yellow chick that it was a rooster. What really bothers me is they knew it was a rooster when they put it in my shipping box! Had it been any other type of chicken I would have understood that these things happen, but not with sex-link chicks. Totally irresponsible. (I know MPC is just the middle man, but it is their name on the box thus their reputation.)

I will never order from MPC again. I live in the heart of the city and am faced with finding a good home for the sweetest rooster.

 

[lovemypeeps1]

Thank you for the post. I am currently looking for chicks and this saves me some trouble.

 

[jha31452]

I noticed you live in Plant City, FL. There is a great farm/ranch in Tampa that is inspected by the USDA that has really nice chicks. They are called Anvil Acres and you can find their contact number on Craigslist-Tampa. Or let me know and I'll send you their email address.
Good luck!