my pet chicken reviews

[WendyF]

I ordered 8 silver laced wyandottes from them in mid may. They all turn 6 weeks tomorrow, and are all doing great. the post office messed up and sent them to spend a night in cleveland ohio, but otherwise the order was great. I was at work the day the chicks were supposed to arrive, so my DW called my pet chicken and they were as helpful as they could be despite the post offices mistake. I've got 8 more birds shipping out either today or tomorrow. 4 each of columbian and gold laced wyandottes.

The little Columbian Wyandotte girl I got from them is our cuddliest chick. You're going to love them!

 

[Oakleaf farm]

I just ordered buff brahma s and we ordered a rooster also. Has anyone raised these birds and I see that the roosters seem so docile.

 

[backyardflock1]

I just ordered buff brahma s and we ordered a rooster also. Has anyone raised these birds and I see that the roosters seem so docile.

I have a light brahma, and she is quite friendly , I also have a buff orphington ameraucana mix rooster, and he is very nice! Sits in my lap and falls asleep. My roo is hen pecked, he doesn't even crow!

 

[WendyF]

Well, I can tell y'all hands down I'd go with mypetchicken over Meyer any day. The 5 chicks I got from mypetchicken were so much more robust & peppy. 3 out of 4 of our Meyer babies look good, but 1 just passed for mysterious reasons (they arrived today). That kind of thing just happens with shipped chicks, I get that, but what a difference in customer service & care level for the health & wellbeing of the chick after the sale. I thought they were the same hatchery, but they have very different approaches to customer care.

 

[Adenium]

This gets confused a lot and incorrect info propagates like wildfire on the web. When I ordered from MyPetChicken 2 years ago I had called and they explained they use Meyer's hatching facilities but have their own breeding stock. MPC doesn't pack the chicks themselves, that's why the sender address is usually Meyer in Ohio or wherever.

Two years layer my MPC flock is fine, though my barred rock stopped laying. We lost one silkie over this past winter....stayed broody thru record cold and passed one night. The silkies are laying machines though!

 

[lomb chix]

As a first time chicken buyer/owner, I found MPC to have an excellent selection of sexed bantams, since I'm not allowed roos. I also found their website easy to navigate and liked the ability to search by ship date. My first shipment of 8 mixed chicks, large and bantam, was perfect. All the chicks were in excellent condition, clean and cozy, and spent only 24 hours in transit to Cal. They are now 4 months old and beautiful.
If my second experience had been my first, I may have given up chickens. I ordered 8 more, but this time when I opened the box, I found 4 of the chicks crushed to death under the heat pack. It was horrible. The other 4 chicks were in excellent condition, but I offered them Sav-a-chick anyway. They are now 2 weeks old and doing fine, but I ordered all pullets, and at 7 days old it became fairly obvious that one of my Speckled Sussex is a he.
When I called MPC (in tears) the woman helping me was very sympathetic and kind, and offered to reship (if I buy 3 more chicks to meet their minimum). I just asked for reimbursement, and she said she'd just take care of it, as I was a mess (lost our cat that week also). They refunded me for the dead chicks and 1/2 of the shopping charges. I don't fault MPC for the crushed chicks- that obviously happened in the mail. I was satisfied with their customer service.
I have since ordered 4 replacement chicks from Meyer, as they has what I wanted. We shall see.

 

[buckbye]

Well, I can tell y'all hands down I'd go with mypetchicken over Meyer any day. The 5 chicks I got from mypetchicken were so much more robust & peppy. 3 out of 4 of our Meyer babies look good, but 1 just passed for mysterious reasons (they arrived today). That kind of thing just happens with shipped chicks, I get that, but what a difference in customer service & care level for the health & wellbeing of the chick after the sale. I thought they were the same hatchery, but they have very different approaches to customer care.

For the most part:
MPC = Meyer + clever marketing / boutique-feel

Meyer drop ships for MPC. Meyer is to MPC as Malt-O-Meal is to General Mills or Quaker or Post. Branding is everything, because, to quote the talented David Byrne, "Shopping is a feeling."

 

[David1998]

This gets confused a lot and incorrect info propagates like wildfire on the web. When I ordered from MyPetChicken 2 years ago I had called and they explained they use Meyer's hatching facilities but have their own breeding stock. MPC doesn't pack the chicks themselves, that's why the sender address is usually Meyer in Ohio or wherever.

Two years layer my MPC flock is fine, though my barred rock stopped laying. We lost one silkie over this past winter....stayed broody thru record cold and passed one night. The silkies are laying machines though!

Interestingly, the breed availability is the same for Meyer and MPC, down to the available date and quantity availability. Now, I didn’t check all them, but of the 10-20 I checked, it was exactly the same. MPC may have some of their own stock, but it sure looks like they’re sharing.

 

[buckbye]

Interestingly, the breed availability is the same for Meyer and MPC, down to the available date and quantity availability. Now, I didn’t check all them, but of the 10-20 I checked, it was exactly the same. MPC may have some of their own stock, but it sure looks like they’re sharing.

Meyer operates out of a teensy village of a few hundred people in Ohio, MPC is headed by a former NYC marketing exec who lives in one of the priciest areas of the very pricey state of Connecticut. (I would know, I lived just down the road.) I would assume the chicks become MPC's stock once the payment clears for the order to be drop-shipped from Meyer Hatchery.

Sorry if I seem to be beating a dead horse here, but I'm beating a dead horse.

 

[BeanSquak]

This is my MyPetChicken review, as of 1 day after receiving my shipment.

A little bit about me, for perspective. I am a first time chicken owner (flocker?) but have a few friends who have had their flocks for a few years. I live in a small community of the San Diego area in California, called La Mesa. I've been researching for this for a year. My primary reason for using MPC was because a local friend recommended them; his flock is very healthy, and he had one rooster out of his group of ordered females.

The website is easy-to-use. I was able to put together a good mix (according to me) for my needs and set up delivery for just two hatching days (Mondays) after my order date. If you are hardset on some of the breeds you will likely need to order well in advance. I ordered (4) EasterEggers, a Rhode Island Red, a Blue Andalusian and a Blue Copper Maran. The maran was my splurge as it was a very expensive chicken by comparison. My order consisted of all females, I did not order any straight-run or males. I placed my order completely through the website without a hitch.

On hatch day (Monday, 7/28) I received a call in the morning from MPC. The rep explained that the Blue Copper Marans had a bad hatch that day and wanted to know if I would like to substitute with another maran or reschedule my shipment. I was very lucky that they had a better-than-expected hatch of the Golden Cuckoo Marans (the maran I originally wanted but was sold out) and happily accepted the substitution.

My chicks arrived at the post office yesterday. The USPS does not guarantee next-day delivery of baby chicks through their Express Mail service. CT to CA is quite a trek! One of the EEs was DOA, crushed beneath her package-mates. I was surprised to not find a heating element (a part of their service that they pride themselves on) but it is understandable I suppose given that we are having some very hot weather right now.

Of the remaining chicks another EE and the BA were struggling. I tried some sugar water, but they passed quickly after getting them home. The remaining 4 chicks are doing great, taking to eating, drinking, pooping and exploring without any trouble.

I contacted MPC this morning to report the losses. They require notification within 48 hours and offer replacement/reimbursement. They typically just reimburse but the minimum to ship to my location is 3 chicks so I asked about getting replacements sent on Monday. I expressed that I was willing to work with substitutions, knowing that BA are sold out for all of the remaining hatches. This rep took notes of the losses and said they would let me know how they will handle it.

I called back this afternoon after not hearing from them and got another rep. He had notes showing just 2 losses so I had to correct that. I re-inquired about replacements, and he verified the minimum of 3 would be met. Then the kicker: They will only reship them at their cost for shipping charges if I lose 50% or more of my order. Quick math says I am half a chick short of this policy, which I could not find on their website (their FAQ is a mile long so I may have missed it). Shipping charges for my location, being in southern California, is very expensive: $49! I asked if there was anything that could be done, considering I am just half a chick short of reaching the 50% requirement. It was a no-go. I still have until the end of the day tomorrow to 'lose another chick', which is pretty... well, I think you can understand what I mean.

I understand that they are a business and must have policies for these contingencies. I am not faulting them for having these rules. I would have liked to see a little bit of wiggle room based on my situation. I certainly don't hope to lose another chick, and when I reach the end of tomorrow without another loss I will take the reimbursement for the losses and purchase the remainder of my flock locally.

I can't give any kind of measurable rating for them since I am a first-time buyer in this industry. I will, however, be trying another hatchery when/if I mail-order again in the future. I think I should have taken hatchery distance from my location into more serious consideration. In the coming months, I will post more about the birds and their development.