A few blue moons ago, we started our backyard chicken experience using mypetchicken. We had no idea how to raise chickens and mypetchicken has such a low shipping amount, the first batch we got was only 5, that we decided with them. Now, we have ordered several hundred from them and other places. This of course was back when they werent so popular, so they were rarely sold out of breeds and we became such good customers that we got first alert for "rare" breeds. They ship pretty good for the fact that we live in California and they have to ship across the US to us. We lost 1 chick in shipment our first order, she got smashed and one silkie was just too weak to make it. Our next order we placed was for 60 of different breeds. we lost 2 in shipping and none to sickness.
The pros to mypetchicken is that the amount needed is low, so if you live in an area where you can only have x amount of chickens, it works. They tend to be hearty and some of my best layers. They have went through hell with our dogs and stuck it out. They have some of the best sexing of birds and I believe we only had 1 rooster ever from them, which they refund. Our EE from them was one of the most beautiful EE I have ever seen after she molted! They have a bunch of different breeds and are constantly adding more.
The cons is that it is pretty expensive. I have found other places that though they have a 15 min shipping requirement doesnt have that crazy shipping cost as mypetchicken does. They also tend to be somewhat overpriced. They are constantly sold-out of the more popular designer breeds for the year. They also dont offer any real discount if you buy an x amount of the same breeds as other places do.
We branched out this last order of 30 and went to Hoovery. Hoovery is the partner with
TSC and had a min shipping of 15. The bonus is that the price you see per chick is the total amount so no additional shipping fee. Ours are currently 2 months old and we didnt lose any in shipping and only 1 to simply nature. They are hearty and healthy and some of the best looking chicks that we had. I cant say how they are doing laying wise since they are too young. Ours from mypetchicken are extremely good layers, but all of our chickens are happy and healthy so that could be the reason.
We also tried Kahoots, which was a total bust. We got 50 percent rooster and 50 percent hens each time and out of the last 5 we got, 2 had cross beak. So, we are never doing that again.
Anyways, we use multiple different companies depending on what breed we want and the amount. For example, we are now branching to meatbirds so we are going with purely poultry.
I think it really depends on what breeds you want. McMurray is also an awesome place and we were going to order, but Hoovery won us over with the best prices.
Best of luck to you!
