Purely Poultry Order review

[TheRambler]

Just wanted to make a quick post to review my order with Purely Poultry. A few weeks ago I placed an order with Purely Poultry for 5 Black Australorps. Ship date was set as 5/18. 5/18 came and I recieved a ship notification that afternoon. Purely Poultry contracts out to hatcheries around the country, and it seems as if my birds came from Cackle Hatchery(shipped from lebanon MO so i assume it was Cackle). Post office called me this morning at 0515 to let me know the birds were there. I made some coffee, grabbed my bottle of nutri-drench, and drove down to the post office. I was greeted with the beautiful sound of peeping, so I opened the box and to my surprise there were 6 australorps in there! all were awake, alert, and looked very healthy. The box was packed very well with fine straw, and several globs of grow-gel. I got the birds home and got them settled into the brooder and so far all is well.

I am very satisfied with my experience ordering with Purely Poultry and also with the birds themselves from Cackle. I would order from either one again in the future.

 

[N F C]

That's nice to hear you had a good experience with Purely Poultry. I get their email newsletters but haven't ordered from them yet. They do have a nice selection of birds.

Glad it worked out for you, thanks for sharing!

 

[Pennyhen68]

This is my first post, and I feel the need to share a bad experience I have had with Purely Poultry. I have ordered chickens from them in the past and have been satisfied- No delays in the order- shipped on time, etc.. This year, I have hatched Sebastopol geese. Only 1 hatched with this last batch, so I thought since we have the correct housing for waterfowl now, I would order a couple of ducklings to keep this latest baby goose company. (I have read that when raised together, they get along quite well). After some research, I decided on Cayuga ducklings- which Purely Poultry listed as "In Stock" with a hatch date of June 9th. After having a great experience with their chick order, and since I am only 1 county away, I placed an order for a female and male duckling. I would never place an order like that for 2 little ones out of state. Also, they charge $56.99 for USPS shipping of 2 day-olds, so I assumed, (never assume!), that the high shipping cost must be for the $35.00 USPS Express charge and the special box and handling. That is fine with me, the faster they get to their destination the better. When June 10th came though, and I had heard nothing from Purely Poultry, I called to ask if possibly the eggs did not hatch- Well, the lady said "she would have to look into that and email me". 3 hours later with no reply, I am calling back- get ahold of a different lady, who informed me that, "There was a mistake on the website regarding the hatch date" and "now it has been moved to the 15th of June". Also, "Your birds won't be there the next day because they are coming from out of state". I emailed a couple of days later and asked where their birds came from- I received no reply at all. I was shocked to hear that these ducklings were coming from out of Wisconsin since the Purely Poultry website clearly states that if they only provide "Regional" birds. Also, the owner of Purely Poultry stated on a Backyard Chickens post:

• purelypoultry
• 
• 

• Forum: Chicken Breeders & Hatcheries
• Thread: anyone ever order from Purely Poultry?

We partner with 45 hatcheries and breeders that we ship with nationwide that ship birds directly to our customers. We use the location that has the birds that you want, can ship the soonest, provides the best service, and is located closest to you.

So I was horrifed today, June 16th, when I checked my email and see a USPS tracking number from CALIFORNIA!! (to Wisconsin!)For 2- Day-old ducklings!! ALSO!- The shipping method was USPS Priority 3-Day!! I will be lucky if the little ones make it here alive. I also feel totally ripped off since USPS Priority shipping for Day-old poultry between California and Wisconsin is around $10.00- NOT anywhere close to $56.99!- even with purchasing a special box and handling. I will no longer give my business to Purely Poultry, probably just the poor cusomer service and shipping overcharge would have ended any ties with them. They were not honest with me about the availability of the birds. A week later they still had not changed their website regarding the hatch date and availability of this breed. And in my case, when information like the origin state is asked for, and their customer service clearly avoids you the way they did to me, they seem to care more about making a buck than the wellbeing of these day-old ducklings. Very sad to see a business run this way! Susan K. - Nekoosa, WI.

 

[N F C]

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience with them. I've never ordered from them but get their emails/newsletters regularly and have considered ordering in the future.

Seems everyone has a good or bad story about all the online hatcheries. Next time I need to order some birds, I'm looking for a clean, reputable private hatchery located as close as I can get to home.

Please let us know if your ducklings arrive safely. Again, sorry you had a bad experience with them.

 

[N F C]

Oh and @Pennyhen68 , welcome to BYC!

 

[Pennyhen68]

Thank you! I have actually been reading for years regarding incubation of chickens and geese, along with probably a hundred other questions about poultry health, housing- you name it! I did call Purely Poultry one last time about this matter and got ahold of another customer sales lady- this one was in Missouri and works from her home? I could tell these women I was getting ahold of at the other end of their 1-800 number were not in Wisconsin- what's up with that? So, I also thought I was dealing with a family business right here in Wisconsin. I assumed, (there's that word again)- that their birds came from Wisconsin- but was informed today by their customer service agent that all of their waterfowl comes from California! That's fine if you live near the state, but, in my opinion, that is way too far for 2 day-old anythings to travel via 3 day Priority Mail in any weather. Thanks again- Just don't want someone else to go through this.

 

[Pennyhen68]

So I have a happy ending to my Purely Poultry review. The 2 day-old Cayuga ducklings arrived in very healthy and active condition this morning- All the way from California. Considering I paid $56.99 in shipping for a USPS 3-day Priority shipment, I was very pleased with the speedy delivery. They actually arrived just as fast as a USPS Express package would- so they obviously jet these babies around the lower 48 states. My final posting for someone wondering if they should order from Purely Poultry is to read this, then use your own judgement:

1. Most importantly, I have 2 beautiful Cayuga ducklings in the brooder with Jane the gosling. They arrived super fast- even between California and Wisconsin. They could not have been boxed up better with a straw mat and food.
2. Personally, I am not comfortable having just 2 little day-olds shipped such a distance in any weather, even if it is local. I was under the impression from the Purely Poultry website that their birds came "regionally" as it states on their 'sellers' page. Even the return address label on the box they arrived in was labeled "Freemont, Wisconsin".
3. I did email customer service several days ago to inquire where their birds came from, (after the customer service rep. told me their ducks came from out of state). They never answered me- Although they seemed to receive all my other emails, this one seemed to disappear.
4. The fact that "all of their waterfowl comes from California"- as stated by one of their customer service reps- needs to be posted on their website. California is not "regional" to Wisconsin. "Regional"= would be the upper mid-west area.
5. Customer Service was what made me never want to order anything from Purely Poultry again! The first one had no idea what was going on when my order was delayed a week. She said she would email me. 3 HOURS LATER!- I had to call again and got ahold of a different woman who told me their had been a "mistake in the hatch date"- by a week? If an order can't be fulfilled because of many reasons that come with the hatchery business, I will understand, but please tell me the truth and repect me as a paying customer. Other hatcheries, (MyPetChicken.com on the East coast), have called more than once when my order could not be shipped as scheduled. I at least appreciate being informed of what is going on with my order. The third customer rep. was just rude- not friendly at all. At first she refused to tell me where she was located, then admited she worked from her home in Missouri?
So use your own judgement. Personally, I will not order from Purely Poultry again, simply because of the unfriendly customer service. I hope this has been helpful information.
-Susan K. Nekoosa, Wisconsin. " Have a great and FRIENDLY day!"

 

[TheRambler]

I had an excellent experience with their customer service . One of the friendliest and most helpful i have ever experienced anywhere. They were also very prompt responding to email.

 

[purelypoultry]

Rambler,

Thank you for your feedback! I am very happy to hear that you had a great experience with us! We strive to provide the most excellent customer service and ignite and fuel your passion for poultry! When possible, we do try to add extra chicks to your order to cover any losses that can sometimes occur due to shipping stress or weather. We do work with a nationwide network of breeders to provide the wide selection of birds that we offer. We've expanded our guarantees to include a 100% sexing guarantee, and an alive and well guarantee that covers chicks and birds for the first 48 hours after arrival.

~The Purely Poultry Team

 

[purelypoultry]

Dear Pennyhen68,

Thank you for the feedback! We want you to know that Purely Poultry is a small, family owned business and we value all of the critiques and reviews that have been presented here. Over the last few years we have painstakingly gathered and developed a team of true poultry enthusiasts in the hopes of providing unparalleled service, passion, and knowledge to our customers. We recognize that growth can be painful, so we have carefully incorporated the feedback we've received from customers like you to offer the best possible quality and service. We work with a nationwide network of breeders to provide the wide selection of birds that we offer. We've expanded our guarantees to include a 100% sexing guarantee, and an alive and well guarantee that covers chicks and birds for the first 48 hours after arrival.

When you call or email Purely Poultry, you will be interacting with one of our 7 customer service representatives who have a combined total of 70 years of poultry experience. We certainly hope that we have the opportunity to speak with you, as there is nothing we love talking about more than poultry!

~Tyler, Terri, Meghan, Cass, Jodi, Elise and Zach.