Views on McMurray

[happyhensny]

Ordered twice from MMM and had fine results both. Chicks arrived in 24-36 hours after shipping. 1 or 2 did perish but they had sent extras so, basically even. I am thinking it may depend on how far away from them you are and the quality of the USPS where you live. Here, they call us ASAP as they arive in the main hub. MMM is about an 18 hour DRIVE to us just as a reference.

So, keep in mind:

1. Your distace to the hatchery

2. Weather conditions when shipped (if it is January and 20 below than you may have a problem)

3. Hardiness of the breed ordered

4. Quantity ordered

Good luck!

 

[afinney]

I ordered from them along time ago and they were all alive, but they arrived at the post office on Sunday and would have sat there until Monday if someone hadn't been there and called us. My sister and I showed them at the 4-H fair and won everything with them.BUT I know the local feed store here won't use them because of the high prices and complaints from people who purchased chicks from them. So in my opinion there quality has really really gone down and they are a pain if only a few die because of 25 chick limit.

 

[Celtic Hill]

Okay thanks for the imput. I guess since i only really want pet birds they'll be fine. My neighbors have only had a chick die on them so mabey some of their luck will rubb off on us.

If i want to improve my flock in the future i can buy diffrent birds.

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Well you could say Show Quality, but I also like to say quality in general. Afterall, breeds are kept the way they are now because of the APA standard of perfection for them. And, hatcheries tend not to have breeds that follow that . . . At all.

Now, my crested Polish are a little different. The White Crested Blacks are pretty good, one girl in particular is excellent! The Silver Laced to me is beautiful, but she does have some disqualifying peppering in her tail feathers and a white feather in her crest. Also, her comb is kinda big for a hen. But I love her.

This is Oscura, my Silver Laced Polish. Her crest is normally WAY bigger than that, don't worry - I just had to clip it so she can see the hens that bully her. Last time, she had a bloodied crest. Horrible sight.

These three girls are my White Crested Blacks - Very friendly, brave, and hardy girls. Also quite the layers.

Also note, their crests have been trimmed. They normally have VERY full, perfect, and large crests. Especially the first one here.

Soo they look kinda terrible with their mishaped and cut up crests, but that's what winter does around here. Come summer they'll look much better, but the first WCB is the best representation. She has hardly any black in her crest, a very full crest, and good body.

Oh and someone mentioned it costing the same to keep a show quality hen versus a hatchery quality hen - Ditto. Even if you pay more for the bird, it is SO worth it in the end!!

 

[Celtic Hill]

Thanks for sharing the pictures! I wouldn't know a good polish from a bad polish. I LOVE the silver , i ordered two of those, one golden, on white crested black, and then a buff.

 

[fasbendera]

I have ordered from them for four years and had happy healthy birds. For a backyard flock I can't complain and they are great layers. Good luck and enjoy

 

[HBuehler]

Sneaky I now have to add..I had a near $40 credit for all their dead birds So what do I find on my Credit Card this morning...my MM order #2 that I placed to get those doa's back. Now, I expected the bill this week since they bill 2 weeks out..no problem BUT they billed me the entire amount.So much for the don't worry your account has been credited it will automatically come off your next order.Makes me wonder how many times this has happened and people haven't caught it.

 

[Celtic Hill]

$40 credit

That's alot of chicks!

 

[foxflower]

I've ordered a couple times from MM Hatchery and not had problems, and we live in CA. That has been a few years though. We did have one Ancona from them that was cross-beaked. We had to keep trimming it or filing it down because it just kept growing! We felt so bad for her because she had a tough time eating, we even tried to feed her separately so she could scoop the feed up. Anyway, who all do you recommend as far as hatcheries go? I'm wanting to order birds again this year and was going to try other places, but don't know who has quality.

 

[Nyrial]

Yeesh, I won't be ordering from then again.

25 chicks yesterday, all alive when they got here at 8am. When I got home at 4pm we had 7 dead, 1 more overnight, and then 2 more when I got home today. Ambient temp in the brooder ranges from 85 at the edges to 95 under the lamp, so I'm pretty darn sure they're not freezing to death, considering the remaining 15 are spending more time away from the lamp than under it.

Hard to call when you're on PST sometimes, I'll try them tomorrow. From what I understand they don't typically hassle you too much?


I think I'm sticking with Cackle in the future.