WARNING: Cackle Hatchery

[Greg Zeigler]

Hello everyone. Please learn from my horrendous experience and be very weary about ordering from Cackle or any hatchery for that matter.

I was hesitant to order any birds ever, but I saw forum after forum and many reviews stating that this hatchery was reputable. I decided to go against my better judgement and ordered 4 ducks and 4 buff orpingtons, thinking that because the hatchery was 4 hours away, I wouldn't need to worry. FALSE.

My birds shipped at 4:30pm on Monday. Tuesday morning they are received in Kansas City then go off into the ether. They sat in warehouses for FOUR DAYS before arriving Friday morning. There were three already dead (one of them was an extra buff) and the rest of the birds were on the edge of death.

The box was crushed. The birds WERE NOT GIVEN any kind of liquid or solid sustenance. I had been in contact with the hatchery every day since they shipped and they told me they had been having lots of issues with USPS. Yet they still shipped the birds with no food or water knowing full well the shipment would take a long time. They claimed they were not allowed to overnight ship. They paid a whopping $6.15 in shipping to my $27.

I lost another duck this morning. She was in horrible shape all day yesterday. She was in a state of extreme shock and nervous system overload. At least she was warm and fed when she passed, unlike her sisters.

I spoke to them about it and they claimed they will take this to the owner, meanwhile I hear in the background a conversation with another customer who lost all their birds. This is a common occurrence and they are wittingly shipping live animals through a failing system and not taking any precautions to prevent death of the animals. The animals are not given "live animal" labels and ARE NOT EXPEDITED. I was promised they would be, and that is not the case.

It is a shipping issue. I can get live chicks from Hoover(Iowa), but somehow I couldn't get live chicks from Cackle(in fact, somehow they ended up in DENVER) and I live in Ohio!

 

[Greg Zeigler]

It's a shipping issue for Cackle for sure. I can get live chicks from Hoover(Iowa), yet can't get live chicks from Cackle(Missouri) and my order somehow was in Denver, Colorado(where somebody adopted my order), yet I live in Ohio.

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

My guess is you are a postmaster and don't mind dead chicks.Any chi

She opens other people's mail?

Agreed she should not touch mail as a rural route carrier she shouldn't have contact as they are not transported once they arrive at the post office.everyone of the post offices here has called locals if birds aren't picked up within 24 hours of arriving.. if it is chickens they call people they know with chickens, more exotic birds typically wildlife rehabbers ( ducks didn't get picked up rehabber ended up with them) postmaster is allowed to dispose of appropriately, and that means a farm animal control rehabbers etc..

That's federal law not local..i know our local postmaster puts winter chicks into a room with a heater if the warehouse area is cold..i recently had a serama adult pair and they were literally in his office waiting for pickup..they had every person in the building try to figure out the phone number as it was smudged..the facility custodian figured it out . I have friends in four other towns here that receive chicks, they all get the same kind of care..

Is the issue the post office yes, it's once they are in the distribution system..specifically they are not to be shipped with food and water for day old chicks

My seramas in the other hand came priority express with alfalfa as there bedding and food and hydrogel.. they arrived 14 hours after shipping..the cost to ship birds and box less than 2 pounds was 48.33

It isn't Cackle's fault

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

It's a shipping issue for Cackle for sure. I can get live chicks from Hoover(Iowa), yet can't get live chicks from Cackle(Missouri) and my order somehow was in Denver, Colorado(where somebody adopted my order), yet I live in Ohio.

I have had zero issue getting birds from cackle ( missouri), meyers ( ohio), ideal ( texas) Jerry's seramas ( louisiana )

I am in south louisiana in a little town..they all go through distribution hubs on their way to me.i always alert the postmaster to incoming birds and he unofficially alerts the drivers coming from the hubs and his dock workers. I've been told he does it for all incoming live shipments if he is aware..the drivers casually ask if the birds aren't loaded..and a special trip was made one night when chicks got lost in the shuffle found and a run was made to get them here..

Cackle and meyers shipped Monday always arrive on Wednesday, ideal arrives on Friday shipped wednesday.. ( they are literally 7 hour drive but go through 3 or 4 hubs getting here) and louisiana 1 day..total ive had over 25 orders in last 3 years .a lot for me but also for neighbors and friends..we have had big and small orders. Cackle and ideal include several extras ..my oegbantams they included 3 extra straight run only had 1 roo..my fayoumis survived ended up with 2 roos out of 8 straight run..ordered 5..all made it.. they sent an extra dominque and extra jersey , both pullets

 

[cassie]

What is your alternative? Do you have one?

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

What is your alternative? Do you have one?

Personally, Meyers or Cackle ..and I will NEVER get oegbantams except from a breeder,preferably within driving distance or purchase a breeding pair or trio,shipped as adults ( exceeding expensive to ship, but I've begun to believe that,like seramas they are just too fragile to ship as chicks)

 

[NagemTX]

Personally, Meyers or Cackle ..and I will NEVER get oegbantams except from a breeder,preferably within driving distance or purchase a breeding pair or trio,shipped as adults ( exceeding expensive to ship, but I've begun to believe that,like seramas they are just too fragile to ship as chicks)

For bantams I've just been ordering hatching eggs. It's so much easier. Have yet to order bantams as live chicks.

 

[21hens-incharge]

For bantams I've just been ordering hatching eggs. It's so much easier. Have yet to order bantams as live chicks.

I ordered 15 bantam cochins from Cackle to arrive May 1(ish).
I will certainly post a thread when they arrive.

 

[NIdahoChicks]

I've ordered from Cackle Hatchery and Hoover's and never had any issues. All the chicks have been healthy and none have died. I'm in north Idaho and always call my local post office in advance to let them know about my babies coming, and when I go pick them up they have to search through the many boxes of chicks to find mine. They are very experienced receiving chicks at our post office.

 

[IsayOsiyo2U]

Hello,
I drove three hours to collect my poultry directly from Cackle Hatchery and they were in poor shape the moment they handed them to me. I stopped on the way home to pick up warm water and so I could get electrolytes into them. I also purchased “hot hands” to keep them warm. I only lost one chick, but, I work in avian medicine and I had to work hard to get the group strong and surviving. They also supplied a good deal of misinformation when I arrived at the hatchery, which tells me their employees are less than knowledgeable.