WARNING: Cackle Hatchery

[NIdahoChicks]

Wow. Thanks for the information. It does help to actually go to the hatchery.

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

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

Ive had zero trouble with Miller flyer d'uccles..and egger bantams ..but oddly English not so much

 

[NagemTX]

Ive had zero trouble with Miller flyer d'uccles..and egger bantams ..but oddly English not so much

I was thinking of ordering rosecomb, Phoenix and sebrights at some point. I now have bantam Ameraucana, OEGB and Dutch through eBay. So now there is no need to order any.

 

[Tervuren]

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.

Out of curiosity what was some of the misinformation they told you?

 

[Karmachine]

My last order from cackle came with a hand warmer, a little bit of feed and some straw matting. Everything that could be done to deal with USPS short comings was done. There was a single dead chick, and it was caught up in the box, it probably got bounced around by USPS which is how it got stuck. They provided extra chicks in case of accidental death, which was nice. They also state that if you prove more than the added extra died during shipping they would compensate.

If the chicks died after they got home, and where in the brooder, there is no way of knowing if Cackle was at fault, or something as random as mold in the pine chips. Many people do not have access to TSC to buy chicks and hatcheries are their only option to obtain specific birds.

 

[Karmachine]

Let me enlighten you folks about the inner workings of the USPS.

My wife — who is in her 26th year as a rural route carrier — battles every single day fighting for you the customer. Furthermore, the management is severely lacking and often involves favoritism and find any way to cut corners to strip away any financial gain for your rural carriers. Her union is milk toast and promotes leadership that often favors corporate cronies. This doesn't help incentivize any healthy relationship for customer-carrier motivation. My wife's salary was cut $10K last year due to the lackluster union and those damn scanning devices. They count steps now.

I can tell you right now my wife goes out of her way to give any shipped fowl water, PERIOD. We have chickens. We don't do mail order for a reason.

Believe me, nobody wants to be a rural carrier. My wife's customers treat her like crap and blames all USPS' problems on her. She has worked her butt off six days a week for the last four months. Her postmaster can't seem to get his act together to find relief help and those who are currently working are quitting due to no scheduled days off — I am talking seven days a week here. Not to mention a relationship with one of the carriers. My wife is on his poop list for a reason.

I'll also mention she delivers packages from UPS, FedEx and DHL. These are the heavier packages weighing 70-plus pounds. Try delivering a mattress or 100 lbs. of dog food every day.

If you want to complain send all your frustrations, complaints to Louis DeJoy. He's your Post Master General and Executive Officer. "UnJoy" wants to eliminate your local post office. I am not kidding. Research his long-term plans. He wants a central hub where carriers have to drive more than 100 miles from their route, drive back, deliver your crap, drive back to the hub and then home. He is single handedly destroying and privatizing our nation's treasure — your local post office.

Good luck finding an email address or even DeJoy's address. There's a reason it's not posted.

BTW — I drove more than 250 miles to Cackle Hatchery to pick up my chicks in person. That's more than an eight-hour round trip from my location. That's the only way to be sure.

— Geo

The whole system has been falling apart since DeJoy was made post master, the system may have been bloated before he took over, but it was efficient and working conditions improved greatly for the employees. DeJoy gutted the system and punished the postal workers. Postal workers are not the issue, management definitely is.

 

[IsayOsiyo2U]

Out of curiosity what was some of the misinformation they told you?

Sorry for the delay. I just saw this. I went to pick up the chickens with my fiance and when he saw the hatchery’s board with a list of the species and breeds they had available to buy directly that day, he decided he wanted a turkey. So, I asked the three women at the counter, is it wise to raise a single poult with chicks? Answer: yes Correct Answer: no
Next question: If yes, then how do you go about feeding that single poult the correct diet and if a different diet, how exactly do you accomplish that if it is in a mixed flock? Answer: Just feed it chick starter like the rest of them. Correct Answer: They require a different diet and there is no way in.…well, you know, to get the poult mixed in the flock of chicks to only eat its food, not that of the others, and vice versa. Next Question: Will a turkey poult sexually imprint on another species if it doesn’t have its own available? No answer, just a look that said, you are being a nuisance. I still don’t know the answer in certainty. I haven’t done the research and the turkey poult ended up living with me and me alone. She did very strongly imprint on me and is my constant companion even though I later purchased another two poults, also female. As far as sexually imprinting, all three hens think I am their man, but they aren’t pushy nor do they complain about my lack of performance .

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

shipping live animals through a failing system

It is almost like the post office is trying to fail, they used to be so reliable..
Sorry you went through this, I am hatching local eggs this year partially out of fear that the post office is broken now.