What are your thoughts on Greenfire Farms?

[ChickenCanoe]

I just bought death layers and cream legbars. Chicks came today and look lively and healthy and they gave me 2 extra. they shipping schedule sucks. be prepared to take off work a full3 days to pick them up. they are not accommodating at all with shipping schedules and communication is really bad. they forgot to charge me for 2 chicks@ 99.00 each. I can't even get through to them to pay them.

If you think that is bad, try ordering from Sandhill Preservation.
As a small breeder of rare chickens, I know how hard it is to accommodate customer's schedules. Add to that the horrific current condition of our postal system which further complicates.
You are dealing with seasonal variations in laying, Trying to schedule setting eggs with the potential of customer demand. The day you set eggs will be followed by hatching 3 weeks later and the chicks need to ship that day by USPS regulations. If you don't have customers for those chicks that day, you have to raise those birds till they can ship as mature birds or find other places to use them. That requires a significant amount of vacant housing.
There are other extenuating problems not visible to potential customers.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I think that easier communication would make SandHill AND Greenfire more attractive options, IMO.

 

[JadeFarms]

I’ve purchased from greenfire, the breed I got seems to have all the traits and personality of the breed. Not the best quality but they definitely seem real.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I probably posted this before but I think everyone considering purchasing should seriously consider a paragraph at the end of Greenfire's terms and conditions and take it to heart.
Here it is.
Read and reread.

WHAT YOU SHOULD EXPECT. You should expect birds that reflect the fundamental attributes of the breed. You should not expect a cosmetically perfect bird. In fact, you should expect to find some defects in virtually every bird you raise. Just as every child is not destined to become a supermodel, every bird is not destined to win ribbons at shows. Only a tiny fraction of chickens conform to their breed standard in all respects. We do not represent that every bird we sell is show quality or is flawless. You should receive birds that can be the foundation for a breeding program that with enough time and skill can produce show-quality birds. You should also realize that the rarer the breed, the more likely you are to encounter problems related to inbreeding. For some breeds and varieties that we sell, the global breeding population consists of fewer than a dozen hens. We cull for obvious defects like crooked toes, but low fertility, low egg production, low disease resistance, and other challenges are not uncommon with extremely rare breeds. If you encounter these challenges when the birds become adults, you will need to address them with your own breeding plan.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I think that easier communication would make SandHill AND Greenfire more attractive options, IMO.

So true. I don't know about Greenfire but Sandhill doesn't really have the infrastructure for better communication.
If either did, birds would cost even more.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

So true. I don't know about Greenfire but Sandhill doesn't really have the infrastructure for better communication.
If either did, birds would cost even more.

I emailed Greenfire months ago to ask something (don't even remember what it was now) and never got a response.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I emailed Greenfire months ago to ask something (don't even remember what it was now) and never got a response.

I've encountered the same thing at Sandhill. They actually only answer the phone one afternoon each week. They never responded to my emails.
I'm still not mad at them for it. I just know what to expect - though I don't buy birds from anyone any more.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I probably posted this before but I think everyone considering purchasing should seriously consider a paragraph at the end of Greenfire's terms and conditions and take it to heart.
Here it is.
Read and reread.

WHAT YOU SHOULD EXPECT. ...

I have the same issue. Even though mine was a landrace fowl till standardized into 4 varieties as late as the mid 1980s - sports and color variations continue to show up.
As an extremely rare breed, one shouldn't expect flawless birds. If you want flawless, try white leghorns, buff orpingtons or partridge Plymouth rocks.
That won't happen with an ancient wild breed that was only recently standardized on a historical perspective.
With many unique characteristics, achieving standard, I have to constantly select for white earlobe color, carnation comb, slate feet and legs, horn of ox beak, solid black feathering, egg color and size, not to mention shape and weight. While only using birds with those characteristics and setting only the best eggs, constantly flaws remain.
It still burns me when I get complaints from people wanting show quality birds. I'm pretty sure that I have more birds than any other flock of the same breed in North America so I challenge anyone to find a dozen flawless birds out of a dozen anywhere else.
Add to that I'm just one person on a shoestring budget trying to get the breed spread around the country. I'm not a major hatchery.
Glenn at Sandhill has an extremely small staff as well.
I don't know how many employees Greenfire has. They seem to be well funded but they are doing a service no one else in this country or anywhere in the world is providing.

I refer others back to my post #21 in this thread for the complications involved.

 

[MargretaMach5]

I used Greenfire Farm this year and found them to be communicative, honest and easy to deal with. The birds are beautiful (Jill Reese Cream Legbars and 55 Flowery Hens) and I’d use them again for rare breeds, in a heartbeat.

 

[lisa69]

I used Greenfire Farm this year and found them to be communicative, honest and easy to deal with. The birds are beautiful (Jill Reese Cream Legbars and 55 Flowery Hens) and I’d use them again for rare breeds, in a heartbeat.

They forgot to charge me for 2 100 each chicks. I can't get them to answer the phone or email, so I can pay for them .