What is your experience with Valley Hatchery?

[humanoidtyphoon88]

In ordered from Valley Hatchery in late February (I'm in Texas). Shipping was 3 days and all but 1 chick died. They have 100% live guarantee but that's on arrival. My chicks all died within the first 24 hours (5 of them) and had appropriate warmth and electrolytes. The one that survived lived to 4 months old, never got to lay a single egg, and died of what appeared to be Mareks. Now my 20 chicken flock is down to 2, so be careful. Did Valley send Mareks too? I don't know. I only know that I would not order from them again after losing all the chicks. 3 day shipping is unacceptable imo.

 

[MistressLupine]

Damn dude you got super unlucky

I’m suprised all but one of mine have survived

Had impacted crop twice, and an ear infection. My only pure grey one died of a incurable respiratory infection they can get from shipping

All 6 of the others are still alive and very healthy and happy

 

[3Daisy]

My guess is that it would mean that they don't kill the boy chick's that hatch.

They can determine sex in the eggs now.
They simply don't hatch them

 

[BlueBaby]

They can determine sex in the eggs now.
They simply don't hatch them

I know, and that's why I am glad that I have 4 roosters. I can hatch my own without having to deal with hatchery mess ups anymore.

 

[Kool kat]

Yes, I ordered recently from Valley Hatchery & I strongly DO NOT recommend them. I placed my first order of muiltiple varieties of chicks for well over $100.00. When my receipt came in via email I realized to my horror, that the Orpington Chicks were noted as Bantams not Standards. I quickly contacted Valley Hatchery Only and asked if I could replace the 5 Bantam Straight Run Chicks for Standards, or simply remove the them all together. With unbelievable smugness I was told "NO! At the time of checkout I was notified any changes to my order (ie mistakes) would result in cancellation of the order along with a 10% fee based on the Gross amount of the sale. Further, I would have to reorder all over again.

This meant that I had been lucky the first time and had found all my chicks available in late May for shipping. If, I cancelled my order I would loose the chicks and the shipping date. Now the way I see this, there is no customer service with this company. If they will treat a new customer like this and are willing to loose money so cavalier, then what are they going to be like if there is a real issue. I cannot emphasize enough the young man had a smug delighted attitude that I was going to be fined/penalized 10% purchase. Final thoughts for lawyers out there, the company forces the buyer to cancel their order, but then penalizes for doing so....is that even legal?

I just ordered from there and I read all the fine print before I placed my order (all the things that you have to check before you buy) It clearly states that once order is placed no changes can be made and there will be a fee if changes need to be made so I seriously doubt you have a case

 

[Linda Diaz]

Has anybody ordered chicks from Valley Hatchery in the past? What was your experience? Would you recommend them? They claim to be "no-kill"....what does that mean in a hatchery? Thank you!
EDITED TO ADD: I know what no-kill means. I'm just wondering what you think they do with all those boys.

Horrible. I've ordered twice from them and both times they arrived deceased.
17 babies, they do not insulate the box, they do not prioritize the shipping. These babies hung out at post offices for 3 days!

 

[Linda Diaz]

This is what you get from Valley Hatchery

 

[BoundlessLove]

Horrible. I've ordered twice from them and both times they arrived deceased.
17 babies, they do not insulate the box, they do not prioritize the shipping. These babies hung out at post offices for 3 days!

Possibly fault of USPS and not entirely Valley?

 

[MapleLaurelFarms]

This is a rough year for many hatcheries, and I'm sorry that so many of you all have experienced problems, but I've had nothing but great experiences with Valley Hatchery. I've also had very good experiences with other hatcheries, so for whatever reason, I'm thankful!

Our order shipped out on Monday from a Valley hatchery in Ohio and arrived yesterday (Tuesday) around noon at our local NC post office. All of the chicks arrived in fantastic shape and now, more than 24 hours later, still appear as healthy as can be.

Every time that I've contacted customer service, Valley has been super helpful. I kinda micromanage my chick order. I only try to order for arrival in milder seasons. I contact my local postmaster/mistress the week before to let them know that we have chicks arriving. The minute the chicks ship, I share tracking with my postmaster who is also checking on the shipment for me, because they have access to tracking info that the general public can't see.

I also pray like mad the entire time my chicks are hatching and en route. It's not a golden ticket to success, but I trust God to watch over these little babies, come what may, so I can relax.

I did have to call Valley for the actual USPS tracking number. The original tracking just linked to tracking on their site, but they quickly shared it with me so I could give it to my postmaster.

Also, Valley couldn't ship one of the breeds that I ordered, but these kind of things happen and aren't always in a hatchery's control. They notified me at the time of shipping and immediately issued a refund. I wasn't charged a surcharge even though this happenstance dipped my chick number below the minimum 15. With the extras they sent, I still received 14.

We live in a rural area with smaller POs, and our postmasters are accustomed to handling chick orders. A lady in line in front of me was also picking up chicks that had just arrived from McMurry. Her box was peep peeping also, so I assume that she had a fine experience with her shipment.

Things don't always go as planned. Stuff gets messed up all the time. It's heartbreaking, so I don't discount anyone's loss. People (me too) often post when they're upset or mad, so I just wanted to share my two-cents about our good experience with Valley to try and balance out the equation a bit.

 

[MROO]

Has anybody ordered chicks from Valley Hatchery in the past? What was your experience? Would you recommend them? They claim to be "no-kill"....what does that mean in a hatchery? Thank you!
EDITED TO ADD: I know what no-kill means. I'm just wondering what you think they do with all those boys.

I don't know about that particular hatchery, but many hatcheries sell off or raise their male chicks as meat birds. Wildlife rehabs often buy chicks and rodents to help their charges learn (or relearn) how to catch their own prey. I would imagine zoos do the same thing for enrichment activities.