BlessedChaosHomestead
Songster
We ordered a shipment of chicks from MMH on Fri, Feb. 16, 2024. (A week ago today actually.)
12 Bielefelders - Unsexed
15 Special Assorted Unsexed
1 Free Chick
On Tues, Feb. 20 I received the text they had shipped. So I started impatiently tracking them. lol
I did not receive these chicks till the morning of Thurs, Feb. 22.
I went to the post office & was chatting with my postal carrier & peeked in the box. Noticed a dead one, then what looked like more.
I quickly set the box down & popped the staples off one side to find a horrific scene. On first glance in horror it looked like 6 were alive, the rest were dead! Squashed on top of each other. The live ones picking at the dead ones!
My postal carried was grossed out too. But advised me to take pics. In doing so, I gagged as they were already smelling horribly. The drive home I had to roll the windows down on a cool morning.
Once home, we did an official count & we had 10 alive. One was dying; the rest dead.
These guys were STARVING. I mean they probably ate a cup of food within the first hour! We thought we were losing another one, but it was just weak. It started going down last night but has picked up since then & made it through the night.
Customer service apologized profusely BUT didn't try to make it right.
Our options were: 1. Re-Order but we have to pay for 7 more chicks to meet the minimum. 2. Wait till April to get the order as is. 3. Credit our card.
They initially issued us a store credit; we had to call back after we talked about it to get them to just refund our card as we didn't want this experience again plus having to order & pay for more chicks. (That potentially could die too.)
The circumstance we are in now, is trying to figure out what chicks we have as it literally looks like most of what survived where the assorted chicks, with 1 for sure Bielefelder male alive. Plus trying to find locally a breeder, that's NPIP/AI clean for the breeds we want.
This is my 2nd hatchery order ever. The first one was in Jan from McMurray for some Runner ducks. It went fine.
But as I found out then & with this fiasco coupled with it, I'm not pleased.
See McMurray sells itself as a family owned company. Tom's granddad started the hatchery, whatever the story.
You think you're getting chicks from THEIR breeding lines; expecting a cleaner line than say Hoover.
Except that is NOT the case that I have found. (Feel free to prove me wrong.)
McMurray sources their ducklings from Metzer Farms in Cordova TN. (Hoover may also, I haven't ordered from them.)
These Bielefelders & Assorted mix came from St. Paul, MN. NOT Iowa.
My cousin who ordered meat chicks from Hoover Hatchery, came in from St. Paul, MN also.
I've read that McMurray sources Turkeys from Privetts in New Mexico. And I believe Hoover does also.
I understand business side; it might make sense logistics/finances/etc.
But as a consumer this does not. Especially for McMurray, they should be transparent about this. If these are outsourced chickens, it should be clearly stated on their catalogs, that it's not a breed line from them.
So that's our story for those who care. This has left a bad experience for us on ordering from hatcheries.
Granted my local feed store got in 400 chicks today & of all those only 1 arrived dead! That's crazy! But from what I can gather via tracking, those poor chicks sat in St. Paul airport (for USPS) for almost 2 days waiting to be shipped out. No wonder they died. It's been cold there.
-A.
12 Bielefelders - Unsexed
15 Special Assorted Unsexed
1 Free Chick
On Tues, Feb. 20 I received the text they had shipped. So I started impatiently tracking them. lol
I did not receive these chicks till the morning of Thurs, Feb. 22.
I went to the post office & was chatting with my postal carrier & peeked in the box. Noticed a dead one, then what looked like more.
I quickly set the box down & popped the staples off one side to find a horrific scene. On first glance in horror it looked like 6 were alive, the rest were dead! Squashed on top of each other. The live ones picking at the dead ones!
My postal carried was grossed out too. But advised me to take pics. In doing so, I gagged as they were already smelling horribly. The drive home I had to roll the windows down on a cool morning.
Once home, we did an official count & we had 10 alive. One was dying; the rest dead.
These guys were STARVING. I mean they probably ate a cup of food within the first hour! We thought we were losing another one, but it was just weak. It started going down last night but has picked up since then & made it through the night.
Customer service apologized profusely BUT didn't try to make it right.
Our options were: 1. Re-Order but we have to pay for 7 more chicks to meet the minimum. 2. Wait till April to get the order as is. 3. Credit our card.
They initially issued us a store credit; we had to call back after we talked about it to get them to just refund our card as we didn't want this experience again plus having to order & pay for more chicks. (That potentially could die too.)
The circumstance we are in now, is trying to figure out what chicks we have as it literally looks like most of what survived where the assorted chicks, with 1 for sure Bielefelder male alive. Plus trying to find locally a breeder, that's NPIP/AI clean for the breeds we want.
This is my 2nd hatchery order ever. The first one was in Jan from McMurray for some Runner ducks. It went fine.
But as I found out then & with this fiasco coupled with it, I'm not pleased.
See McMurray sells itself as a family owned company. Tom's granddad started the hatchery, whatever the story.
You think you're getting chicks from THEIR breeding lines; expecting a cleaner line than say Hoover.
Except that is NOT the case that I have found. (Feel free to prove me wrong.)
McMurray sources their ducklings from Metzer Farms in Cordova TN. (Hoover may also, I haven't ordered from them.)
These Bielefelders & Assorted mix came from St. Paul, MN. NOT Iowa.
My cousin who ordered meat chicks from Hoover Hatchery, came in from St. Paul, MN also.
I've read that McMurray sources Turkeys from Privetts in New Mexico. And I believe Hoover does also.
I understand business side; it might make sense logistics/finances/etc.
But as a consumer this does not. Especially for McMurray, they should be transparent about this. If these are outsourced chickens, it should be clearly stated on their catalogs, that it's not a breed line from them.
So that's our story for those who care. This has left a bad experience for us on ordering from hatcheries.
Granted my local feed store got in 400 chicks today & of all those only 1 arrived dead! That's crazy! But from what I can gather via tracking, those poor chicks sat in St. Paul airport (for USPS) for almost 2 days waiting to be shipped out. No wonder they died. It's been cold there.
-A.
and past the 48hr window so no refund on that.
