For those in Middle Tennessee what hatchery do you order from?

[RememberTheWay]

I am in middle Tennessee. I ordered chicks from Meyers and they came in this week. It hasn't been a delightful experience. We are still experiencing deaths. I didn't think about length of shipping times before I ordered. Now I'm thinking I should of researched more and found a hatchery closer to me?

Curious what hatcheries everyone in this rea has used and what has been your experience with them? Good? And bad?

 

[Debbie292d]

Here is your state of Tennessee thread. You might try asking them to see if you get anyone to help there. Good luck!

 

[Winderdear]

I’m also in Middle TN. I ordered 4 chicks from Meyer last year with a hatch date in mid June. I had a great experience, all of my chicks arrived healthy within 24 hours of shipment. I called our post office in advance to let them know to call me as soon as they arrived, which they did. We live in a rural area, so our PO knows the drill.

I recently lost one of my pullets, and decided to order more chicks from Meyer with the same hatch date. I will update here on how that order goes.

Some other relatively nearby hatcheries I’m aware of are Mt Healthy in Ohio, Cackle in Missouri and Murray McMurray in Iowa. I believe all send extra chicks with orders, which often end up being male, so I avoided them. Also, some have a large minimum order size.

It can be such a scary process. I was a nervous wreck the night my chicks were shipped. I’m so sorry that you had such a bad experience. I hope that the rest of your chicks pull through, and that your future chick orders arrive healthy.

 

[RememberTheWay]

I’m also in Middle TN. I ordered 4 chicks from Meyer last year with a hatch date in mid June. I had a great experience, all of my chicks arrived healthy within 24 hours of shipment. I called our post office in advance to let them know to call me as soon as they arrived, which they did. We live in a rural area, so our PO knows the drill.

I recently lost one of my pullets, and decided to order more chicks from Meyer with the same hatch date. I will update here on how that order goes.

Some other relatively nearby hatcheries I’m aware of are Mt Healthy in Ohio, Cackle in Missouri and Murray McMurray in Iowa. I believe all send extra chicks with orders, which often end up being male, so I avoided them. Also, some have a large minimum order size.

It can be such a scary process. I was a nervous wreck the night my chicks were shipped. I’m so sorry that you had such a bad experience. I hope that the rest of your chicks pull through, and that your future chick orders arrive healthy.

I think probably the difference in our experience is 1- hatch time- mine was this week in March, yours was June- much warmer- 2 you ordered 4 chicks, lots of space, I ordered 47 so there was probably quite a bit of trampling one another - it's 4 days post delivery and the death count is 12. I am in bradyville a very small post office. I called and notified them prior,and even tried to pick them up earlier from a different post office once they reached Nashville to try to get them a day early in an attempt to lessen deaths to no avail. They wouldn't let me unfortunately. I was also nervous wreck. I'm not sure what happened but it definitely got me second guessing ever doing it again. It's been terrible. I wanted them early because it helps to get them in production earlier if they mature before the fall. May e I should order later in the year and plan for them to be mature by spring? Not really sure what to do next. Will take a lot of serious contemplation this time.

 

[Winderdear]

I think probably the difference in our experience is 1- hatch time- mine was this week in March, yours was June- much warmer- 2 you ordered 4 chicks, lots of space, I ordered 47 so there was probably quite a bit of trampling one another - it's 4 days post delivery and the death count is 12. I am in bradyville a very small post office. I called and notified them prior,and even tried to pick them up earlier from a different post office once they reached Nashville to try to get them a day early in an attempt to lessen deaths to no avail. They wouldn't let me unfortunately. I was also nervous wreck. I'm not sure what happened but it definitely got me second guessing ever doing it again. It's been terrible. I wanted them early because it helps to get them in production earlier if they mature before the fall. May e I should order later in the year and plan for them to be mature by spring? Not really sure what to do next. Will take a lot of serious contemplation this time.

I’m so sorry you’ve lost twelve chicks, that’s heartbreaking.

Yes, I can see how either of those factors would change things. I’m not sure if any of the other hatcheries are better at shipping large amounts of birds, but Cackle and McMurray have higher minimum orders, so I would hope they know how to ship bigger quantities to limit chick loss.

In my experience, a June hatch date resulted in my pullets starting to lay in November and December, and they continued to lay all through the winter and now into spring. I was pleasantly surprised to be getting eggs at that time of year, because I also thought I’d be waiting at least until late winter. I don’t use supplemental light either. My Welsummer was the last to lay, and she waited until the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.

Now that I have another order placed for a June hatch date, I’m hoping my new chicks will mature and begin laying around the same time, taking over as last year’s girls begin their molt.

I pray that you have no more losses, and that the rest of your flock will thrive

 

[RememberTheWay]

I’m so sorry you’ve lost twelve chicks, that’s heartbreaking.

Yes, I can see how either of those factors would change things. I’m not sure if any of the other hatcheries are better at shipping large amounts of birds, but Cackle and McMurray have higher minimum orders, so I would hope they know how to ship bigger quantities to limit chick loss.

In my experience, a June hatch date resulted in my pullets starting to lay in November and December, and they continued to lay all through the winter and now into spring. I was pleasantly surprised to be getting eggs at that time of year, because I also thought I’d be waiting at least until late winter. I don’t use supplemental light either. My Welsummer was the last to lay, and she waited until the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.

Now that I have another order placed for a June hatch date, I’m hoping my new chicks will mature and begin laying around the same time, taking over as last year’s girls begin their molt.

I pray that you have no more losses, and that the rest of your flock will thrive

Thanks. I just went in to change water and another one was dead. This is insane. I've been brooding chicks and keeping layers for almost 7 years. I am not new to chicken keeping. I read somewhere that stress and trauma from shipping can cause deaths up to seven days later? Everytime I observe everyone I think "ok, they look good, maybe we are over the hump and everyone else will be okay" then I come back and find one dead or two, or 3! I really am just beside myself. And the last two to go were ones I was really excited about seeing grow out because I thought they could be cream legbars which I didn't order bc I forgot but had order several asst packages and was hoping that's what they would turn out to be. This has been a heartbreaking experience. I am also the one to try to nurse anything I possibly can so it's been stressful on me as well. Really I'm hoping to purchase all my breeding stock this year and then be able to hatch out my own chicks from there and never have to deal with shipping again. I've got most of my stock here already but I decided to add several new breeds this year and was filling out that group with these chicks. Now my list of stock to obtain is growing again instead of getting smaller.

Glad your matured before the fall but the last two years mine have waited until the spring! I will be selecting for faster maturity in the lines I'm working on though.

 

[Winderdear]

Thanks. I just went in to change water and another one was dead. This is insane. I've been brooding chicks and keeping layers for almost 7 years. I am not new to chicken keeping. I read somewhere that stress and trauma from shipping can cause deaths up to seven days later? Everytime I observe everyone I think "ok, they look good, maybe we are over the hump and everyone else will be okay" then I come back and find one dead or two, or 3! I really am just beside myself. And the last two to go were ones I was really excited about seeing grow out because I thought they could be cream legbars which I didn't order bc I forgot but had order several asst packages and was hoping that's what they would turn out to be. This has been a heartbreaking experience. I am also the one to try to nurse anything I possibly can so it's been stressful on me as well. Really I'm hoping to purchase all my breeding stock this year and then be able to hatch out my own chicks from there and never have to deal with shipping again. I've got most of my stock here already but I decided to add several new breeds this year and was filling out that group with these chicks. Now my list of stock to obtain is growing again instead of getting smaller.

Glad your matured before the fall but the last two years mine have waited until the spring! I will be selecting for faster maturity in the lines I'm working on though.

I can’t imagine how hard that must be. I’m very new to chickens, so can’t offer any advice. I wish things had gone better for you. Losing my one pullet who got to live to 9 months old has been so tragic to me, but the loss of so many little ones seems unbearable. My prayers are still with you.

 

[RememberTheWay]

I can’t imagine how hard that must be. I’m very new to chickens, so can’t offer any advice. I wish things had gone better for you. Losing my one pullet who got to live to 9 months old has been so tragic to me, but the loss of so many little ones seems unbearable. My prayers are still with you.

Thanks. I appreciate it. I'm not new and this year has been different then all my previous years. I've never experienced this many losses. It is very hard. Usually chicks are very strong and if you do experience a loss it's only one or two. Not such a large portion of them. At least in my personal experience.

 

[Winderdear]

Thanks. I appreciate it. I'm not new and this year has been different then all my previous years. I've never experienced this many losses. It is very hard. Usually chicks are very strong and if you do experience a loss it's only one or two. Not such a large portion of them. At least in my personal experience.

How long were they in shipment?