I Bit the Bullet and Ordered Chicks

I had a BAD shipping experience a few years back with MPC. I know many people use them with no problems, but I lost all of the chicks in my order. All of them. I swore I'd never order chicks again; I'd only get them locally.

Well, the TSC I frequent has changed policy. They no longer order chicks. The hatcheries just send them chicks whenever. The gal who did the ordering would honor requests. The random shipments explain why they have a gazillion ducklings right now and only one breed of chicks - lol! They used to let those of us with established flocks get fewer than the minimum of 4 chicks. That's gone, too.

I want colorful eggs. I've started selling eggs in an effort to make enough profit to claim farm status and get tax benefits. Since I can't guarantee they'll get what I want in, I went ahead and ordered chicks from Meyer.

1 x Easter Egger
1 x Fibro Easter Egger
1 x Cream Legbar
1 x rare breed assortment

I'll at least get a blue layer. They were sold out of Green Queens, but maybe I'll get lucky and one of the Easter Eggers will lay greenish eggs. Now I'll have brown, white, cream, dark brown, and blue eggs.

If TSC ends up having breeds I want, I'll cancel this order.

What do y'all think??? It'll be ok, right?

Aunt Angus said:

I had a BAD shipping experience a few years back with MPC. I know many people use them with no problems, but I lost all of the chicks in my order. All of them. I swore I'd never order chicks again; I'd only get them locally.

Well, the TSC I frequent has changed policy. They no longer order chicks. The hatcheries just send them chicks whenever. The gal who did the ordering would honor requests. The random shipments explain why they have a gazillion ducklings right now and only one breed of chicks - lol! They used to let those of us with established flocks get fewer than the minimum of 4 chicks. That's gone, too.

I want colorful eggs. I've started selling eggs in an effort to make enough profit to claim farm status and get tax benefits. Since I can't guarantee they'll get what I want in, I went ahead and ordered chicks from Meyer.

1 x Easter Egger
1 x Fibro Easter Egger
1 x Cream Legbar
1 x rare breed assortment

I'll at least get a blue layer. They were sold out of Green Queens, but maybe I'll get lucky and one of the Easter Eggers will lay greenish eggs. Now I'll have brown, white, cream, dark brown, and blue eggs.

If TSC ends up having breeds I want, I'll cancel this order.

What do y'all think??? It'll be ok, right?

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Most chick orders go through without problems. Honestly I would order a few extras in case you have some losses.
You could always sell any extras that you didn’t want especially if they are sexed pullets.

Welcome to the dark side.
MPC always seems shady to me but I know most people do ok.

LadiesAndJane said:

Most chick orders go through without problems. Honestly I would order a few extras in case you have some losses.
You could always sell any extras that you didn’t want especially if they are sexed pullets.

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That's true. Everyone here has chickens. I would give them away to friends/neighbors. I'll think about it.

My worry is that I'll fall in love with all of them and not want to part with them. I have room, but I add new birds every year to keep the eggs coming. I am cutting myself off at 20 chickens. I have 12 now. That's 4 this year and 4 next.

I'll see if someone around here wants to split an order.

nuthatched said:

Welcome to the dark side.
MPC always seems shady to me but I know most people do ok.

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That's why I went with Meyer this time. MPC shipped a mixed order of bantam and large breeds. They do that all the time, they said. The bantam were flattened when I opened the box. The large fowl died within 2 days. All of them died eventually. They reimbursed me for everything, but it sucked.

Aunt Angus said:

That's why I went with Meyer this time. MPC shipped a mixed order of bantam and large breeds. They do that all the time, they said. The bantam were flattened when I opened the box. The large fowl died within 2 days. All of them died eventually. They reimbursed me for everything, but it sucked.

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That's rough. I just don't think they really care about packing since they get their chicks from other places.

nuthatched said:

That's rough. I just don't think they really care about packing since they get their chicks from other places.

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That could be. The gals who worked there were great, but I didn't want a refund. I wanted my chicks, you know? Hopefully, Meyer will be more conscientious.

Or, even better, I find some blue/green colored egg layers locally and can cancel my order...

Aunt Angus said:

That's true. Everyone here has chickens. I would give them away to friends/neighbors. I'll think about it.

My worry is that I'll fall in love with all of them and not want to part with them. I have room, but I add new birds every year to keep the eggs coming. I am cutting myself off at 20 chickens. I have 12 now. That's 4 this year and 4 next.

I'll see if someone around here wants to split an order.

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20 is my max as well! Currently I have 22…

LadiesAndJane said:

20 is my max as well! Currently I have 22…

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Well, I should also add that I have 5 ducks, too. And my rooster isn't part of that 20, so it's *really* 21. And I ordered 2 geese to arrive in June, so 20 really means 28.

Aunt Angus said:

Well, I should also add that I have 5 ducks, too. And my rooster isn't part of that 20, so it's *really* 21. And I ordered 2 geese to arrive in June, so 20 really means 28.

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Love this!
Good luck with your order! I ordered from Murray Mcmurray once, it was an okay experince. I lost one runner duckling. It was terrible, not nearly as horrible as your loss, but it still sucks. Surely everything will arrive alright. I'm crossing my fingers that you either find a better source, or your order goes just fine.