People with sick chicks from McMurray

Well, I didn't watch that dirty job program, so I didn't know MMH did their own hatching. Sorry about that. Just thought they were brokers who farmed out the orders.

I watched that program, The whole placed looked clean and well organized in that tv show, which helped convince me to purchase from them, it was on not long ago.

Little did I know

Granny there were thousands of chicks in these huge drawers they slid out with them! It was overwhelming!!! I don't know how they kept track of what breeds they were.

MollyD

Ordered 32 chicks arriving 3/03. MMH added three free ones.
We lost 8 in 48hrs and 2 more since. There are several sick - only
two were sick last week so we're not done with this...

they didn't say anything to me when i canceled my order....i didn't mention anything about the sickness stuff....

i have goslings and ducklings coming from ideal arriving 3 april
i'm "on call" from sand creek for goslings and ducklings beginning 8 april.....i just had to have some sebastopols! & now my chick order is from ideal week of 5 may

i ordered/won some guinea eggs off of egg.bid due tbd

i haven't found much locally as my only resource has been the trader paper...hopefully i'll learn about more resources for the future

Hasn't anybody notified MM regarding this AE problem?!?
To merely report dead chicks with no details isn't enough.
Managers, not just customer service phone staff should be told multiple people are getting either AE infected chicks or unusually large numbers of dead chicks,.
To lose a few is normal but more than that means something is wrong.

Someone posted above that MM is getting all kinds of calls and are either refunding monies or sending more chicks. I've tried several times last week to call, was never able to get through to talk to someone, i've sent 4 emails over the weekend. and gave them my cell number, mentioned I've called and was put on hold several times , not ever being able to talk to someone though . Maybe they'll call me.

I don't know if my chicks have AE they weren't tested, but their showing symptoms of AE I'm hoping to talk to MM tomorrow .

Kathy Ann...make sure you keep after them!
Seems like there is no longer good customer service anywhere!

This message was edited Mar 23, 2008 7:25 PM

My order was under my friends' name. She called before we had any clue that
there might be something wrong (more than shipping stress). MMH gave us
a refund for the 8 that died the first 48hrs using the cost of the most expensive
type.

Have you lost any more Tammy?

So, they won't refund for the sick ones? doesn't make sense to me, if they get sick, and do recover, according to what i've been reading, their never going to live up to their "full" egg potential.

I'm going to try calling them again tomorrow. we'll see. I have quite a few sick but no dead from the sickness yet. just the original 5 dead from the beginning.

We've lost two more. Its been three weeks now. As I posted, a few are sick.
I don't think my friend told them that we had sick ones. She was terribly upset
to lose so many. I guess the person at MMH told her it was a cold spring and
that they probably succumbed to the cold of shipping.

I guess one excuse of theirs is as good as another, I doubt they fess up to any kind of virus.

Regardless if the "fess up" or not they should be reported to the USDA.

I just got a full refund plus shipping for my chicks. And was told, that it was not AE that they've had NO reports of AE orany other virus , they were getting a broad spectrum of reports of different sicknesses.

They said to put my chicks on teramiacin, 2 tsp to 1 gal water for 5 days.

I am going to do this with ALL the chicks, even the new ones. I also asked them about my new week olds getting infected with what ever it is, they assured me that they didn't think that would happen.

I didn't expect a full refund, maybe they felt bad cause this is my first time I ever bought on the internet for birds. It was clearly a bad experience for me and I told them I didn't want my birds replaced, that I didn't want to go through that again so they just refunded the full amount.

She was gracious and very appologetic. If I were to buy again, perhaps I'd still buy there because of her attitude, but I don't think I will, If I buy again, I'd probably buy from ideal since my local source always bought from them, and said very good things about them. I 'll be glad when this is all over with.

Or will it be.

I figured they wouldn't say anything about any confirmed cases of AE to me.

Kathy Ann I'm glad you are getting your money back but I'm concerned that they're denying the AE when it's been confirmed by test. Maybe they are afraid the USDA will shut them down if they admit it's there?

MollyD

I didn't expect them to ad mit to anything to me. I figured they would deny that. Doesn't soundlike their doing a thing at their place. they did say all their parents had been vacinated and they aren't showing any signs of any sickness there. I didn't bring up the confirmed cases to her, & I really didn't know if they had been reported to MM yet , do they have to send paper work to MM to make it known that they definitely had AE?

I don't know but I would think sending them a copy of any test confirming this would be a good idea. Also maybe a copy to the USDA in your state. I would also put in a cover letter stating that a copy of this report had been sent to the state. That should make them sit up and take notice!!

MollyD

This message was edited Mar 24, 2008 12:23 PM

That's a good idea, was there any body here that had the AE testing done on their chicks? or was it just over in the other forum. back yard chicken forum?

Kathy so far there was only one person who had a confirmed case of AE. No one else has gotten their reports back yet. It will be interesting to see how all this turns out.
I do not have any sick chicks, but am following these threads because I have 20 chicks that arrived from MM on 3/11/ They are 16 days old now. and I am watching for any signs of illness.
This concerns me because I have 15 chicks coming from Ideal next month.
Hope things start looking up soon.
Amy

WEll, maybe their telling the truth about not having any calls on AE yet .

I hope that folks post when they have tests done and if they've reported it or not.

They were kind to me, with the full refund, but I still have 30 more out there on the same bedding that these sick chicks were on. MMH knows that , they said it still shouldn't make any difference.

just passing on info from other board... (mnchris)

The official diagnosis is AE. The diagnosis was extreme and obvious in my 10 birds according to the VDL at the U of MN.

Tested
Hatched on 2/9/08
Tested Positive, all standards size
Buff Rocks
Auracana (EEs)
Partridge Cochins
Blue Cochins

Hatched 3/1/08
Tested Positive, all standards size
Buff Rocks
Auracana (EEs)
Partridge Cochins
Blue Cochins

AE is a reportable disease in MN and The MN Dept of Animal Health and MM have been/will be notified.

Hum, so their liers ha? I didn't expect much less of them. I won't be ordering again from them that's for sure.

I think there's alot of daves gardeners that feel that way as well.

Well I sure won't want to deal with a company that lies to the public!

MollyD

This message was edited Mar 28, 2008 4:09 AM

I was given a full refund of the birds I lost from MM.
I lost 7 out of 27 birds.
My breeds mainly affected were ameraucanas and blue cochins.
A couple of my blue cochins are small and runtish, but my
chicks were hatched on Feb 9th, and I am done with my chick's
illness. I also lost a couple of white crested black polish, but they
were lost very early on, so I'm not sure what they succumbed to.
I haven't spoken with my vet since the general diagnosis of AE,
but I will this week, and find out if I need to contact any other
entity. I did not get any of my birds tested, as mine arrived
very early on in this fiasco, and I was almost through it before
we started getting results back. My heart goes out to all of you
still going through this. Don't let them suffer too long. I guess
it is important to say, that if you didn't get your birds tested for
a reliable diagnosis, it doesn't matter what we think it
may have been, as the reporting agencies can only take
reports from actual confirmed cases. I think also it's important
to keep this in mind when making any claim or comments
in a formal setting with regard to any retailer's fitness, so to
speak. We can all certainly form our own opinions, though, and
share with others when we decide to spend our dollars. It is
also important to the health of bird populations, and our own,
that we keep in good contact, and get our birds tested when
we can. I can see the future scenario, with the possibility of
our birds being infected with avian influena, and not getting
proper diagnosis or communication among flock owners,
and the AI would have spread like wildfire before we knew
what hit us. Just something that has been a growing concern
for me, and something everyone should keep in the back of
their minds.

I agree completly
Before making reports to your USDA agents and such you must have proof of your claims
Get the birds tested!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You have to remember that just because you had some loses from mail order chicks it doesent mean that they were infected
I've always lost a few
Whether mailorder or home hatched
Also
If the birds were exposed to other birds...who's to say the McM birds were not infected from them?
I'm just playing devils advocate....these are things that the athorities are going to ask and look at
I am not saying your bird were infected,so don't get mad at me
also
if these things are reported ,remember, they may come out and inspect your whole flock
You may be opening a whole big can of worms

I'm sorry for all the stress and heatbreak you are all going thru
But to get this staightened out do it by the book
everything must be documented

TEST the sick or dead birds
NOW

This is really sad.....This whole mess has caused a great deal of anxiety for our family. Although I am grateful that our chicks are ok (so far) this whole mes has really prevented us from bonding with these chicks.
I'm not sure if we are even out of the woods yet. My chicks are 16 days old now, I would love to be able to let my guard down, I guess when they are over 4 weeks old sigh........

sorry i didn't word that right i meant ones u have test results for should be able to be reported weather it is reportable or not due to it being a company. being a company they have to follow more strict rules and also may have to deal with osha or corperate things. yes they will ask questions and want reports documenting it back from the labs. yes it is also possible they will start with ur farm and do a traceback to the origional breeder to find where the probs r.

What's it cost to have the test done, and who does it? anybody know?

Most folks probably feel they've spent enough, to have their birds die and loose them and the spent money.

I wouldn't think of making any reports to anybody or to MM without proof, Wouldn't do any good less you had something there on paper to back up your claim.

I told MM I didn't know what was going on with mine, but did tell them what they were doing. They did say no one has made any claims of any kind other than they just didn't know what was going on with their birds. That they were just sick and dying, this is what they told me.

frans530 you mention that AE is reportable in MN but you don't live there so would the agency you used to run the test still report it? Or would they only report it if you also lived in MN?
I just want to learn how the rules work in a situation like this.

MollyD

Oh Okay. I misunderstood what you were saying.

Thanks!

MollyD

thats ok.. heres the linc to the conversation http://backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=40906

Thanks frans530,

Do you know how long ago that was posted? The reason I asked was because as of this morning they were still telling people there was no AE so I wondered if enough time had passed that they should have known something definite about this.

MollyD

This message was edited Mar 28, 2008 4:17 AM

this afternoon.

It is two confirmed. MNKris and, I believe, Maineiac?

Oops, I guess it wasn't Maineiac...I'll see if I can track down who the other confirmed case was with.

I think i've only read one confirmed test was on Back yard forums.