Comments regarding Murray McMurray Hatchery

In March of 2007 I ordered Rhode Island Reds and Americaunas from Murray McMurrays. They arrived at the post office on a Sunday and the PO is closed on Sundays. A P.O worker called me and said she stopped by to pick something up and heard the crying, and that she would wait for me to pick them up if I wanted. I did pick them up. The Americaunas started dying right off the bat. In 2 days I lost 5. The RIR's looked fine. I sent photos and called McMurrays right away and was told I had a credit for the dead birds. Weeks after their arrival I noticed one of the pullets had a leg that was turned sideways from the hip. I didn't know what that was from then, and still don't. Now, I made another purchase of 25 RIR's from them, and they were delivered in November 2007. There was no record of the last dead birds from the first order, but she took my word for it and gave me the credit. ( I still had the pics on a floppy) Upon opening the box I found a smashed chick on the bottom of the box. The rest were fine. Then weeks later I notice the same thing again, I have 2 pullets with a leg turned sideways from the hip and they're crippled like the first one from the first order. What is this? Something genetically wrong with their RIR stock? The eggs from my first batch of March 2007 pullets are mixed colors. Some of the browns are dark and gorgeous, and some are so light they're almost white! I get lot's of deformed eggs also with wrinkles and knots on them! Well, I just ordered new breeding stock from Ideal Poultry and will be culling the McMurray birds once these new ones come into lay. I wasted a whole year raising inferior stock, and now I have to wait another year to get large NORMAL eggs! I should mention that I'd also purchased 50 birds from Marti Poultry the same month in 2007, and they all grew up fine. Marti's just didn't send my white egg layers!

Ordered 25 cuckoo maran day-old str run last May. All lived. 13 hens turned out to be beautiful top quality and high producers. The cockerels were delicious. Am reordering 50 for this coming Feb 11th

Hello, I have been ordering chickens from murray mcmurray for the past 5 years.. I ordered chickens this year and my order was outrageous for 25 chicks it was going to cost me 68.00 . I also ordered 15 turkeys last year that cost me over 150.00 I only have three left which is going to set me back a year in my buisness. (I couldn't afford to order 15 more so they credit my account which I praised. However, I was discouraged with the disease and loss they all developed after having them 3 days fat faces and all

Murray McMurray has been a great company for me to get my birds, I have ordered from them 5 or 6 times. They have been very helpful with my phone orders, offering suggestions when perhaps my first-choice chick was not available at the shipping date I preferred. Although I order only 25-30 chicks at a time, they have always added 2-3 'extras' which have always been of one of the breed types I wanted. Out of the 150 some pullet chicks I have ordered from them, very few, perhaps only one or two, have turned out to be roosters. So their accuracy is also excellent!

The shipping date for me has never been a problem but I have been very, very careful when choosing that date, as well as telling my post office that they were coming and which day to expect them. I also made sure the P.O. had my phone number, which is just common sense.

I have dealt with Murray McMurray for over 40 years and have had only the best to say about them. Over the years I've had the occasional loss and told them about it and they kept a record of it and recopensed me the following year (Or years, since I order every other year or so. One time a foolish postal worker left a bunch of peeping chicks on a loading dock, outside, in Alaska and they all died, of course. I contacted MM and they sent me the same order, right away, apologized for something out of their control and all lived. I think the negatives are the exception and I know that MM contracts with different breeders and sometimes they, like everyone, else has bad experiences, but cut off relations with those breeders and go on. I have been treated with the utmost consideration and would recommed them as A1+
Carol Eads in Seward, Alaska

Ordered 50 chicks. 15 were dead on arrival. This may have been from the post office, but even if it was McMurray hatchery didn't respond very well. I had to send two emails and no one ever contacted me back. They did credit my account, but wouldn't it be a good idea to send an email to the customer? I won't order from them again. I like ideal hatchery much more. They have great customer service and chicks arrived very healthy and active.

I ordered 25 araucana chicks. They shipped on Wednesday 10/3/07 and were at my local Post Office in Deep South Georgia by 7:30 a.m. Thursday.10/4/07 All were healthy and ready for something to eat. Great job by McMurray!

I can't complain about McMurray- we've ordered the All Heavies deal pretty much every spring for the past 5 years or so to fill the freezer in the summer. It's a bargain that can't be beat, imo. And I have yet to see one of their birds with genetic or congenital defect. The only other option for us in terms of buying local chicks are cornish cross and I think that's an absurd, cruelly created breed. We're in Maine and always receive McMurray chicks in a timely fashion. Only once over a holiday weekend were they a day late. I anticipate a 10% mortality rate with mail order chicks no matter what company we order from- and that's typically what we experience. Usually one or two chicks are DOA and a couple die within a day or two. I additionally hatch my own chicks and very rarely lose one. If i do, it's always due to a congenital defect. Hatching chicks is a tricky, time consuming, expensive endeavor. It takes 21 days to hatch an egg- 21 days of checking humidity levels, temps, worrying in a power outage, candeling, and etc. But one needs to consider that sexing, immunizing, sorting, and mailing a chick is a bit more traumatic on it than just putting it directly in a brooder after it hatches. I think this is something many folks don't consider when getting chicks through mail order, which is obviously the more convenient, cost effective way to obtain poultry. The price for this convenience is seeing a few checks dead or dying. I'm glad hatcheries like McMurray exist as they keep many heritage and special breeds going strong.

I HAVE BEEN USING THIS HATCHERY FOR 28 YEARS. ALL MY BOYS SHOWED THEIR CHICKENS, ONE FIRST PLACES. FOR A FEW YEARS AFTER THEY GREW UP I STOPPED RAISING CHICKENS. NOW I HAVE ADOPTED A BOY AND ORDERED HIM CHICKENS. ALL LIVED, AND IM VERY HAPPY WITH THE ORDER I GOT BACK THE FIRST OF THE YEAR. NOW ALL ARE LAYING, HE ENJOYS GETTING ALL THE EGGS AND SELLING THEM. HE SHOWED AT THE COUNTY FAIR AND WON!!! NEVER A PROBLEM WITH SHIPPING. NEVER A DEAD ONE! I WILL ALWAYS USE MURRAY MCMURRAY AND SO WILL MY CHILDREN.

I have had only positive experiences with McMurray hatchery. I recieved 50 chicks on July 1st. Which is a Sunday. The chicks were hatched the day before at McMurray and sent out immediately. The Postal service Distribution office called me on Sunday and I drove 1 1/2 hrs to pick them up. Each time I order chicks, I contact the post office/distribution center and ask them to call me immediately so I can pick them up asap. This way they get food, water, more space and heat sooner than waiting for them to be shipped to my local post office the following day. I follow McMurrays instructions exactly and I have a great survival rate. I have been extremely pleased with the advice and service I have been given whenever I call them. They are excellent when it comes to replacing miss-sexed chicks. I even had some bantams shipped with this order (risky I know) they gave me an extra bantam of each (which was very nice since I was not charged). They are doing great!! I have 2 heat lamp stations set up to make sure no "pig piles" occur. Overall good quality chicks. Maybe some of the problems people experience is due to the postal service in their area. I live in western Washington State, which seems to be great. People love my eggs. I can sell my eggs for more than anyone else in my area. (.75 more a dozen) and I can't keep up. Thank-You McMurray hatchery!!!

We ordered 25 day old chicks. These birds were shipped on a Saturday (standard practice from Mcmurray despite postal regulations prohibiting animal shipments that may arrive on a Sunday). We waited, Monday- Tuesday, Wednesday - we called Mucmurray repeatedly, they assured us the birds were on their way but because they only ship priority (not express) there was no way for the USPS to track the shipment. Finally, Thursday afternoon (6 days in transit!)we got a call from the Post Office. There were a few birds still alive, the rest were dead and maggots were crawling around on them. We did our best to save the live birds but over a few days my 10 yr old was treated to the sight of the chicks he had dreamed about die one by one. We contacted McMurray and they sent a replacement batch of chicks. I begged them to send them express, at my cost- no dice. However they did insure this bunch (I guess that way if these died the Post Office pays the full retail value and Mcmurray doesn't lose $- tough luck for the chicks but hey that's business). We got the second order Tuesday afternoon - (4 days in transit) one dead already and a few more in the afternoon.
As I understand it Mcmurray hatchery has been around since 1919 and employs about 75 people. I'm sure that most of these people are decent hardworking folks, but in my opinion the company is making decisions that result in very inhumane treatment of their animals. I will never buy from this company again - and wether you want broilers or pets I would strongly encourage that you avoid purchasing live animals from Mcmurray.

I ordered 30 pheasants from McMurray. When I received them they were extremely small and frail. After 5 days I had only 13 of the 30 left. I called them and they agreed to send me 15 replacements, but I had to pay for another 15 since thier minmum order was 30 chicks. I reluctantly decided to do so, and the second shipment was even worse. 2 dead at the post office, and 13 dead in the first four days. I will never order from them again. I have since purchased some pheasant chicks locally, and have not lost a single chick.

Beware: even if you paid them it doesn't mean you are going to get it!

I have placed an order for Ornamental Pheasant Chicks with the hatchery more than six months ago. We have spent all this time preparing: building a coop, aviary, setting up automatic waterers, feeders, etc. The delivery during the week of May 29 ,2007 as we expect never happens. We start calling the company around May 31 and spent the next seven days calling. And they spend these days saying that one day old chicks are still en-route to our home. (Imagine us, adults, frustrated) Finally, we get a hold of the manager, 'Brad', who says the chicks were lost (imagine our kids crying) and promised that the chicks would be shipped the next day, that is Wednesday June 6. Indeed the chicks arrive to our local post-office on June 8. Four or five dead on arrival (again, imagine my kids crying). The chicks were so tiny, they must have been an hour old when they got into the US Postal Service box! The following two days are an agony: they just keep dying unable to eat, drink or even get under the heat lamps - they are just too weak. (At this point, the kids have no tears left, and adults are dramatically moved by what happened) By June 11 we have half an order dead with 13 chicks doing O.K. We get on the phone with the hatchery explaining that 50% of the order is dead and asking for replacement. Alas, the lady on the other end of the line, Marilyn, does not want to consider anything but credit. We explain the waiting, the thousands of dollars we spent on proper facilities, the aggravation, and the willingness to pay extra for an overnight delivery - nothing works. At the end, we are getting a credit for half the order, but no satisfaction. Now, how does this $100 credit can make us happy after having spent six months waiting and almost two weeks horrifies? What's mostly upsetting is that the Hatchery had absolutely no feelings of compassion or remorse. They felt sorry for teh chicks, but didn't even once apologize to us.

I ordered 20+ Top Hat special, 15 were egg yolks when we cracked them open on the 26th day I thought that was long enough in the incubator. 2 others were dead, the ones that did hatch on the 21st. day were crippled they flopped around on their wings, their legs were turned in so bad, all they did was fall on their face.When I called McMurray Hatchery, the woman told me it was my fault and they don't guarantt the eggs, a bad hatch was my fault because of humidity. and it also stated that in the catalog. I ordered from McMurray because all I saw was [ satisfaction guaranteed } BUT they will give me half of my money back which comes to $24.00....I will never buy from them AGAIN, I would like to add that we have been raising chickens for five years and I never had a crippled chick..I never want to see that again...

I ordered mallards, cayugas, pekins, and hybrid ducks from Murray Mcmurray hatchery. The minimum order is 10, so that is what I ordered the first shipment. The package came priority instead of express, which had taken two days to reach me. I live in St. Louis by the way. Four of the ten ducks were dead upon arrival, and three more died within 20 minutes after receiving the ducks. They died in my hands. I was so upset that I started to cry. I felt helpless as to why these ducks were dying. I have raised ducks in the past and have never seen this type of death. Anyway, I took pictures of the dead baby ducks and sent them to Murray Mcmurray. I also called them to explain what had happened. They asked me if I wanted a refund or another shipment. I was hesitant, but I said "another shipment" (big mistake). I received the last shipment 2 weeks later. They only shipped 8 ducks. I thought the minimum order to keep ducks warm was 10 ducks according to the Murray catalog. Three ducks died out of the 8 ducks sent in the last shipment. When the ducks reached the post office the package didn't state "live animals", had the wrong contact phone number, and was shipped priority mail again. The post office manager was very angry when I picked up the ducks from the post office. He told me that this is very unusual, and that this hatchery "dropped the ball", and "they should not be sending live animals priority mail". My family has ordered from Murray twice before and had received dead bantams and chicks, in which they received a credit. I will only buy from local hatcheries from now on, never lost one yet when buying locally. ;)

I've ordered chicks from this company 10 times within the last 8-9 years and actually, I've only lost 1 chick out of the 25-40 I ordered each time. There was the occasional "mis-sexed" bird but there was always at least a 95% accuracy on that as well. I always informed the post office of my order arriving ahead of time and picked up the chicks as soon as they arrived and I always order when the weather is almost guaranteed to be at least temperate (I live in the Northeast) so that cold temps didn't play havoc on my chicks. I'm pleased with this company and plan to order again shortly. Raising poultry is always a tricky buisness with plenty of things that can go wrong, but my own experience with this hatchery has been nothing but positive.

that's nothing.
we ordered some ducklings just a few weeks ago and they all looked great and healthy and vigorous for a few days, until a duckling went lame. it couldn't walk, it's legs were like noodles, completely helpless. obviously, if it can't move around, it can't eat or drink and finally death. i was heartbroken and completely clueless, a sweet wonderful innocent little life. then a second and third go lame just 2 days later, then a 4th. the second and third die, two more are lame days later, the 4th one dies, but 2 more go down lame, then a 5th which dies just hours after going lame. so here we are 5 dead ducklings and 4 more that may never recover but are still hanging in thee out of an order of 30. mcmuray ducklings are a poor, poor, choice to order. in fact, NOBODY SHOULD EVER EVER EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM MURRAY EVER EVER EVER AGAIN!!!!!! WE ARE SHOCKED AND FURIOUS OVER GENETICALLY INFERIOR STOCK, GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT YOU MAY BE ORDERING THAT ISN'T AS OVERT AS LAME DUCKLINGS THAT CAN'T EVEN STAND. GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT ELSE THEY BREED THAT'S OBVIOUSLY AS INFERIOR. NEXT TIME YOU THINK ABOUT WASTING YOUR MONEY WITH MURRAY, THINK ABOUT HELPLESS DUCKLINGS STARVING TO DEATH BECAUSE THEIR GENETICS BLESS THEM WITH NOODLES FOR LEGS. I HOPE THIS KIND OF KARMA GOES BACK TO FIND ANY OR ALL OF THEIR EMPLOYEES. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY WITH THIS COMPANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have had only positive experiences with Murray McMurray. We live in a very remote area, where the last leg of shipping is a long drive in an unheated cargo truck. In addition, we experienced an unseasonal and rather severe cold snap during the time they were shipped, but all of the chicks still arrived alive and doing okay. I suspect those that received dead chicks had something go wrong during shipping that was not the fault of the hatchery. Who knows what happens to the chicks during shipping?

If you are well prepared and carefully follow the instructions in the Murray McMurray catalog (and other books on raising chickens) and start your chicks out properly, I believe you'll have excellent results with chicks from this hatchery.

Our chicks are absolutely thriving. They are the breeds and genders that we ordered. The hatchery promises 95% accuracy in sexing, and we have found this to be about right. Sexing chicks is not easy, nor is it foolproof.

I also have had nothing but THE VERY BEST customer service whenever I have called the hatchery.

I don't know what happened to the other folks who reported less-than-happy experiences, but we have been absolutely thrilled with our experience with Murray McMurray, and with their chicks. We recommend Murray McMurray without reservation!

I ORDERED 25 BIRDS FROM THIS COMPANY, I LOST 8 OF THEM IN THE FISRT 24 HOURS, HOWEVER I DID GOT CREDIT FOR ALL OF THEM, HOWEVER I DID NOT ENJOY GETTING SOME BIRDS THAT WAS NOT WHAT I ORDERED I GOT 5 RHODE ISLAND RED BANTAN .......I ORDERED 2 DARK CORNISH I GOT ONLY ONE.....I ORDERED 5 AMERICANAS, I GOT 6.....NOT HAPPY AT ALL..........

Twice I've ordered from this company. Both times the chicks arrived healthy and did extremely well. I'm a novice at this so such a good survival rate is amazing. From my original batch i have two hens and a rooster that are 3 years old, and from my last batch i have one hen and rooster, all beautiful and well, we have a huge predator problem on my farm. the key to getting the chicks healthy is to inform the post office you are about to get a shipment and to go immediately to pick them up. the last order i made included a specialty order for hens and one rooster, and thats exactly what i received.

I received my first order of chicks from Murray McMurray on Feb 5. It was bitterly cold here in VA as I am sure it was in Iowa. One third of the chicks died within 48 hours or were dead upon arrival. I figured it was the frigid temperatures. I received my next order of chicks on March 13 when temperatures were still cold but at least 40 degrees warmer than Feb. I lost half within the first 24 hours. I feel this is unacceptable. The person I spoke with at Murray McMurray both times seemed unconcerned. Are these percentages of dead normal?

Last spring I ordered 25 birds thinking I'd loose some right away. Every one lived and I've never had a health problem with the birds. I ordered the meat/egg package. The meat birds ate well and I had 10 birds left - nine of them were hens - or I had birds laying more than one egg a day!
I was very pleased.

My grandfather was a customer in the twenties and thirties and I bought my first chicks from Murray McMurray in 1943 and have dealt with them many times over the years, most recently in spring 2006. I have never received anything other than the utmost courtesy and cooperation from their personnel. They guarantee 90% accuracy on sexing and several times I have received credit for too many cockerals. They guarantee 100% live delivery and this is very important to me since I live in a remote, isolated area. Three times in the past the Post Office has misdirected the chicks, they have arrived a day late and mostly dead. McMurray always makes this right by repeating the order immediately. Last spring an order of fifty chicks arrived late with only twelve alive. They repeated the order, it came on time, and all the chicks lived. With one exception (a batch of Runner ducks that were not all runners) I have always found their poultry to be true to breed; not always show quality but always the breed ordered. I am satisfied and pleased with this company and I plan to order again in 2007.

We have ordered a couple of times, and have been happy with the health and quality of the chicks, but we did get some birds that didn't seem to be the breed we ordered. We bought straight run, so I can't speak to the sexing of the chicks.

First of all- I am an experienced poultry breeder with over 30 years of raising poultry of all kinds. I ordered 25 cornish cross from McMurray, 1 week from butchering I have 4 left alive. I have never in my years of breeding, ever experienced this level of mortality, EVER! I emailed McMurray with an explaination and inquiry about 6 weeks ago and at that time, was sent a form email stating pretty much that they didn't have time for me.
I have since ordered 50 cornish cross from Marti Poultry Farm and 2 weeks into their growth, raised the exact same way, not a single one one has died. Marti is my normal hatchery, but I decided to try McMurray's cornish cross. To McMurray's credit, I must say, I ordered 25 Dark Cornish chicks this spring from them and all of them survived and are doing well. The good experience with those birds prompted me to try their cornish cross.
In closing;
I am not recommending readers not patronize McMurray, but
I will not patronize McMurray in the future for two reasons, the horrible die off of my birds and their response to my inquiry.

I ordered 25 pullets + 1 free "exotic" breed chick. They all arrived healty and hungary!! However, of the 26 chicks, 6 of them turned out to be roosters (including the "exotic" breed). I am very dissapointed with that average. I wish to order more chicks, but I'm not sure if it will be from McMurrary.

McMurray's has a wonderful selection of rare breeds and a sexed choice in many of them. I love their website it's very informative and colorful. The user reviews of the chicken breeds are great. I haven't ordered their chicks, but I am rating them neutral at the moment, because I called them to ask a simple question about how they ship and the lady whom answered the phone was very rude to me. Others have had good experience there with the customer service. I will probably end up ordering from them anyway this spring as they're the only hatchery I've found who sells Blue laced Red Wyandottes and sexed Lakenvelders.

Have heard many good things about this hatchery, and my experience has now confirmed them for me. We ordered 25 chicks to share with another family. All are absolutely thriving.

You can cancel almost last minute with no penalty.

I ordered my first set of Chicks from McMurray in early March of 2006. We were so pleased with them, that I decided to order another batch of the more "exotic" breeds for delivery a month later.

I lost two from the first order, one was doa from the second order, but, that is to be expected, the rest of them, however, are happy, healthy, growing like crazy and chatting up a storm.

I HIGHLY recommend this company if you're looking to get chicks!!

When I was a sophmore in high school (I graduated in 1980) my brothers and I ordered chicks from McMurray Hatchery. We ordered 50 each of two breeds. We did not lose a single chick then and now that my son is sixteen years old and wanted to raise his own chickens, I turned to McMurray again. This time we ordered 40 total of two different breeds. Once again we did not lose a single chick. McMurray provides healthy poultry, a great support system, and back up their products 100%. I guess you can now say that two generations of my family have been 100 percent satisfied with McMurray. (We now also have two generations of 4-H Blue Ribbon Poultry winners from the chicks we received from McMurray).

I ordered 28 chicks of various breeds last spring from this hatchery. Overall, I am very pleased with their birds. Everyone of them arrived alive and in good health, and everyone of them survived to adulthood. In fact, three of my kids took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place over the summer at the 4-H fair. My oldest daughter won best in show for her Egyptian Faymois. My only complaint, if you want to call it that, is that 8 of them turned out to be roosters. Overall a very positive experience. When the time comes to buy more birds, I will get them here.