Comments regarding Meyer Hatchery

I ordered from Meyer based on chick availability, I wanted them in early Jan 2012. I received a shipping notification on email, and my chicks arrived just over 24 hours after the email. I have ordered from several different hatcheries and must say Meyer is only the 2nd hatchery that ALL of my chicks arrived live and well. They are vibrant, and just waiting to see how they grow. Other hatcheries (which I won't name) I've ordered from and the last 2 years and a late February delivery produced bad luck. Each time when the box was opened it looked like a mass grave. Not with Meyer, and so far I'm 100% satisfied. Thank you Meyer and I will look forward to my next order real soon.

almost 2 years ago i ordered 25 chicks, 13 buff orpingtons (1 rooster and 11pullets) and 12 dominique (1 rooster and 10 pullets) ana received 1 extra. lost only 2 within 2 weeks the rest survived now i only have 7 buff orpington hens,1 buff orpington rooster and 3 dominique hens, the others have been killed by my son's dog. i am getting anywhere from 8 to 10 eggs a day from my hens in october one hen set on 6 eggs and 5 hatched they are about six weeks old. ihave planned to order more from meyer hatchery this coming year probably another 25 or so from them again.

Posted on November 13, 2011, updated November 19, 2011
we ordered from Meyer Hatchery,,25 pullets & 2 male orpingtons, recieved them just fine, when we got them home we realized one was going to die, in 48 hours we lost 4 or 5, & we have continued to loose chicks up to now.
we have raised chickens for 10 years, & also hatched our own chicks from the flock we had.
we wanted to introduce new blood line, but not sure that will happen, we have 6 chicks left.
not sure at this time if any will survive. we have 3 or 4 that can stand up & walk.
we will not buy from the meyer hatchery again.

Got my 28 chicks alittle over a week ago and I have mix feelings about Meyer's, (first time ordering from them). I love the fact that you can have small orders, not that I care cause I usally buy 20+ chicks per order, but it's nice if you want a random breed that your not sure about and try it out. Anyways, my 28 chicks arrived pretty healthy when I opened the box. After around 2 days old many had pasty butt, I used high protein chick stater for them, the pasty butt wasnt really an issue. After day 3, I see one of my chicks was smaller then others and was weak, 2 days later she dies. Then a day later I see another chick weak/sick then she dies 2 days later. So far the rest look strong and healthy and hoping no more will die... I expected Meyer's to be the best hatchery but I'm 2nd guessing that.. Not saying there bad, but it just seems after the 48 hour guarantee from Meyers, that's when the chicks start to die and you can't do anything about it....

Posted on May 26, 2011, updated May 27, 2011
Hi everyone!

This is my 1st post so I'm not sure if I'm doing this right, but I want to give it a try !

I'm also new to the World of Chickendom , but I think I'm doing great as far as taking care of my Babies.

Here's the deal.

I orderderd from other hatcheries and haven't had Any fatalities , however , about 1 month ago, I ordered 1 Salmon Favorelle Rooster and 1 SF hen along with 2 Partridge Cochin hens from Meyer Hatchery.

2 weeks ago, they sent me my Tracking number.

I live in Upper Michigan and they were coming from Ohio
I tracked the shipment and on the 1st day, I saw that my babies travelled from their hatchery , to Detroit ( which was perfect because the next stop would be home at my post office ) , BUT then BACK to their hatchery!!

The hatchery said " we dont know Why that happened , but maybe you'll get them in a day or 2 more "!!!

1 1/2 days later at the post office, I opened the box and the first thing I was greeted with was a SF with SPRADDLE LEGS who never opened his/ her eyes !

ALL of the babies had Pasty Butt , however I caught that in time , cured the remaining Cochin , but I Battled it for Several days with my SF until I learned that maybe lowering the brooder heat and offering Plain Greek Yogurt, might help.

Greek because of the higher protein in it.

Got them home and IMMEDIATELY called them to report it .

I put a Bandaid around the baby's legs , but the poor thing was NEVER able to stand and open eyes and he/she didn't make it thru the night ALONG with a SUDDEN loss of a Cochin !

They did honor their 48 hr guarantee for in store credit or money back on my card but since I will NEVER order from them again, why order more babies just to have them sent Again in Horribly poor packaging ( too much room in box and just 1 hole for breathing )!

Being new to the World of Chickens, I have further discovered, that my surviving " Cochin" is actually a Partridge Rock, and a Roo at that ..

I have lost a total of 2 Hens of the 4.

Also, you will read on their website, that they send " 20 percent more chicks with order in case of fatalities "..

I did NOT receive my 20 per cent , and when I mentioned that to them, they THEN, informed me that " they only do that IF they have extras"..

Now, I totally understand that, however, maybe they should ADD that statement right after the original ..I dont know, maybe its me, but that makes sense.

So, needless to say, I WILL NOT use Meyer Hatchery again.

Great experience! Ordered email special which shipped within hours of placing the order online. Ordered 100 and received 104 healthy and vibrant chicks.

we had ordered a varity of chickens, they shipped them out monday they ened up an hour away but the post office was nice to call so we got them a day earliar rather then us waiting for them to come to the postal service near me. they shipped us 4 extra and one mystery bird. out of 105 chicks only one was dead. they all seem healthy and a couple of chicks have cones on their head which are very cute. i would order from them again i was very pleased with what i got. thank you

So far, So good. I had a horrible expierence with MurrayMcMurray Hatchery so I placed a order with Meyer. ordered 17 chicks. All my chicks arrived safe and sound. Not one loss. 3 days later, no losses. They all seem healthy and happy. Every order from the other hatchery I lost at least HALF of my baby chicks. I will make any edits to this over the next few weeks if I lose any more but as of right now, I am very satisfied. They were very nice and helpful over the phone as well. Another great thing? You dont have to order 25 chicks and they place a heating pad in the shipping box which I think made a world of differene. They have no pasty bottoms either, Other hatchery....All had pasty bottoms. They were very reasonably priced and I received a lot of help and guidence over the phone when placing my order. This will be my go to online hatchery from now on.

I have ordered from this hatchery for several years now. I have always been very satisfied with their service and quality. My latest order included 25+1 of their best brown egg layers, all pullets. They arrived a day earlier than I expected, all lively, all healthy. I appreciate affordable poultry, which they definitely provide. I certainly would not hesitate to order from this company, and would recommend them to others.

The phone staff was extremely friendly when I placed my order. My 9 chicks were born November 8 (and 9) 2010. When they did not arrive at the post office on the 9th I called. They said that there were a few late bloomers, and now they were ready to go. At the post office on the 10th there were 3 people in front of me in line. They were all looking around for the source on that peeping noise. The Araucana peeped non-stop until I got the box home. Four weeks later all the chicks are happy and healthy. I highly recommend Meyer Hatchery. They have a great selection and you can order as few as 3 chicks.

Posted on October 28, 2010, updated November 22, 2010
ordered 12 black jersey giants, hatched 3AM Oct. 25. had them vac. and picked them up at 3 PM Oct. 25. home at 4 PM, 110 mi round trip. several started eating immediately. by AM Oct 26. all eating and drinking. All going strong today, Oct 28, doubled in size. They will chase a string like a cat!!! very active, unless asleep, even try to catch flies. I can not imagine what else Meyer could do, staff was friendly, etc. I wonder if the people reporting problems received them in the mail. believe me, I am one of the first to bitch if there is a problem, sure do not see one here. Centerburg, Ohio

I have ordered from Meyer on numerous occasions over the last 3-4 years. I have ordered over 100 chicks (some small orders), and some ducklings from this supplier of poultry and supplies. I have nothing but good things to say about this company that not only saved me alot of money but delivered my chicks and ducklings in excellent condition. The ducklings order was 12, 6 males and 6 females. All are alive and well in the pond and they are beautiful rouens. I have raised Meyer broilers, laying hens (black austrolorps, blackstars, buffs, barred rocks, white leghorns, wyandottes), and ducklings and ordered supplies also. Their prices are very reasonable and my son showed 3 of the laying chickens at the state fair and won 3 ribbons. When ordering chicks, take into account the weather they will be arriving in and have sugar water ready for them (warm if necessary), plenty of food (place a shiny coin in the feed), a draft free place to put them and plenty of warmth from a brooder light. We will be ordering from Meyer again soon as I am a very satisfied customer.

My first experience was early spring, 2010. I called re. an advertised special, and they denied the order- and not too friendly about doing so- said I was past the deadline, by my clock I still had another day.

In early June 2010 I called re. the same advertised special- 25 chicks for $25. The order was successfully placed- with $21 added for shipping.

That order arrived 100% fatality. I did not blame the hatchery- I blamed the USPS... $21 shipping???

Meyer did send 25 replacement chicks- 24 arrived alive.... within 24 hours 1 more died (I did call hatchery- and they wanted to give me credit... since I won't be ordering from them again, that will be useless). Within 48 hours another 2 had died.

Now the chicks are fairly feathered- 2 have beak deformities, others have had continual deaths classified as "failure to thrive". All have a rather ratty look about them. At present, out of 25, there are 10 remaining.... 7 weeks old.

I've raised chickens for 45 years. I've never had this poor experience before. Prior to this, I've only had maybe 1 or 2 deaths per year.... until the chickens are aged.

I have another batch from another hatchery alongside- they are thriving. 100% success with the other batch.

The two emails I've sent have not been responded to.

Simply put- I'm done with this hatchery- this has been my only business transaction with them.

Ordered 25 pullets for week of 6/28/10. I called Saturday 6/26 wanting to switch my order, but the breeds I was wanting were not available. They told me to call back Monday morning, 6/28, to see if there any extra chicks that hatched that day of the breeds I wanted and I could switch. I called at 10am, 1 hr after they opened, to see if I could change my order. They told me it would be impossible to find my order since it was already sent out to be filled. I recieved a call on tuesday 6/29 saying that the 6 australorps I ordered did not hatch and they were replacing them with columbian wyndottes, which I already orderd 3. The australorps were for a young family not far from my house. They raise chickens to cut grocery costs and their flock is getting old and production was way down this year. For me, it would have been more acceptable to give me sex links or R.I Reds that have a higher production than a Wyndotte.

The chicks did arrive all alive. 1 died of crusty butt at 72 hrs, which I do not blame Meyer. I think Meyer needs to ask the customer what type chickens they would want to replace if they could not fulfill the order or ask the customer if they are willing to wait the next week to properly fill the order. I would have been willing to wait a couple of weeks.

I'm wanting to order several different chicken breeds and Meyer Hatchery appears to be the only source for small batches of the breeds I want. I was concerned after reading feedback here so I considered giving them a call anyway but looked them up with the Better Business Bureau first and I'm glad I did. Better Business Bureau says they're aka "Falling Star Farms" and ranks them as an F. I'd rather do without than be frustrated and regretful.
//www.akron.bbb.org/newsearch2.asp?ComID=027200131819700

Ordered chickens back in April. Policy states that all orders ship with up to 4% more polutry...BUT THATS ONLY IF THEY HAVE THEM IN STOCK! Ordered Turkeys in June. Order was to ship on June 7 and receive them the next day...called June 8 order shipped on that day. Turkey's will arrive anywhere from June 9 - 11! How do they expect newbornes to surrive THAT LONG????? Meyer hatchery WILL NOT CANCEL ORDER! Company DOES NOT CARE ABOUT CUSTOMERS OR LIVESTOCK! ALL THEY WANT IS YOUR MONEY! POLICYS CHANGE DAILY AND THEY DO NOT TELL THE TRUTH WHEN YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER. YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE YOUR ORDER ON TIME!!!

I ordered 25 chicks from Meyers. Upon arrival 5 were dead and then another 6 died within 48hr. I called and told them they had too much room in the box and that it only had 1/2 of the holes punched out - they suffocated and were trampled. They sent out a replacement shipment which I received this morning. Out of the 11 shipped, only 3 were alive and one does not look like it is going to make it. I called and talked with Cindy. I asked to speak to a supervisor (this is almost 9am) and she said there were none there. She said that she was told she could handle it. I asked for an owner's name and extension. She gave me Ben. He is not an owner. He is a line supervisor. This replacement shipment had only 2 holes punched out on one side and 5 holes on top. The chicks suffocated. It was over 90 degrees yesterday and approaching that today.

Ben had every excuse in the book. He said that they had shipped them correctly. I had ordered from other places in the with virtually no loss of chicks. Do not order from them. The chicks suffocated in transit. A total of 7 air holes is not sufficient to keep them alive for 2 days in 90+ weather.

There were other chicks at the post office this morning from other hatcheries and they were just fine!
I live in NH.

Do not do business with this company. They do not care about the customer, they are simply greedy individuals.

I picked up my chick order on 3/15. They were all healthy and Meyer even included extra chicks which was a surprise since they weren't shipped. All are doing great. Staff was helpful and friendly, their store was well stocked with supplies, reasonably priced. Will absolutely order from them again!

This was my second year ordering from Meyer Hatchery. In 2008 I ordered about 25 chicks. I had quite a few dead on arrival and I went through the process of getting replacements sent out. The process was over all time consuming and by the end of last year ALL the chicks I had ordered had died, including the replacements. We had during that time also purchased a number of chicks by a variety of means and from a number of different locations. I try never to judge based on one experience, BUT.... forgetting that all of last years stock died, I was once again lured in by the catalog that was sent to me and the prices listed for the different breeds. I made an order of 33 chicks the second week of February. The first available ship date was expected to be on March 16th. I also noticed that my Visa was charged that very same day and not on the 16th of March as I had been told on the phone.
I was waiting at the post office the morning of the 18th and was very surprised that my chicks were not there. I called and was told that they had in fact shipped a day late. Well that was Okay as long as they were not in transit. It would have been nice to get a phone call or an email but I guess they assume that we would just wait for the postmaster to call to know our chicks are ready for pick up.
On Thursday morning I went to the post office to claim my chicks that I had been waiting a month for. When I arrived home I discovered 6 dead chicks in the box. They had sent ONE extra.
I also discovered that the chicks were all different ages. We hatched over 200 eggs last year that we purchased off eggbid.com and I would have to say that I know at least enough to know that we were talking about a week difference or more in the ages. The first day was rough and we lost 5 more through out the day. The next day I was gathering my documents to call Meyer when my husband brought in 2 more dead chicks and asked that I wait a little longer to see what our total number of dead was at the 48 hours. Since the 48 hours landed on a Saturday I expected to call on Monday after calling and receiving a machine.
By Monday morning we had a total of 17 dead chicks!
I called customer service and was told that I would get no refund, credit or anything since they only allow a 48 hour window to claim.
I actually understand that but I could not get through to anyone on SATURDAY to make my claim. I decided not to fight it. Of our remaining chicks we have three that have pasty butts and two we are watching closely. I will not be ordering from Meyer again and in fact I did call again to ask to be taken off the mailing list.
Instead I have found a really good hatchery with even better prices and a great reputation- Cackle Hatchery. I will be ordering all my "replacement" chicks from them.

I am sorry Meyer but you failed me twice!

I’m very pleased with my experience with Meyer Hatchery. I only wanted a few female chicks, not 25, so I tried Meyer’s small order program. I ordered 2 Barred Rocks, 1 Rhode Island Red, and 1 Black Star. There was a minor issue at first. I requested a 2 Sep 08 delivery date, but when the chicks didn’t show up by 4 Sep I called to find out where the chicks were. The Customer Service person was very nice and apologized. She said they didn’t know what happened, but the chicks didn’t ship. She reentered the order to be delivered on 9 Sep. Sure enough the chicks showed up on the 9th. I was impressed with the packaging. The box was very sturdy and lined with soft material with a little heat pack. All 4 chicks are very healthy and full of energy. I would buy from them again because they have this option for people that can only accommodate a small number of chickens.

I have ordered for many years from Murray McMurray and been very pleased with their birds and their service. This year I decided to place a second poultry order and McM was sold out so I decide to try Meyer. I live in Canada and require health papers. I also have to pick up in the US, which requires a 4 am wake up , a long drive, a ferry ride to Pt. Angeles, WA and then another ferry back and another drive home: all told about 15-18 hours. So it's a coordinated event to get birds. On the last day the Meyer order was supposed to arrive [they give you a 3 day window] (and the last day I had arranged to have someone work my shift for me at my job if necessary), someone called me from Meyer to say they had pushed my order to the next week because they didn't have all the birds I wanted. I had of course already paid for the birds and the health papers. But Meyer had forgotten to actually get the health papers so if the birds HAD been shipped, I wouldn't have been able to bring them into Canada. We went back and forth trying to find dates when I could get both the health papers and the birds I ordered and finally found one a month or so later. When the birds arrived they seemed quite lively except for a couple croakers in the box. There were another 3 dead by the time we were on the ferry. And another 6 or so by the time I got home. I have never had that many lost with McM. And I lost a fair amount more. I also had guinea fowl and they kept dying. And dying . And dying. Of the 72 guineas I ordered I have ended up with 42. I finally got someone at Meyer who admitted that they had a lot of trouble with the guineas this year- but , like the person above noted, they only guarantee for 48 hours and since I kept losing them for two weeks, I only got credit for a few of them. Of the other birds, some others have just died at 6-8 weeks for no apparent reason. Some of these I had already sold to other experienced chicken people and some were mine.

There also was another episode where they charged a friend's birds on my credit card on her say so, without ever checking with me. She paid me, but I don't think they should be charging on my credit card without my okay.
My comment is neutral because I will probably try Meyer once more next year. I know McM is very expensive, but for me , their service and birds have been great. With Meyer, I have lost a lot and the entire ordering was a mess.

I am a very satisfied customer. I ordered 100 Buff Orpington pullets and 12 Buff Orpington males. Meyer Hatchery delivered on the date as promised. ALL of my chicks arrived alive and healthy. They began to eat and drink as soon as I put them in the brooder. 5 hours later they were running around flapping their wings. They are 9 days old now and I still haven't lost a one of them. They are healthy, lively and very friendly little birds. BTW - I recieved 3 extra males and 4 extra females with my order.

I ordered from McMurray last year and ended up with chicks that I know are cross bred. After phone calls and e-mails and pictures sent. Still no response from them. I will NEVER order from McMurray again. I was not even asking them for a refund or anything. I just wanted to know what my chickens were a cross of or for them to say " hey, we are sorry our breeding stock stinks." Still no response. Not to mention how over priced the chicks they sell are. 100 buff orpington pullets from McMurray were $100 MORE than what I paid at Meyer.

So, I have found a new hatchery with Meyer Hatchery. I WILL order from them next time. VERY VERY Pleased with Meyer and they were very friendly and the chicks are wonderful. :)

We had always gotten our poultry from Murray McMurray in the past and been very satisfied, but this time we wanted only a few Toulouse geese rather than the minimum order of 10 that MMcM requires. Meyer had gotten good reviews as well as offering poultry in limited quantities. So we ordered eight Toulouse geese from them.

They arrived in the beginning of June and looked fine. However, a couple of weeks later one of them became sick and died, and then a second one. When the third began to fail we brought it in and after doing some research decided it was coccidiosis and fed it with chick starter, which contains the antibiotic Amprolium. It slowly recovered and is now back with the flock, but meanwhile another became weak. We treated that as well, and added Terramycin to the water for the others, and that one is also on the road to recovery. However, we have raised poultry for many years, have a flock of 50 or so healthy chickens, four healthy adult geese, and about fifteen geese that we put in the freezer last fall, all without the need for medication or other intervention.

When I called Meyer this morning the customer service woman was very polite but told us that they don't assume responsibility for losses beyond 48 hours. I can understand that, but in view of our long history with poultry I have to assume that the loss of goslings had to have something to do with the quality of their stock. Needless to say I won't order from them again.

I ordered 2 different breeds of chicks (26 total) on 3/25. I was told my Visa would be charged on the day of shipment, about a month later. On 4,14, the day they were to ship, I was informed that 1 of the breeds was going to be short 6 females (of the11 ordered). Customer service stated that they would have that particular breed available the next week. She then said if I wanted the 6 missing females shipped the next week, I would have to pay an additional 32.50 in shipping charges. I told her no way, and to just credit my Visa for the missing chicks and send the others. Approximately 30 minutes later after having time to apply a logical solution to the problem, I called Meyer Customer service to ask them to just hold my order until they could fill it correctly, even if it would take another month. You guessed it, no humans were available, had to leave a message. After waiting 2 hours, I called again. This time I pushed all the necessary buttons to get to a human. I explained the situation to Customer Service. She said that there should be no additional charges for shipping the extra chicks, since they were not able to fill my order. After checking on the order, she said holding my order until they were "all" available was not an option since my shorted order had already shipped. She then transfered me to another department, so that I could ask them to please send me the additional 6 female chick order, and recharge my Visa for the 6 females. You guessed it, had to leave another voice mail. After waiting another 2 hours, I called Meyer Customer Service again and explained the complete saga to yet another Customer Service person. She in turn placed me on hold while she consulted a manager. When she returned, she began by appoligizing for the information the manager had ask her to relay. According to her, the Manager said they would not ship the missing females without me paying additional shipping, as no chicks leave without shipping charges. If however I would place the order for the missing chicks, and pay the additional shipping, Meyer would give me free shipping on my next order. I explained to Customer Service that after having this experience, there would be no next order.
When the chicks arrived on 4/16, 2 of the shipped "shorted chicks" were dead, leaving me only 5 of the original 13 that I ordered. Upon opening the packing slip I discovered that my Visa had been charged on 3/25 for the full amount of the original order!! Still not wanting to believe the above saga incurred with ordering a few chicks, I went online and checked with Visa. You guessed it, to add insult to injury, no credit was issued for the shorted chicks, and my Visa was charged on the same day I placed the order, 3/25.
As you might assume, I am extremely disappointed with Meyer Hatchery, after I called several times, trying to resolve the problem. I can only conclude that their main concern is billing Visa's and not Customer Service. I can be contacted by email at .

I ordered 15 Buff Orpington(females), 4 Buff Orpington(Males) and 6 straight run silkies on March 17, 2008. I called the next day to add to the order but they process your order the day you place it(process your payment that day) so I couldn't add to this order. I received my chicks on the date they stated they would arrive(April 2) and all but one silkie was very lively. Unfortunately it passed. I called the hatchery and was told they packed an extra chick so we are even. My problem is there is a price difference between buff orp males/females and silkies; also when you order 19 of one type of chick and 6 of another, it makes a big difference when you lose one of the 6.
I give pos marks on friendliness of the customer service, ship as promised and for the most part healthy lively chicks.
I would like to see customers have the ability to change an order(add to it) before the chicks are shipped. And if a small order of one type of chick is placed and one of the chicks looks much smaller than the rest perhaps add another of that breed.

I ordered the "special small order" of 6 chicks with a heating pad, because I really couldn't afford to have all the extra roosters most hatcheries want to put in to keep a small order warm. Then I started worrying because they were due to travel across the country during very cold weather--To my relief they all arrived healthy and happy. The packaging was very effective at keeping them safe and warm. Customer service was excellent--even when the post office temporarily lost the chicks (they were left sitting on the back dock) and I was panicking--the customer service at Meyer stayed very calm, concerned and reassuring. They did put in an extra chick, in case of loss, and it is one of the same breeds I'd ordered, so I am very happy. I will definitely order from them again.

I had a very nice experience with this company. We are really enjoying our first time raising chickens and learning as we go. We have so many eggs that we have to sell them!

Despite our large order, they added a few extra chicks which pretty well guaranteed our success. We only lost one chick the first day so we came out ahead. Any other loss was our fault.

My only complaint is that the availability for certain breed pullets ran down quickly so we ordered mixes. We also ordered 6 straight run and only got 2 cockrels. We wanted the hens for eggs so 2 males in 50 something birds was perfect!

We received a large variety of hens and are very happy with them! Shipping was super fast and the birds arrived here on a Monday morning. We'll be ordering again!

I had excellent luck with these folks. They were very helpful and kind on the phone on two separate occasions. They have great customer service for worried people waiting for chicks.

My order came 100% alive, with extra chicks and all of the chicks were packaged very carefully. All chicks were as ordered and healthy. I ordered a variety of breeds.

My mother also ordered through them a month later ( June 07) and had the same good experience. Out of a total of 22 chicks ordered by the two of us, 1 was sexed incorrectly.

I would definitely use them again.