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I just received my first order of chicks this morning from Cackle Hatchery. Can I say how pleased I am? The chicks were very lively and were peeping like crazy. They all seem extremely healthy. Every one in the bunch survived the 2 day trip without problem. They are all eating and drinking and venting properly. I have not seen any problems with pasting up.
I ordered 5 Buff Orpington, 5 Cinnamon Queen, 10 Rhode Island Red, 5 Black Australorp and 5 Barred Rock (they sent 6 of these)--all pullets for eggs. There were also 15 Cornish Rock (they sent 16 of those). I was sent a reciept via mail with the shipping date, April 2nd. I actually thought this would be the delivery date, but it was the actual shipping date. I had to call about it since I was a first timer and didn't quite understand, but they were very gracious and patient.
I do wish they would have sent me a catalog! And I will definitely be ordering from this next year if my experience continues in this manner. I will try to update in the next couple months when the Cornish Rocks are invited to dinner and later, when the egg layers treat us to breakfast. :)
I ordered 25 Speckled Sussex straight run. Today I (4/4/08) I receieved 26 straight run chicks Speckled Sussex.. All healthy and no problems in shipping here to Michigan. Overall I am generally pleased with this order. I will be ordering from them again.
I will never order from Cackle hatchery again. Last year I ordered a batch of 25 pullets and what I received was far from that.
I ordered a mixed batch of pullets and got what looked like their top hat special which consisted of mainly Sultan cockerels and mixed Polish.
They actually had the nerve to tell me they were going to charge me more when I called and told them what I had received because there were 10 extra chicks!!! They did not offer any creative solution except to finally say I could keep the useless chicks that I had received and we "could just call it even". What do you do with chicks that have already survived the trip? They would die if they were sent back without food and water. They said I could send them back, but I told them I would not let them die because they messed up.
What a waste of time and money. I will not order from Cackle ever again. I ended up giving away a years worth of chickens to a 4H student that I met through the feed store who was looking for Sultans and Polish .
I ended up ordering a fine batch of Pullets from McMurray after this traumatic experience.
I have ordered a couple hundred chicks from cackle every other year and have always got great service. they always send a receipt with ship date for chicks and if there was a problem I get a phone call from cackel. I never recieve any emails period. I mark ship date on my calender and sure enough 2 days later post office calls about 7 am come get your chics. I usally only lose 2 or three chicks from shiping stress and never more than 6 out of a hundred or so. the cackle surprise is a great bargin. I have got ducks, poults and geese from time to time. also the happy cackle is a good deal if you just like something different . waiting on about 3 or 400 now, heavy pullets, OE games, batams and 2 suprises. I will order more before the spring its just a great hobby and one can make a dollar or two just for fun. I will always keep the cackle site on my computer becauses there are a lot of breeds to check out.
Have a great day, don't you wish everyone could be born a Southerner. SC Rebel
On March 5th, 2008, screbel added the following:
Just got my first round of Batam assort and cackle surprise. about 100 chicks arrived alert and chirping. Looks like I got at least 10 different breeds in both assortments that I know right off and 2 ducks to boot. I know there are a couple of polish, sultans and cochins in the batams and surprise. I have 3 more batches coming Fri. All I can say is I ordered heavy pullet assortment year before last and I got 98% pullets and have always got a very good slection on all my assortments.
Oh I wish you were in the Land of Cotton!!On March 13th, 2008, screbel added the following:
Where old times ain't soon forgotten!!
Got my other 3 batches in last fri all looking good look like a very good variety of chics in the surprise and 2 more ducks. temps droped to 20% 2 nights lost a few batams, oh well thats farming. the rest are doing well and eating like little piglets. I have no complanints with other hatcheries. I have ordered from McMurry, Martinins/crowe poultry with great sucess. But Cackle has the best slection and price on assortments. Have a great day I know I will its going to be 70% out side. Look away look away look away Dixie land!!!
This will be my 5th time ordering from Cackle Hatchery. They are friendly, informative and helpful. Would go no where else!!.......Can't wait to get the new peeps!!
I have ordered from this company in the past with great success. I ordered 15 white silkies and 12 Dominiques last week . Again I can not say enough good things about this company, even our mailman was impressed with the size of their shipping box, he informed me he has seen the other companys boxes a lot smaller, and dead chicks. Cackle delivers when promised and healthy live chicks. They do send extras. I have only lost one chick. I would order from them again next year if I want to expand my flock even farther. The dominiques are very tame and friendly at just a few days old.
I just ordered turkeys from them. I previously ordered two batches of 30 chicks each.
They arrived on time, they were all alive and we lost only one from each batch after they arrived [but in one case they shipped an extra of that breed - perhaps thinking they are not as hearty so they'd give an extra.
I LOVE the fact that one does not have to order all the same breed.
I look forward to working with them on an ongoing basis and am pleased to have this opportunity to provide feedback about them.
On May 23, 2007, jab91864 Northern Michigan, MI (Zone 5a) wrote:
I ordered 9 turkeys, 3 ducks, and 5 chicks from Cackle. This was my first time ordering from them and I would use their services again.
I did have 1- dead duckling on arrival but all the others have been healthy and are doing well.
I ordered 125 chicks, 4 goslings, and 6 ducks from Cackle. They were suppose to be at the post office on a Wed. morning, but did not show up. I called Cackle and they were able to tell me they shipped complete. After tracking them down through the post office I found out that the USPS had left them at the nearest large city.
It was frustrating and I was worried about the delay, but the chicks, goslings, and ducks were all doing GREAT! I chose some of the larger mix and match packages that Cackle offers and asked if for a couple specific breeds. It worked out FANTASTIC. On a whim, I ordered the waterfowl special and it turns out that some of the ducks sent to me are from Cackle's "rare breed" section.
I did a lot of comparision shopping before I ordered and found that Cackle was the most resonably priced. I will order from them again and would recommend them as well.
We ordered pullets from Cackle Hatchery a couple years ago and they arrived on time and healthy! I was very happy to find that all of the babies were pullets...not a rooster in the bunch! These babies did wonderfully and began laying us eggs that Fall and continued to produce eggs at a surprising rate (25 pullets = an average of 20-24 eggs a day the first year!)
Last year we made the mistake of getting our new batch of chicks from our local hardware store during their "chick days". Out of the 12 pullets we bought we ended up with TWO roosters...ack! The chicks were healthy but haven't laid eggs as well as those we bought from Cackle.
I am online today ordering our yearly batch of chicks from Cackle...we aren't taking our chances again!
Thanks Cackle for your timely service and wonderful chicks.
The Bruffetts
On May 4th, 2007, jeanettebr added the following:
Update....
I ordered 25 heavy pullets mixed breed on May 1. I got a phone call on May 2 saying my chicks had shipped and would arrive the very next day!
My phone rang early on May 3 ...it was the post office and they had my pullets! We picked them up and brought them home and they were VERY healthy and active....and as a bonus instead of the 25 I ordered there were 28! Today is the 4th and they are doing wonderfully. Eating and drinking well and chirping away...thanks Cackle for another great order! (and about the negative comment left by a customer...I have ordered from Cackle Hatchery 2 times and neither time did they give me a ship date online...both times they have called when they had shipped my order.)
I have ordered from this company numerous times. I use to raise birds for sale to 4-h and local community affairs and the birds were always complimented on. The service was outstanding and very friendly. My postal carrier ( who had never delivered birds before ) was very impressed with the packing and the lively little cheeps. So far i have ordered chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese from them and I'm very confident that this years order of gamebirds will be just as great.
Amber Mellor
P.O. Box 1108
eastpoint
Florida 32328
Just marvelous! I ordered my 15 baby chicks about a month in advance over the phone from Cackle hatchery. I was treated very courteously and respectfully by their staff everytime I called (2x once to confirm my order).
Today I received my 15 chicks, plus one extra. All arrived alive and very vigorous. The chicks are healthy with very good conformation. They made one long trip from Missouri to Upstate New York near the Canadian Border! I'm very pleased with Cackle and my lovely little bundles of joy so far.
Out of all the online and other hatcheries, Cackle's correct sexing guarantee was much higher than any other. Plus, if you're a backyard urban chicken person as I am, their 15 chick minimum order was very helpful and ultimately was my main reason to order from them. Now, I will reorder from them next spring when I purchase Cuckoo Marans and Welsummers for my grandmother.
I will update once my chicks mature. I ordered all pullets, so I will see if Cackle's sexing is as good as their guarantee states 95% accurate (compared to most other hatcheries 90% accurate guarantees).
Overall, from the alertness and vigor of my chicks I'd recommend Cackle Hatchery to anyone.
On February 2nd, 2007, dingydoo added the following:
Well, it's now 2/2/2007 and my chicks from Cackle are now full grown chickens! I'm still VERY HAPPY with Cackle hatchery. My hens are beautiful and very friendly, especially the Dominique hens and the Buff Orpingtons. If you do order from Cackle, I recommend the Dominique chicks 100%. They are so friendly and are excellent layers. It has been -20 F here this month and they lay everyday. I'm getting several double yolk eggs from one of my Buff Orp hens, they look more like goose eggs! The sexing was very accurate from Cackle too. Very satisfied. If I had more land I would order from them again. On May 21st, 2007, dingydoo added the following:
Just wanted to drop in and say my sweet little Dominique hens and other hens I ordered from Cackle are still doing wonderfully. I recommend them to everyone.
I ordered 100 pullets on 4/12/06. I received an e-mail stating that they would be shipped on 4/19/06 and I should receive them on 4/21/06. I called the office on the morning of 4/21/06 because I didn't get my chicks. I was then told that they would not ship till 4/24/06. I received an e-mail later the same day--apparently they use post-it notes to notify employees of ship dates, and mine got lost. So, i will not get my chicks until 4/26/06. What upset me the most was the girl I spoke to on the phone who said that their company does not send ship dates over the internet. I felt like she was calling me a liar. Once I get my chicks, I will never order from this company again.
On Jan 21, 2006, country4ever Lebanon, IN (Zone 5a) wrote:
2 years ago I ordered 15 pullets from Cackle hatchery. They all arrived alive and well.....plus I received 2 freebies. They accidentally sent too many of one breed, and none of another, but they did reimburse me for those. All 17 ended up being hens, which I think is very unusual. Most people who order all pullets usually get several cockerals in there. I was very pleased with the health of all my chicks. I would order from them again
I have ordered live baby chicks from them 4 times chicks were in perfect condtion no deaths orders were received when promised and was treated with complete respect while placing my orders I will continue to order from them.
