Hatchery Policies

Our Responsibility: The Chick Hatchery’s Responsibility to you as a customer is to provide healthy, good quality chicks that arrive to you alive and in good condition.

Your Responsibility: As a purchaser of live animals, your responsibility is to provide an environment with proper heat, food and water as stated in our Poultry care sheet. The care sheet instructions are to be read at the time of ordering your birds (preparation information) and read again at the time of delivery of birds. Report any unsafe delivery to us via email at [email protected]. You agree to be free and flexible to pick up your chicks from the post office and have free time to secure the chicks in the brooder and be around to care for them for the first 24 hours to make sure your poultry are doing good and to see that the brooder is regulated properly.

Shipping Dates & Delayes: Have you heard the saying “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch”? In our business, we not only count our chickens before they hatch, we also try to count our eggs before they’re laid. Even though we are good at what we do, and ship more than 99% of our orders on the date we say we will, it’s impossible to know exactly how many chicks will hatch until the day they hatch. We hatch and ship Monday through Wednesday, given no holiday will affect the transit time. Even though when you order baby poultry we give you a specified hatch date or estimated date of arrival, it is possible for the poultry to hatch early and we ship a day ahead. For example: If you order 15 chickens and are given the hatch date of April 12th, your order could ship on April 11th. If we have a less than expected hatch and we are unable to fill your order, you will be notified by email of the changes. In the event you are not notified and your order does not arrive by Saturday after your chicks were scheduled to hatch and ship, please email us. We may have overlooked your order or the email and phone number we have may not be accurate.

Shipping Policy: Chicks are shipped by USPS Priority Mail the same day that they hatch. When they arrive to you, your chicks will be 24-72 hours old. Day old poultry ship Monday thru Wednesday! Baby chicks ingest the yolk before they hatch and this is enough nourishment until they arrive at their destination! Poultry Breeds and sexes will be mixed to ensure that your chicks arrive to you in optimum condition. Re-shipments are subject to availability and minimum shipping requirements. Refunds are limited to the cost of the birds only and will NOT include shipping charges or vaccination costs since these are considered Services, not products.

Order Pickup Policy: Unfortunately, We do not offer Local Pick Ups. Due to Biosecurity Measures set forth by the National Poultry Improvement Program (NPIP) & the Animal Plant & Health Inspection Service (APHIS), we are unable to allow general public and non-employees on our farms or in our hatcheries. We would be happy to arrange a shipment directly to your local post office.

Order Substitution Policy: Occasionally, a breed may not hatch as well as expected. When placing an order, let us know if you would be willing to accept substitutions and what breeds in the notes of the order. If we are not able to reach you, or if you are not willing to accept substitutions, your order may be shipped short or rescheduled at the discretion of the hatchery. We reserve the right to substitute similar breeds in the event there is no common hatch date and you will be notified of the changes that were made.

Order Change Policy: Once an order is placed you will not be able to make any changes. Because of system limitations there will be NO EXCEPTIONS made to this rule. Please be sure of what you want to order before ordering it. If you require a change, the order must be cancelled and a new order placed.

Order Cancellation Policy:

• Cancellations before the 2 week Deadline: According to our policy, cancellations will be charged a $10 fee. For orders over $100, a 10% fee will be applied. If you decide to cancel your order, please email us with your order number and the reason for cancellation. Any orders placed and then canceled will have the fee deducted from the total purchase price and the difference refunded back to the credit card used for the purchase.
• Cancellations after the 2 week deadline of the scheduled shipping date. If you decide to cancel your order after the two week deadline, please email us with your order number and the reason for canceling your order. A $25.00 Cancellation Fee will apply to orders cancelled within the 2 weeks before your Hatch Date.
• NO CANCELLATIONS 7 DAYS BEFORE THE HATCH DATE.
• Sometimes it is necessary for The Chick Hatchery to cancel an order. We reserve the right to cancel any order at our discretion at any time. Orders shipping to Alaska or Hawaii will be cancelled because we do not ship to these areas. If we cancel your order, you will be issued a full refund.

Return Policy: No returns of Live or Dead Poultry Allowed.

Vaccination Policy: Vaccinations are approved for use in organic and conventional operations. Vaccinations are done at the hatchery.

• The Marek’s vaccination is an optional service that we offer for all bantam & standard breed chickens. The Chick Hatchery recommends this service because the disease is easily spread. Marek’s Disease is a common viral disease that affects chickens. Exposed chickens will become infected with Marek’s regardless of vaccination. Vaccination only gives chickens a chance to build resistance and reduces the instances of symptoms developing. There is no cure for this disease.
• The Coccidiosis Spray Vaccination is an optional service we offer for our Cornish Cross Broilers and our Quick Chick Chickens only! Coccidia are common protozoan parasites. These parasites are present in most chicken yards. Coccidia have the ability to lay dormant for many years until chickens are introduced. Heavy infections of coccidia cause serious disease and may kill many chickens. Chickens of all ages can come down with coccidiosis. This is mostly seen in chickens 4- to 16-week-old. Wet litter, poor nutrition and concurrent diseases are the most common triggers of coccidiosis.
• The Chick Hatchery is not responsible for any loss or damages due to Coccidiosis or Marek’s Disease, even if your chicks were vaccinated.
• We do not vaccinate Ducks, Geese, Guineas, Turkeys, or Game Birds.

Privacy Policy: The Chick Hatchery takes every precaution necessary to protect your privacy and personal information. When submitting sensitive information via our website, that information is collected, encrypted, and protected by our secure servers. It is our policy that for each visitor to our Web page, our Web server automatically recognizes information regarding the domain or e-mail address. We collect the e-mail address of those who communicate with us via e-mail. It is important for us to gather user specific information on what pages consumers access or visit. The information we collect is used for internal review and is then discarded. It is used to improve the content of our Web page, used to customize the content and/or layout of our page for individual consumers. It is used by us to contact consumers for marketing purposes. We do not sell your information.

Biosecurity Policy: We practice strict Biosecurity measures for the health and safety of our Poultry and baby chicks.

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Our Email Address: [email protected]