Privett Hatchery

My private local feed store orders birds from Privett so my experience is second party. I bought a single leftover Dominique chick at my feed store a couple years ago via Privett and poor thing didn't survive past 3 weeks, she suffered a seizure -- things happen with chicks and it's Nature's way to weed out health issues. The sweet pesty friendly personality of that Privett chick left a positive impression on me so this year I ordered 3 Dom chick pullets from my local feed store and was told they were from Privett. I picked them up immediately the day they arrived at the store. They are 9 weeks old now and so far have survived and thrived. The littlest chick had pasty butt for a couple days but I used chick probiotics and electrolytes in drinking water and little Miss Pasty Butt recovered fine by washing and cleaning her up regularly. It's difficult to get show quality birds from hatcheries but then not all private breeders have 100% successes breeding show quality Dominiques either. So, I'm happy as a backyarder to have 3 very friendly, talkative, outgoing, curious, family-oriented Dom pullets in our flock -- sitting on our lap, jumping to our arm, resting on our shoulders, standing on our shoes, exploring our eyeglasses, tasting our hair, pecking at our jewelry, following us around like "two-legged puppies" as one Dom owner describes them. Never had such attention-craving chickens like these Doms before -- they actually love petting and all 3 sit on our lap for the petting sessions. One chick out of our 3 is looking very promising as a picture-perfect standard for the breed. For years I've seen Privett carry a wide selection of chicken breeds, ultra rare breeds, so I would not hesitate to get any Privett birds. I just have to keep in mind that not every chick that's hatched will qualify as a "show quality" bird whether it's from a hatchery or a private breeder.

You hear things about this or that hatchery, some positive and some negative. We ordered chicks from Privett hatchery two times and never had a problem. We ordered mixed pullet chicks three years ago from Privett and couldn't be happier. We received one Rooster in the order and sent him to the farm. He has grown into a fine Rooster and we are all very glad for him. We lost one chicken due to an allergic reaction she had but that is very rare. I would say that if I had to do it all over again I would have chose one or two breeds of chickens. The 3 Wyandotte chickens we have don't lay very well and the egg shells are thin. We also received two sexlink chickens that look closer to a black sexlink but have red feathers and a black head. Those two lay like machines so we have no complaints. The two black sex links we have also lay well and give us no trouble. We just received our order of Golden Comets and they are thriving. All things considered, Privett Hatchery has delivered good chicks in good order. I would buy from them again.

I ordered 100 eight week white broilers from Privett Hatchery and was sent 100 slow white broilers instead. When I called to let them know that there had been an error I was told I was a liar about ordering eight week broilers. They refunded my money and told me I was banned from ever ordering from them again (like I would want to repeat this fiasco again). It was the worst example of customer service I have ever seen.

Love this company! Ordered from them last year and will order again this year. Very helpful staff and quality merchandise and did not lose any chicks during shipping. Will continue to do business with them.

I have not yet ordered from them but let me just make some points after reading others comments. when you order from Tractor Supply or Big R or Rural King or any feed store you take that risk. you have to understand that these companies are about making money, vaccines cost more money per chick so they wont order vaccines in fact these stores will order the "cheapest" possible no matter what. tractor supply was to blame not the hatchery second when you call and ask what they do with unwanted males you probably came off wrong, here is the deal, Subaru outback driving, tree hugging, pot smoking liberals love to call these hatcheries and make problems and they usually focus it around the male chicks and what is done with them.. so they probably assumed right off the bat they were gonna have to argue with some PETA jerk... i asked them and got a nice response , i pointed out that i intend to resell them and asked if they discount the unwanted males as "meat birds" the answer was no, but still a nice answer and left good communication. i also want to point out to those of you complaining about the "local feed store" let me be clear i know the owners of several feed stores, some large some small.. they don't order from one hatchery, they will get some from privett, some from cackle, some from murraymcmurray and some from belt and so on. did you know there are some hatcheries that don't even hatch chickens? only ducks and geese? did you know these hatcheries are half as expensive as the chicken hatcheries that sell ducks and geese? do you know why? cause the chicken hatcheries buy the ducks and geese from these "other hatcheries" and mark em up double. so no matter what your feed store selection comes from at the very least 2-3 hatcheries, and here you are thinking you got it nailed down to one... now as for the others complaining about being shorted chicks and or dead ones arriving well thats unfortunate and it happens and i feel for you, but 6 months later you birds start getting sick and start ding? i have raised chickens long enough to know that it was more likely that a disease was introduced by another bird brought in maybe you bought an adult hen off craigslist. if that one was vaccinated it could have been a carrier and your "feed store" birds were not , and there is your explanation.

I ordered 15 Dominiquer pullets and 10 White leghorns pullets from tractor supply which use Privett Hatchery. They were all healthy up until they died when they turned 2 months old, they just up and died without any warning in two days with Maercks disease. I called them and they said it was my fault EXACT WORDS, cause i didnt choose to vaccinate, I said I was not offered the vaccine. They told me well that is tractor supplies problem and then hung up on me. So I called tractor supply and they stopped me in the middle of my sentence and said no refunds and hung up on me.

I have dealt with Privett for at least 20 years. Not that I buy something every year because unless I am buying cornish cross for the freezer I do not need layers every year. I have bought laying hens, meat chicks, turkeys, ducks and geese. If I have anything die I am given credit but I usually receive extras. I live in a warm climate and I still keep my newly hatched chicks inside till they are fully feathered. Our early spring has cold nights with warm days sometimes up to the 90's plus I do like the other person who says they give them electrolytes and feed a medicated feed. The only time I have ever had a problem, we bought them late in the year for a 4-H project. They came from another hatchery as soon as I called I was given credit for the birds and will not buy them late in the year. I bought meat chickens last year from Cackle hatchery and I will never buy from them again. I ended up with a 46% loss and they blew me off. In past years I have purchased 100 chicks and I might lose a few but that has to do with the aggressiveness of cornish cross with each other. Now on my laying hens there is a small percentage that are sexed wrong, but I have never had more than 1 or 2 that are cockrells and those will sometimes be left alone or in the freezer if they are aggressive. On the other birds I have purchased they are great and since I do not want large amounts I usually go in with friends so we get the discount on them. I do agree with the one guy who stated the negatives comments are from those who purchased their birds from feed stores. Where I live the feed stores get tons of chicks from hatcheries and make sure they are all put in cages but really don't take care of them and look forward to them being gone. I will always buy from Privett and look forward to many more years of dealing with them. My hens are 3 years old and still laying large beautiful eggs.

Got my chicks first week in October 2012. Very nice people to deal with. All came healthy and all lived to be strong happy birds. Would do business with them again. Have a big smile to all.

I called months ago to ask what they did with their unwanted males of the layer breeds. They would not tell me and black listed me. Just kind of a Crappy thing to do. They said "it was a management decision". LOL. They have a lot of bad reviews, I would go somewhere else!

I have done business with Privett a number of times over the years. When I buy chickens from them I buy them by the hundreds so havn't had experience with these little orders but I have found their birds to be superior, they arrive here in excellent condition though we are a couple thousand miles away. They have always been courteous, helpful, and upstanding and I would highly recommend them to anyone. No where have they ever claimed to be a hatchery of "Show Quality" birds but they don't ask a show quality price either. If you want show quality birds buy from a hatchery producing show stock.

I ordered A group of Birchen Cochin Batams and Golden Lace Cochin Batams. I was very impressed with the health of these young chicks! I have ordered from other hatcheies in the past ans these were by far the best I received. Only one had died and they immedately credited me back for this chick.I will most readily buy from them again!!!

I was a little worried after reading some of the experiences here, but I had already placed my order and glad that I did not cancel...I ordered directly from the hatchery and couldn't be happier. These are easily the best chicks I have received in my short chicken farmer career, and I will be using this hatchery going forward. All chicks arrived healthy and active...no issues at all! All chicks are the correct breeds and continue to thrive. The only thing I do not know yet is the sexing accuracy, but have no reason to believe that there will be any major issues. My order shipped within 1 week of my order, by far the fastest I have encountered in the industry. Over-shipped chicks of the same breed, too. Highly recommended...

This was my first experience with Privett. The order arrived the exact day they said it would. I was on vacation the week before and asked that they not ship early. They did not. All 35 chicks were heathly and exactly what I ordered. It is 3+ weeks later and ALL are still alive and growing. They did not charge my card until the day they were shipped and it was exactly as I was quoted. I am VERY PLEASED with their service and quality and will be sure to try them again for my next order. They offer a wide variety of breeds, including more rare ones and I look forward to another batch next year.

Privitt Hatchery shorted me 8 birds, Chantecleers. When I called them, on my own dime, they said, "Well, we don't ship those they come from another location, so they weren't sure how that had happened." I then asked for a refund as the next available dare for these birds was late July (little cooked birdies). I was assured that the refund would be on my next credit card billing, two billing cycles went by and nothing. So today I called their billing office .."Oh it's on your Privitt account and is good for one year." Not the answer I wanted, eventually after a bit of digging they decided they could refund it to my credit card....no I won't buy from these folks again!

I ordered Standard Cochins : 25 pullets and 2 cocks. I got 22 pullets and 4 cocks and 1 of the pullets isn't even a cochin. I only got 1 beautiful bird, the others are poor quality, the legs should be fully feathered and they are not. They are small almost the size of Bantam Cochins. I wanted large standard Cochins at least that is what I paid good money for. I am not going to ever take a chance from ordering from them again. I wrote to them explaining my complaint and I haven't heard back from them yet. Hatcheries should breed to the best standard of the breed if they want to stay in business. Bad standards are a waste of money , time ,and life. They knew what they sent me, 4 cocks because they were marked with blue marker on their heads !

I have ordered from the local feed store many times over the past five years and I will NEVER order from them again. On several occasions our meat chickens "fast cornish" have had feet and leg problems and we received an ameracauna with a crossed bill and some with NO muffs and we always have issues with laying hens, such as deformed eggs, not laying to their potential.. etc... The final straw was this year when I ordered ducks. The ducks were the wrong breed, and some of them the wrong sex. I had to reorder blue Swedish for my son because they gave us runners and he loves the Swedish, and the second time they shipped them with geese and the ducks were crushed to death. So we had to wait a third time. I was afraid to even ask if they made it here alive (we live in Kentucky). They did, but they had to be revived and now they are OK, but we will see if they are all actually the right sex. I now order from another hatchery and I am culling all of the chickens from Privett. I don't care how cheap they are they DO NOT take good care of their poultry and waterfowl. The farm store always has sick and injured ones, they do not look vibrant and healthy like the ones from the other hatcheries I have ordered from. Take my advice and don't EVER order from this place!

I have ordered directly from Privett for years--the last two orders have been wrong and Privett got mad and informed me that I can no longer make orders with them--not that I would ever want to --last order was all pullets and received straight run, they told me I did not know hens from cocks --sent them pics and I was still wrong in their eyes---prev order was wrong breeds and again I was not aware of correct I.D. in their eyes---they said pics I sent them were not from their birds -- I used to think they were the Best but times have changed--NEVER again will I order from Privett !

I have lost track of the number of orders I've placed now with Privett, and have been very pleased with the chicks and the service. The lady with the accent who used to answer the phone was really wonderful, and the newer gals not as good. However, I always get a box of healthy, strong chicks, and usually more than I ordered (and always WHAT I ordered, by the way). Last year I took Open Class Best of Show at the County Fair with my Light Brahma pullet from them, and this year my son took 2nd in the 4-H Asiatic class with his Blue Cochin from Privett. My son also won Grand Champion Market Poultry with his Fast White Broilers for 4-H, and my other son got 2nd in the Broiler class. Needless to say, I have been very pleased with the quality of the birds. Of course, we always order a bunch and cull aggressively for the birds we show. Can't imagine why anybody thinks you can order one or two and expect to win the genetic lottery. Chickens just don't work like that. The best thing about Privett though, and I didn't realize this wasn't standard industry practice until I had to deal with other hatcheries, is that they tell you exactly what the hatch date is for your order of chicks. They ship them the same day, and apparently at the same time, every time. When I order from them, I know to within an hour of when I will be called to the post office to get them. They have never changed the date without approval from me, and there has never been a surprise about when my chicks get here.

We ordered 30 Cochin Bantam chicks and 32 arrived- one dead. They arrived on the day they were supposed to. The chicks were healthy and alert and they continue to be so. Although it is hard to tell for sure it looks like I have the correct varieties- five different ones. Very happy with our babies!

For the most part the birds we've gotten have been healthy, BUT they have messed up every interaction I've had with them this season (our first time dealing directly with them). First, we ordered slow-growing red broilers and they sent us some yellow chicks. We called within a couple of days as wing feathers started growing in white ... and first-tier customer support blew us off, said they look white but they will turn red, and we couldn't get past first-tier to someone who worked with the birds. (We emailed pictures, but "the person who checks the email" -- there's JUST ONE?! -- was out of town.) Sure enough they were white chicks, and when I finally got them to understand I can't sell fast-growing commercial broilers in my market -- and don't want to raise non-heritage/heirloom breeds anyway -- I was able to talk to someone who works w/the birds. But he couldn't say whether they were their slow or fast white broiler, and they didn't have any way to check records to find out what they had sent me. If they had not blown us off in the first place, when we called within a couple of days, I would have insisted they send the reds we ordered the next week. Instead we lost a whole month of our season. We sold the birds to another farmer in a different market and waited (im)patiently for our good broilers from JM Hatchery. The white broilers also had higher mortality than the slow broilers we've gotten from JM in the past -- this may be normal for production birds, though, and all other birds we've gotten from Privett have been healthy, so I can't say if this is the breed or the stock. But Privett credited us for the white broilers, so we used the credit towards turkeys. Couldn't get the breeds we wanted all at once, so we got 25 last week and were expecting 30 more this week, hatching today, due to arrive in two days. They just called us to say they don't have the heritage breeds we were expecting this week, so are shipping us Midget Whites instead. Well, I do not want Midget Whites; I want heritage breeds. That is why I ordered heritage breeds. It seems like a strange customer service decision to substitute a product without finding out if the customer wants the new product in the first place. Though the birds we've gotten have been healthy for the most part (other than the fast-growing white broilers' mortality at the beginning), I am really disappointed in their customer service and their shipping and ordering issues. We lost a month on our broiler season and we'll be a month behind with the turkeys we got from a different hatchery, too. Their internal communication seems to be poor; their first-tier support blew us off without seeming to understand the issue we were describing; they seem uninterested in providing thorough information to customers -- their marketing materials ("catalog") are basically information-free; and they apparently have no way to track how orders were fulfilled. We won't be ordering from Privett again. As another commenter implied the complainers don't know what they're doing, I'll note that while I'm not terribly experienced -- this is my third year with poultry (chickens, ducks, turkeys) -- we are farmers, not dilettantes with a backyard coop, and I've never had issues like this with any of the 3+ other hatcheries I've dealt with.

I ordered 25 chicks in November, expecting them in December. They came a week after I ordered, and while healthy, were not true to my order. Of 15 'Amauricanas', 5 are Buff Orpingtons, at least five have no muffs or beards, and several have crooked toes and one can barely walk. Of the Cuckoo Marans I ordered, I only got three of the 5, because somebody else's Barred Rocks were shipped with mine, and neither I nor the feed store ladies could tell the difference. That other person lives 100 miles from me, so switching back isn't an option. A neighbor had Privett bantams disqualified by the county fair, for not being true to breed. So, if you just want healthy chicks, go ahead and order from them. But if you care about looks, go to Murray Mc Murray.

In past we ordered birds from privett hatchery and they were sent a week early with no call of change, therefore no one was around to pick up birds from post office. We often vacation. As a result the birds were sent back. The hatchery blames us, but we feel it is crutial to inform customers of live animal delivery changes. Now seven years later the company still is rude to us when we call and will not deal with us. As a business man I believe it is important to accept blame for your own mistakes, and make good on them. I will say their birds are very poor quality and their service is worse.

I have ordered numerous breeds and types of birds from Privett Hatchery over the last fifteen years. I was reading through comments made in regards to Privett Hatchery's service and was rather offended. These people have bent over backwards to get me what I need, and never once complained. The people that are choosing to complain are only the ones that are purchasing through the feed stores, who, let's face it - are out for money, just like the next business. If you want quality service and high quality birds you need to place an order straight from the hatchery, feed stores are going to find the cheapest route in purchasing your order. Don't expect to have all chicks survive, let's face it people, it's the law of nature (only the strongest survive.) Order straight from the hatchery and you will receive the most quality for your money, after sitting in the feed stores for two weeks who knows what they are subjected to? Privett Hatchery knows birds and has been providing quality service to me for over 15 years. Most recently I purchased 9 geese, 6 ducks, 20 pullets, and 50 guineas all of which arrived here perfectly heathly. Thanks to the neighboors dog I have lost only two, but they are now 2 weeks old and thriving. Those of you that complain are probably too busy to take adequate care of your animals. Don't blame Privett's for that!

I ordered from Privett Hatchery for the first time this year and was very pleased with my experience. My initial order had a total loss of chicks, due to mishandling by the post office. The people at Privett were as dismayed as I was, and reassured me this is not a common occurance. I was very upset when I called, and they were both compassionate and professional. They promptly replaced the entire order, let me know when they were arriving, and the next box was full of healthy, strong bantams. I did not lose any of the 40 I ordered, and they are still doing splendidly. I would have no reservations about ordering again and I highly recommend their company. A+

I had a great experience with Privett hatchery. I ordered 25 New Hampshire Reds, 15 Slow Cornish, and 15 Silkie chicks. I was given a delivery date of Feb.20th, 08 and that was right on time. I picked up the birds from the Post Office very early that morning and was very happy when I open the box all was alive and doing great. Never lost one of the birds, but they did ship extras if there had been a problem. I have nothing but good to say about this hatchery. The birds are growing good with no problems after nine weeks. I will be ordering from them again. I think anyone who is wanting to order chicks should give them a chance.

For the second time, I have received a very healthy batch of chicks from Privett Hatchery. They travelled two days via postal service. They are now two weeks old, and thriving. The order staff was courteous and accommodating.

I purchased chicks from a feed store that were supposed to be Black Australorps, just rec'd from Privett. i hand picked 20 from the 200 in the brooder. All chicks were healthy, but slow growers. At 2 1/2 weeks they finally have their primary feathers. 17 are barred, which means they sent Black Sex-Links as substitutes! We raise purebred heritage birds, & have no need for hybrids. What a waste of time, chick feed and brooder space [besides the 80 mile drive to pick them up]!!! The feed store insists they ordered BAs. The hatchery refuses to cooperate. "Ask the feed store". "We have no record of what we sent them or when". Now instead of ten pullets to breed with our nice young roo, we have three for sale & 17 for the freezer. And have to purchase replacements from a BETTER HATCHERY. I will say the birds are good-natured & lively thus far... It isn't the chicks fault...

I ordered 2 buff Orpington pullets and 2 black Australorp pullets from Privett through our local feed store. I wanted three birds for eggs and thought I was being smart ordering an extra in case of death or roosterness. It was late in the season and the first shipment failed because the "hatch was bad". Okay. The second and last shipment of the year included my chicks and indeed they appeared to be what I ordered. Six weeks later one proved to be a cockerel. Okay. Three months into it ALL are cockerels. They are healthy and have great temperaments--but I have been told by the local 4-H poultry rep that they don't look like "purebreds". It makes it difficult to find homes for them--and I can't keep them because we aren't zoned for roosters. In all, sort of a heartbreaking waste of time. I will be ordering from another hatchery this time. I think my chickens are indeed the right breeds--just not great looking representatives. The Orpingtons in particular are very sweet and cuddly. I suspect Privett just got desperate and sent what they had without reference to sex--which is not right.

The folks at Privett were thorough and helpful to a novice chick buyer who decided to get a good deal by inviting all her friends and neighbors to get in a good deal by combining orders. It took over a month to organize the different breeds. The folks at Privett patiently answered all our questions. Our chicks arrived on time and in good shape with extras. And when we realized we couldn't tell a silver phoenix from a light brahma - they helped us there too. For quite some time they helped me sort out 100 chicks over the phone while a half a dozen women tittered, giggled and Oooo'd and Awww'd over the babies. There were two dead and we got immediate credit. We had such a good experience with them we ordered again in the fall with equally excellent results. Every chick I ordered survived to adulthood. In the first order I bought 20 light brahmas and in the second I purchased 10. Out of 30 chicks to have all survive is proof of hardy breeding. A friend purchased Red Speckled Sussex, following my directions to raise them indoors until fully feathered - all 15 of hers survived. Thats 45 for 45. You can't beat that. The pricing was EASY to understand. Shipping was a breeze. The site isn't perfect but its good and easy to find your way around.

i orderd 40 pullets and 10 roosters (ameracauna). i have had a 25 year breeding program. my 1st inclination was to pull their heads off and send them BACK!!! ameracaunas DO NOT have straight combs!!! i got straight combs in the roosters as well as the pullets, the pullets are 3 colors of brown, the roosters black & white. 1 rooster had blue legs and a big beard and muffs. he died! these chicken i recieved are the UGLIEST i have ever seen!!!!! they told me they had chickens from almost coal black to almost snow white. i wonder about what they told me about the egg color. i got one question answered when i called. that was do you contract for your setting eggs they said no and WOULD NOT answer any more. the Yard Man never called. P.S. 1/4 had little to no muffs or beard.

I had my feed store order things I wanted from them since they were they store's supplier. I told them to call me as soon as they arrived which the feed store did. I bought 3 Buff geese, and a few breeds of ducks. Well 2 of the geese and one of the ducks never grew and always had nasty poop and died. I then went and purchased from Metzer since I was not getting into the Privett mess again..... what a difference! Not only in size but health as well. I think Privett might produce lesser quality since they are busy cranking them out to suppliers and they should stop using dye on the chicks and ducklings at Easter time! Those are an impluse buy that suffers later!

I bought chicks last year, they arrived on time and were all healthy, despite being sent in August. They sent a few extra. All but one showed no disqualifying traits (one had a bent beak). I bought standard cochin pullet chicks as an addition to my breeding flock, and though I did have to thin them out, I got some really nice birds. The quality of the birds was better than I'd expect from any hatchery, much less one so cheap (they even paid shipping- I doubt they do that anymore).

I have bought 20 chicks from privett through my feed store they are some of the hardiest and healthiest chicks I have ever had. I will be buying more chicks threw them next spring. I will be a repeat customer. Thanks Privett

I ordered 32 geese from Privett because they had them cheapest. It was a big mistake. They shipped on a Wednesday and didn't arrive until Saturday. They arrived alive but are NOT hardy at all. I have had 3-4 die a week. They are still dying now at over a month old. I ordered geese earlier this year from a different hatchery and have had 0 deaths in that batch.

I dealt with Privett Hatchery some time ago and was happy about some of the ducklings I received and not so happy with others. I wouldn't go through Privett Hatchery if you want to use them for showing. I did 4-H for a while and did really well with one of my males because he was easy to handle. But as a Blue Swede he had the rust color on his chest, therefore I lost in best of breed. As pets they were great, but they weren't show quality.

I think we have had two dealings with Privett, once I am sure of. We ordered Americanas last fall from them. We aren't as pleased with the growth or variety as we have been from another supplier (who did not have them available at the time). Also, they were shipped a day later than we expected, so we were concerned when they didn't arrive. Called Privett and they didn't tell us when they were shipped, just seemed nonchalant and told us to not worry. The other time is when we got broiler chicks and another breed through Welp's Hatchery but I think they came directly from Privett's. That time we only got 99 broiler chicks instead of 100+ we usually get when we order 100, but they were the biggest chicks ever. BUT, they were also the laziest broiler chicks we have had. I would not want those broilers again. If I am incorrect about the Welp's-Privett connection, please correct me and I will rewrite the post to omit the broiler comments. I am giving a neutral rating because I have had dealings with another hatchery that was much worse both in customer service and in broiler quality and would not put Privett in that same class.

I've ordered from Privett quite a few times in past years. Our local feed mill also orders from them and we've all had great results and success with their chicks. Such a great variety to choose from and the personnel are extremely pleasant to work with. No doubt about it, my next order will be with Privett! I give them an A+.