Cackle Hatchery®

Reviews

• AV

  Anna Vaughn

  2 days ago
  1.0
  I ordered a variety of chicken breeds from them to replace all of my older birds. Upon arrival one was smashed flat under the heat pack and smelled like it had been for days which has led to 5 others dying within 24 hours and more are sick. When called they said they only guarantee live arrival so the 5 that are dead (even though within 24 hours) are not their responsibility. They then offered to go over "proper chick care" insinuating I'm at fault. I get some people don't know how to properly care for animals but good grief I grew up a farm kid. I care for my birds very well. The issue unfortunately stems from the hatchery themselves. Considering I ordered some specialty breeds I was very excited about I'm extremely disappointed. I definitely will be recommending that no one uses them going forward due to their lack of caring
• AM

  AAA Mancheski

  4 days ago
  1.0
  We received our surprise hatchery shipment, and our family was disappointed with its contents. Several chicks were dead, and there was little variety among the animals received. We did not get any ducks or other species—only common chickens that did not justify the over $199 cost plus shipping. The hatchery’s customer service suggested trying the larger surprise box to diversify our farm's poultry. In the future, I plan to use a different hatchery. After contacting customer service and reporting the dead chicks, we received a refund for their cost. However, they said they would not include more items unless we made another purchase and paid shipping again. I’ve used various hatcheries over the past five years, and this will be my first and last experience with this particular provider, as this hatchery cares more about numbers and sales not quality and customer satisfaction.
• JR

  JMB Ranch

  Apr 3, 2026
  1.0
  I bought chicks in the past from Cackle hatchery and always supported them. I bought their Salmon Favorelles 15 female and 4 males and 2 extra female to be exact. I got 3 males and surprise chick I paid for 4 male chicks. On arrival 1 was dead than in the last 40 hours I had 2 survivors. I believe 1 more may die. I called them 2xs for a refund or replacement chicks. They told me they have a 24 hour live arrival. With in 24 hours I had 2 dead. Than they started dropping dead with legs behind them. I’m a small hatchery and I give a week. I’ve been hatching eggs for 30 years. I don’t know if they got cold during shipment or they got something. Who knows. I would give the no stars if I could. They didn’t even want to work with me. So it’s my money the lives of the chicks and they didn’t care. I will be putting this review on all my platforms and I have over 30 million followers. Do not buy sick chicks from Cackle Hatchery. I will not post pictures of dead chicks
• JE

  Joseph Edmond

  Apr 3, 2026
  3.0
  I’ve been a customer a few times over the past few years, and I’m pretty disappointed. First off, the order came two days earlier than what was originally communicated. While I appreciate the fast shipping, it would have been nice to have been notified the shipment time had changed. I scrambled to get the chicks squared away, and discovered may birds dead on arrival. 75% was shipped in one box that wasn’t even full, while the remaining 25% of them was shipped in the same size box. In the end, I Lost nearly 20% of my order, and wasn’t really listened or regarded, just told about a 24 hour policy. I understand the post office may have contributed, but it’s also the only service offered shipping-wise. I was hoping to be heard, but I just got sent this email regarding some 24 hour policy, as if people have all the time on their hands to respond within such a small window. Which is interesting given the fact that the birds were not even 1 day old before they shipped out. Not sure how you vet runts or problem chicks that will die within that time frame. Totally understand stuff happens, but if you’re going to have a policy as strict as you are regarding dead chicks, I would think a company does their own due diligence to ensure they’re shipping you healthy chicks, and that when stuff happens, they at least listen before directing you to a policy. I’ll be shopping around before I consider this place again.
• MB

  Matt Beach

  Apr 1, 2026
  1.0
  My wife bought 18 chicks to be delivered last week. Chicks hatched on Wednesday 4/25/26. We got the call from the post office on Friday 4/27/26 and we went within an hour to pick them up. When my wife opened the package (no damage to the package), we found 22 total chicks. Out of 22 chicks, 17 had passed away and 1 was visibly weak and barely moved. We called and the lady on the phone filled out an internal report and processed a refund for all but 4 chicks which were moving upon arrival. The lady was nice and apologized for the number passed and assured us that this is not normal. After that call, we went and purchased locally 6 additional chicks that came from a different hatchery (same hatch date as ours from Crackle). As of Tuesday evening 4/31/26, we had lost an additional 3 chicks leaving us with 1 chick out of 22 that shipped... When we reached out to Crackle, we were not initially asking for a refund, we were concerned that the shipped chicks had an illness due to a less than 5% survival rate less than a week old. At this point, I have spent time on calls and emails that have yielded a single response- we only guarantee alive on arrival causing much frustration. I would take this answer and accept it however my chicks that are the same age from a different hatchery are alive and well. This has lead me to be disappointed in their response and will NOT have a customer return for more. I do not typically write reviews but I am hopeful that the next person in the market for chicks does not get fooled as we did. My wife read reviews and thought she was making a sound decision on where to buy.

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