Reliable Poultry Service LTD. - Courtenay, British Columbia

Nadine K.

Thank you, Reliable Poultry, for another year of healthy livestock, despite the regulation challenges. You went over an above your usual excellent service. Our last batch of meat birds thrived, as you can see pictured below. Our current batch of turkey is on the way to the butcher shortly and looks fantastic. The second batch of turkeys are also coming along nicely, both with a surprisingly low mortality rate of - ZERO!! Excellent stock!

Kirby B.

I wish I had a positive experience to report. I have been raising small batches of chickens and turkeys since 1996. I have a miniature version of a commercial chicken barn that was designed by commercial chicken farmer neighbors of mine. I have lost count of how many successful batches of birds I have raised. I was turned on to Reliable Poultry in 2020 but, as compared to, for example Rochester Hatchery, I find the mortality rate of Shawn's birds to be unacceptable. On May 10th, I took delivery (4 hours later than scheduled) of 12 - possibly chilled - turkey chicks. It is now June 24rth and all but 3 have died and you can see in the photo below that another is ready to drop. Shawn would like to call into question my 'animal husbandry' practices and forgo compensating me (like 12 turkey chicks will break his bank!) as opposed to taking responsibility for the quality of his livestock. Shawn knows nothing about my animal husbandry practices but the folks at Top Shelf Feeds in Duncan do. (Would he fault the quality of their feed as well?) I have made mention to them of the 1/3 losses I experienced with Reliable Poultry's meat birds over my past two orders. As an experiment, on June 8th I took delivery of 32 (I ordered 30 but they give you extra) meat chicks from Rochester Hatchery. (see the photo of my thriving Rochester chicks. ZERO losses so far!) They arrived at the post office at 6:30 a.m. It is now June 29th and I have not lost a single chick! The chicks are growing quickly and are healthy and vibrant. Somehow Rochester's birds are more tolerant of my 'animal husbandry practices' vs Reliable Poultry's chicks. Go figure! Since Shawn is not willing to assume any responsibility despite delivering my turkey chicks late and possibly chilled, I will RELY on the RELIABLE Rochester Hatchery out of Alberta. Their Western Rustics heritage chicks are fabulous as well! I still have a hen that is two years old now!

Milk M.

Fantastic service despite all the challenges and bureaucracy with "Avian flu" surrounding the poultry industry these days.
Gorgeous, healthy birds. Plus, Shawn gave me amazing advice with regards to feed and how to maximize the bird's quality of life and laying ability with diet. He is highly knowledgeable about his birds!

Val B.

Have dealt with Reliable Poultry Services for a few years now and am constantly 110% happy with the results. They are awesome to deal with and have always been there to answer my silly questions. The birds are always clean & healthy! Would recommend 110%!

Aaron M.

I have been purchasing my broiler chickens from Reliable for a couple of years now. Service has been great. And I highly recommend them to anyone asking where we get our chicks from. They are always willing to offer tips and advice.

Curtis H.

Thought I was getting high quality chicks from a local family farm, but instead recieved chicks from Reliable Poultry who it turns out sourced these birds from foreign industrial hatcheries (only residing on the farm while in transit to their customers). One of the six chicks I recieved was unhealthy since day 1. Despite the response from the Animal health Centre of B.C. where an Avian Specialist gave his professional opinion that the bird had a physical birth defect (that should have had it culled at the hatcheries) and that this defect is causing the chick to suffer other health issues/will always have health issues, Reliable Poultry insists that they have no obligation to guarantee their product. They admit to processing such high numbers of birds and that they cannot guarantee they will arrive to the consumer without these ‘variations’. Reliable Poultry initially offered a replacement chick on the condition that I provide evidence of the birth defect only to refute the photographs and response from the Animal Health Centre that the chick was defective and suffering from related health issues.

RESPONSE TO YOUR COMMENT: You provided the defective chick to buckerfields who then sold it to me. They were in the store for a minute and didn't even leave the box until being taken out for me to take them home. If there wasn't the concern of Covid, I could've looked at them closer and have chosen my own. Only when I was home did I notice the defective beak which only got worse with age. As the chick grew, the deformity was later diagnosed as a deformed skull/crossbeak. I had two animal specialists look at photos of the birds, one from the Animal Health Centre of B.C. and then an avian veterinarian, both of which agree that it is a genetic issue/physical defect and that the bird should not have been sold. You can't call yourselves 'reliable' when you provide a defective product and then flip flop on your responsibilities therafter. You initially offered to provide a replacement on the condition that I provide you with evidence of the bird's deformity. I provided you with photos and the response from the Animal Health Centre... then, you failed to follow through. #Shady

John E.

We are so very happy with the excellent service and chicks, both layers and meat, provided by Shawn, Tanya, and family for the past 15 + years. It is a family run business that we highly recommend.

J B.

Excellent service! Knowledgeable people with great products!
I have never had a problem with chicks or chickens from this service. Nothing but the best!
Keep up the great work!