Half Moon Bay Feed & Fuel

I wouldn’t recommend this place to my worse enemy, and all I did was call and ask a couple of questions! The guy who answered the phone shouldn’t be allowed to work with people. I mean, when you respond to a question from a customer by saying, «JESUS CHRIST», it might be time to re-​evaluate your employee situation!

A great place for your livestock supplies with a whole variety of feeds, cages, farming/​cowboy décor items, live chicks, etc. The staff has always been friendly. Heavy items are loaded up for you. The prices are like any other similar place. They’ve been around for years and I don’t mind making the 45 minute trip when I need new chicks or when I need chicken feed and related supplies because I like to patronize these types off places in order to help keep them around. I’d miss them if they ever closed up.

I bought chicks there, as it was recommended by a friend and their website claims a 95% guarantee of pullets (female). Do NOT believe them! After purchasing 6 chicks, 1 died right away and 2 of the 5 remaining turned out to be roosters (male), as I discovered after raising them for months! I drove out of my way and paid extra for what I thought was a guarantee, although in the end, I was basically given straight run. I have since discovered other farm supply stores closer to me, with a much more helpful staff. I would not recommend this place for any reason. With a no refund policy, purchase at your own risk.

We come here to buy our chicken feed and supplies. They are the only place on the Coast offering such a large selection of animal products and supplies. The place is a large barn with no heating or cooling, is a bit oddly laid out, and has helpful staff who will load your heavy items in to your vehicle. Good local place.

We stopped by today to pick up some baby chicks. Let me begin by saying that I would go back again to get more chicks but…
Ok, here’s my story. I know exactly which breed I want in advance. When I called the day before I was going to drive 34 miles out, I was told that they would have them. When I got there, I was helped by an older gentleman who told me they only have one breed I wanted (buff Oprington– but not the Wyandotte). I left the store to gather my thoughts (since I was bewildered by their current availability list posted by the front desk), but returned a few minutes later to be helped by a younger gentleman, who helped me collected 3 buffs, so I was told. He set me up with a box with the chicks inside and I was going to happily pay for my new pets. As I was waiting to pay, a couple in front of us asked one of the women staff to check their previously bought chicks — which they brought back. Turned out they didn’t get the breed they wanted but the woman was knowledgeable and patient enough to investigate and confirmed that the couple did indeed got the wrong birds. (I believe their issue was resolved but they did leave empty handed.)
So… picking up the hint, when my turn came up, I asked the woman to confirm I did indeed got the buffs. Well… to my surprise, she said no! She walked me back to the back where they house the chicks and listed out the breeds they do have (despite what was written on the cage and brooder box). The good news is they have the other breed I wanted, the Wyandottes! She patiently picked out 5 chicks for me (although I only wanted 3) and confirmed twice that they were the right breed.
Looking back, here are my hints if you want to get chicks and you know which breed you want:
— call ahead to check availability, but do not rely on what they tell you they have (it depends on who answers the phone). On the other hand, if they say they don’t have it, they really don’t
— when you get to the store, ask one of the front desk staff for help. The gentlemen are nice but of the two gentlemen who helped me, both of them didn’t know their breeds
— finally, ask a lot of questions!
My adorable 2 weeks old baby chicks are comfortable in their box now. Only time will tell if they are really Wyandottes. but I now have a better chance that they are. I will turn to another source (local 4H) for the buffs that I also want (HMB feed store didn’t know when they will get more).
Hope this will help someone to avoid surprise and disappointment. Good luck and have fun.

Half Moon Bay, CA
On Main St.
A-​OK
Feed Store, Pet Store, Knick Knack, Country General Goods store all rolled into one.
Very cool as it’s located on the main drag of HMB in between the shops and restaurants.
Worth a walk through and you might find something that stands out or for your favorite animal at home.

Great local feed store. We got some chicks there a year ago and they’re thriving. They have, or can get, most everything you need for your backyard flock, and so much more.

Neat chick and animal feed store. They have chicks in the back!

Amazing and very friendly people. I just started with chickens and knew barely anything. They are very knowledgeable and will love to give you advice. I highly suggest to go here. They have a great inventory with very nice people.

We called last night to make sure they were going to have enough baby chicks to go around… rumor has it they run out quickly and the last thing I wanna do is drive to half moon bay with a 3 year old who is dead set on bringing home some chickens «the lilltle ones «. They are soooo cute!!! The staff is incredibly knowledgable and helpful! This chicken thing is very new us we are city people… Olden was the one that helped us get all set up! From feeders to bedding to chicks! He was very patient while my overwhelmed and tired 3 year old picked the ones he wanted. We ended up with everything we needed for them and 6 baby chicks! I think everything was pretty reasonable price wise (not sure we have a dog and we all know how expensive they can get) We brought them home and got them all set up with the light food and water. Thanks again olden! Ur awesome! And we will be back soon! My son cannot leave them alone! :/​also not that far from us at all took a whole 20 mins to get there :)
Take a drive and support a local business! They have everything you will need!
We love our baby chickies!!!

So I have to update my review based on this morning’s experience.
I had to return an item I had purchased yesterday, but before doing so, I went on their website to review their return policy. I had opened the canister of Garden and Poultry Dust to see what it looked like, and their site mentioned nothing about no refunds on opened products.
When I went to the store the woman who helped me was busy speaking to a friend, and when I told her I had a return she asked if I had a receipt. Which I did, of course. She asked if it was open and I said yes because I wanted to see what it looked like. She then told me that they couldn’t accept any returns that were open.
I’ve worked in retail, I completely understand store policies, but I would’ve appreciated it if they had their complete return policy available online.
But the inability to return isn’t the reason why I’m changing the rating this store to 1 star; the reason is because of the blatant rudeness that that woman treated me with. After telling me that they didn’t do returns, she told me «you can’t eat half a loaf of bread and then return it at the grocery store» like I was dumb and didn’t understand how things worked. I really wanted to tell her that yeah, you actually could return half eaten bread. You can opt to not pay for a meal at many restaurants because you were «unsatisfied» but people generally don’t do that.
As a store, they should have clearly stated their complete return policy either online or on their receipt, and they should definitely hold off on the snark. It makes me wonder if that woman is related to the younger woman I mentioned in my earlier review who also has zero customer service and is rude.
Thank goodness for the internet, I won’t be going back to this store.

After I get blankets and saddle pads cleaned I buy my horse’s Triple Crown Senior feed at Half Moon Bay Feed & Fuel and anything else I might need for the ranch.
Hmmmm, maybe I need to start raising chickens.

«The best place in town to pick up chicks».
I love that sign on the outside. Speaking of funny signs, are little engraved signs with cheeky humor your kind of thing? If so, stop by and browse through their wide selection.
Here also you’ll find various types of chicks, rabbits, animal feed, hay, boots, saddles and plenty of other stuff to get you started when you transplant yourself from the city to country livin’.
You can usually tell who’s a tourist and who’s a resident here. This place is great for both!

I love stopping here just to see the little chicks, rabbits and guinea pigs.
Wonderful place if you’re looking for metal water troughs for your backyard, Since my backyward is mostly cement, I’ve purchased 3 water troughs to grow veggies from this place… different sizes and competitive prices.

Extremely overpriced. $ 40 for a rope halter for example. The young ladies always working (I think the one is the owner’s daughter) come across as snobby and judgmental. I’m sure she rides her horse in pearls and diamonds with that attitude. And most of their hay looks horrible. They buy some of their hay at Azevedos but they must let it sit for too long because the hay at Azevedos never looks like the garbage they sell here. They must stay in business by the tourists on the street because their customer service and prices will drive others away.

I’m upping my rating due to our last trip! I scored a big galvanized wash tub! I’ve been looking for one, an authentic one-​not the new trending version that is sold in every home store… and I found it! It fit nicely in my trunk and is now awaiting it’s first party where it will be filled with ice and refreshing beverages!

Seriously thinking about looking into my apartment’s policy on having chickens as pets after one visit here.
First of all, the cats will LOVE a baby chicky friend.
Second, sooo much cuteness… except for the one baby chick that had crusty poop all over it’s back. I’ve got enough pets with crusty poop problems to last me a lifetime.
But I did love coming here. I think this is the first legit farm & feed I’ve ever been in, and while I have no business being here as I have no farm, no garden, no barn, no nothing that the average customer who shops here has, I do love me some baby animals, so I came to ogle the hatchlings, the bunnies, the kittens, the guinea pigs, and whatever other cuteness that lives here and I haven’t yet found.
The shop is cute and crazy, like a country Ace Hardware, and would satisfy all the needs of any novice cowboy.

I do not get what is with the negative reviews for this place. We bought our chickens and bunnies from HMB F&F, and on both occasions we were helped by an exceptionally nice young man named Loren. We were newbies to hen and rabbit ownership, and Loren went out of his way to explain everything that we would need to do in order to properly predator proof the housing we had selected (we got our coop and hutch elsewhere). In addition, he patiently helped us select all of the supplies and feed we would be needing. The rest of the staff seems to be friendly and helpful from what I can tell. Even if you are not in the market to purchase farm supplies, this place is super charming and the baby chicks are freaking ADORABLE.

Came here originally because we were planning our backyard farm. The centerpiece to said farm would be chickens from here. Come here to find out that if you want juvenile/​adult chickens you need to come on the day they release. Not only that, but you should arrive AT LEAST an hour before they open. Well, that doesn’t really work out well for me so we ended having to give up on this place for chickens. So if you are planning on getting chickens here, consider yourself informed.
In terms of the supplies, that’s where this place is great. Everything is available in large quantities. There’s usually parking behind the building and you can just roll in and load up once you’ve paid for your stuff.
Half Moon Bay Feed & Fuel also carried diatomaceous earth. I was looking for it online and shipping was gonna kill me. HMB F&F had it and it was pretty cheap so that was kind of awesome.

«Pick up chicks here»
That was the sign that got me in the place. Get your heads out of the gutters… they have live chicks and they are adorable! Little squeaky things.
All kinds of hen feed sold by the pound.
Recommend for the passerby who wants a chick fix.