SHIPPING BABY CHICKS ,,,NEED HELP !!!

mettymet

In the Brooder
6 Years
Jun 27, 2013
63
1
41
hi i'm shipping out chicks that are 10 days to 2 weeks old ,,,,the problem is im losing about 20% - 25%,,,,i'm putting wood chips in the bottom ,,,i'm putting food and gro gel and heat packs when needed ..i dont know what i need to do ,,,please help ..

below is a pic of the boxes i'm using ...

thank you
 
No expert but maybe it's the age of them. Normally they ship day olds. The stress at that age would be pretty high being chucked in a dark box and shipped.
 
ok thanks ,,,,,
Definitely not the age. I ship days olds to adults, with no problems. What kind of wood chips are you using? How many are you putting in the box? Are they over crowded? Is it too hot? The box you have a pic of looks like it's for day old chicks. Maybe you need a bigger box?? In that box, depending on how large your babies are, I wouldn't put more that 5-7 max.
 
Definitely not the age. I ship days olds to adults, with no problems. What kind of wood chips are you using? How many are you putting in the box? Are they over crowded? Is it too hot? The box you have a pic of looks like it's for day old chicks. Maybe you need a bigger box?? In that box, depending on how large your babies are, I wouldn't put more that 5-7 max. 
Watching
 
Definitely not the age. I ship days olds to adults, with no problems. What kind of wood chips are you using? How many are you putting in the box? Are they over crowded? Is it too hot? The box you have a pic of looks like it's for day old chicks. Maybe you need a bigger box?? In that box, depending on how large your babies are, I wouldn't put more that 5-7 max.
I have to agree. I haven't shipped, but I have received chicks within that age range. The ones that had losses, where overcrowded. What number of birds that fits in the box, and what number of birds overheats or gets trampled in that box, are two different things. Your heat packs might be doing them in too!
 
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Ship as day olds... YEs some people can ship as 1-2 week olds but the reason hatcheries ship as day olds is 1, legally you have to ship as day olds or as adults. 2, day olds do not need food/water for 72 hours after hatching. That's why it's safer. Thats why large hatcheries ship hundreds of thousands of chicks weekly as day olds. It's the safest way. Schedule your eggs to hatch each Monday so you can ship Monday/Tuesday. The only risk of them not surviving shipment is not enough heat. ship with a couple 72 hour heat packs and cover the top holes so the box keeps heated and you're golden... Have done this for a long time. I have shipped 1 day olds as well as 2 week olds and shipped the same way. Only losses have been from shipping 1-2 week olds even with grogel and heat packs. They need more food and water than just grogel if the shipment takes 2 days and that's why your'e losing chicks. If you ship 2 week olds you should ship with a bigger cup of grogel that is very liquidy so they can retain more water when they eat/drink it... Plus maybe a cup of chick starter. Glue/tape cups down so they don't fall over... That will help you out when shipping. Just some ideas from someone that's shipped chicks and adults for 5 years I've learned a bit from mistakes but now have almost no casualties when shipping.
 
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Watching

I shipped some LF Cochins once and I was told to put a sign on the box for the airline: DO NOT PLACE NEAR DRY ICE. Apparently dry ice sucks up the oxygen around it.....
 
As someone else mentioned the issues are when it takes more than one day to ship them. I have found that at 3-4 weeks of age they can handle the extra day just fine, but younger than that you will have losses.
 

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