MMs free rare exotic chick!

Can I have one

Totally know what you mean about trying to figure out what is what. I have been on every site I can find, my husband is patient and says just wait till they grow up. Unfortunately one of ours died yesterday (2 weeks old) hope she is the only one. We only ordered 15 (got 16) rainbow layers plus the white crested black polish (I assume will be a roo). It was one of my EE that passed. But I think I have some australorps, spangled hamburgs, buff orps, red star, Sussex, wyandottes, maran, and EEs. We shall see.

I ordered 15 Silver Spangled Hamburgs and my free exotic chick was a Buff Laced Polish pullet. I just knew it was going to be a roo, but I was wrong

Just curious about those that ordered and lost chicks. Was the weather extreme hot or cold when you ordered? I mean you can look at a 10 day forecast. If the weather is going to be extremely hot between your house and McMurray I would hold off until the weather breaks. I used to work at UPS and during the heat of summer here in TN the trucks we were loading got to 120˚ with the back end open and the force fans blowing. Shoot at the height of the heat you would likely have better luck with only 10 to 15 chicks in a box. Although it will sort out any weak ones for you.

I don't think the problem a lot of times is not that people are not watching the weather, or are not aware what the weather is doing, so much as predicting the weather is not an exact science. Can't tell you how often I have placed an order for next week where the forecast looked fine and then we had a blizzard or heat wave or something.
The only time I have had major losses was one shipment from a big hatchery during the summer when the box was "lost" for a day and the chicks arrived late... the weather was really hot, but I have gotten shipments when the weather was just as hot and they did fine. They actually replaced that shipment the next week and they were fine. While I think that whatever happened to the chicks during the time they were "lost" was the problem, there are only a few hatcheries I would order from in the summer now because of the USPS shipping routes and how fast I get the chicks. For example, with the insanity that is the USPS, I get shipments from Sandhill (500 miles away) in about 18 hours, from Mt Healthy (175 miles) and McMurray (700 miles) in two-three days. Which I think brings up another point, the route the chicks have to take to get to you is as important if not more important than the weather and the distance. I really don't know how you can figure that out for sure without trial and error... and then you hope the big hatcheries don't drop ship from somewhere else.
The other big problem is if you want in-demand breeds, you have to pre-order, especially in the spring when most people want to get chicks. I usually place my spring orders a good six months ahead of time so I know I have a good chance of getting what I want when I want it. I do have chicks delivered to my work PO Box, which is in the areas main PO, and have them held for pickup, that certainly helps with how well they do. Most bigger hatcheries will usually let you cancel or move orders on pretty short notice (maybe with some sort of penalty if short notice), but most smaller ones or private breeders are not going to be as able or willing to do that since they usually do not have other buyers lined up to take chicks right away.

Black bantam cochin roo

Did you get your chicks vaccinated????

Penny Hen said:

Just curious about those that ordered and lost chicks. Was the weather extreme hot or cold when you ordered? I mean you can look at a 10 day forecast. If the weather is going to be extremely hot between your house and McMurray I would hold off until the weather breaks. I used to work at UPS and during the heat of summer here in TN the trucks we were loading got to 120˚ with the back end open and the force fans blowing. Shoot at the height of the heat you would likely have better luck with only 10 to 15 chicks in a box. Although it will sort out any weak ones for you.

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You actually don't always have a choice, especially if you're wanting a specific breed. In fact, many hatchery's websites will tell you what dates will work with all the different breeds you want... so it may not be until several months later when they'd be available to ship. Some hatcheries also offer a discount if you place your order by a certain date.

Ideal Poultry's facebook said that they are already all sold out of chicks until Easter! Cackle Hatchery keeps a list of what is available on their website, and you can take a look and see that for many breeds they are sold out for over a month.

Would a Turken (Naked Neck) be considered the "exotic bird" in my special assortment from MMM last week? They're listed in the regular section, but if he's not the exotic, then it must be a black chick.
Sarah

I ordered a small batch of chicks 30 and I got a EE i think as my free "rare" chick but I ordered 5 blue Andalusians hens and one rooster and they sent me 3 extra blue Andalusian Roos for free