McMurray Hatchery Question

[Herechickychick]

A "Peanut" is an extra chick(usually a male) Thrown in the order for extra warmth, or so they say.

 

[gabrielle1976]

thats just there way of getting rid of extra roo's probly

 

[Herechickychick]

Ya thats wat i was thinking!!!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Packing peanuts are the extra chicks added to a box, to keep the ones you ordered warm. They are different than the rare free chick that you get.

Years ago, when I ordered my first chicks from MM, I got packing peanuts. I was young and what I didn't realize, was that not only is there a 25 chick minimum, you need to order in multiples of 25. Otherwise, they fill in the rest of the last box with enough extra chicks to equal 25. This is to keep the chicks warm enough on the trip. The boxes are sized for 25 chicks and they all give off a certain amount of body heat in that space.

Usually, people get the extra cockerels from whatever hybrid layers they have. These are bred to be easy to sex as soon as they hatched, by just looking at their feathers. Ideal allows you to have a minimum order by price, instead of the number of chicks. They also include extra chicks for warmth, depending on the number ordered and the time of year.

 

[toyzbox]

I love the peanut idea but what if you don't want roo's.
Cull or rehome??? What a hassle.

On second thought, I couldn't bring myself to cull them. I guess I'm just roo bound.

 

[Bullwinkle]

Quote:
I received my order from McMurray last week. I had originally ordered 85 chicks (plus the free one = 86). They had a bad hatch for one variety (rose comb brown leghorns), so the total would have been 83.

They sent 4 'packing peanuts': all from varieties and sexes I had ordered:

I ordered: x1 Buff Orpington Rooster - They sent an extra Roo free.
x1 Light Brahma Rooster - They sent an extra Roo free.
x25 Black Star Pullets - They sent an extra Pullet free.
x25 RIR Pullets - They sent an extra Pullet free.

So in total they sent: x2 free pullets, and x2 free Roo's, but all were of varieties and sexes I had ordered. On a side note... I had x1 light Brahma roo die, and x2 Black Star Pullets die (The black stars seem small and are growing slower than the other chicks).

 

[Herechickychick]

So if I have my 25+rare I wont get peanuts, right? but if I were to order 26+the rare, i would get 24 packing peanuts?!?GAAH!

 

[Kezzie]

Quote:
And my understanding is that the shipping charge would jump at anything over 26.

 

[firedove]

I ordered 27 + rare and got all in 1 box, no peanuts.

 

[Patch of Heaven Farm]

No if you ordered 26 + 1 rare you should not get 24 peanuts. I ordered 30+ chicks and they sent them in one box and added 8 RIR roos. I ordered 175 chicks last year and only lost one. I do believe it depends on the time of year you order if they add peanuts. The 2 orders of 25 + rare I ordered in the summer only had one extra chick in it.

Good luck with your chicks!!!