19/36 dead chicks- is this normal? :-( how do I ID which breeds died?

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6Happiness

6Happiness

Songster
9 Years
May 31, 2010
166
1
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This is my first time ordering chicks via mail. I ordered 32 chicks from McMurray's. They sent me 36 and HALF where dead! I knew to expect a few to not make it, but this many???

I checked their page on the issue here: http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/guarantee.html

As I'll be contacting them about this, after I snap some photos and make a list of who is alive/dead by appearance...
which option do you think I should take- a refund and go elsewhere? give them another chance?

Besides just being devastated at so many being dead, I'm frustrated because I can't figure out what breed some of the dead ones were. Some of the website's breed pages have photos of the chicks, but some do not, and some of them look alike to me (lots and lots of black with cream bellies!)- I want to replace them as soon as possible, but I'm not sure what I'll need to replace.

And since they all cost different prices, how will they know how much refund if I want to go elsewhere?

Can experienced folks ID chick breeds this young if I post photos (and weights?), or am I just going to have to wait?

The breeds I got were:

BRCS 1 02/07/2011* BLACK ROSECOMB
CKMC 1 02/07/2011* CUCKOO MARAN Males
CKMP 2 02/07/2011* CUCKOO MARAN Females
BRWS 3 02/07/2011* BLUE LACED WYANDOTTE St. Run
LAKP 2 02/07/2011* LAKENVELDERS Females
LAKC 1 02/07/2011* LAKENVELDERS Males
WFBP 2 02/07/2011* W.F. BLACK SPANISH Females
WFBC 1 02/07/2011* W.F. BLACK SPANISH Males
ARAP 2 02/07/2011* ARAUCANA Females
SPSC 1 02/07/2011* SPECKLED SUSSEX Males
BLGC 3 02/07/2011* BLACK GIANTS Males
BLGP 7 02/07/2011* BLACK GIANTS Females - (I suspect enough of these giants made it so that I won't need to replace.)
DABP 2 02/07/2011* DARK BRAHMAS Females (These I know are alive as they are the only feather footed chipmunks)
BPBS 3 02/07/2011* W.C.BLACK POLISH BANTS St. Run (I found 2 dead that look like the photo with a "crest" started, but I ordered 3 and can't find a living 3rd one)
SUBS 1 02/07/2011* SULTAN BANTAMS St. Run (Photo on site showed all white chicks. featherfooted. I only ordered 1 but I have 2 dead feather footed solid white; I assume they sent a duplicate)
FRCS 1 02/07/2011* Free Rare Exotic Chick
 
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I am so sorry about your chicks. It is not normal too lose so many. I have had one or two dead ones from McMurray but I always order them in the spring. Is it possible they got cold? How long did it take for them to arrive?
 
Were they delayed getting to you by the weather? It's not usual to lose that many, no. They are great about replacing or refunding, though if you get a refund, you might want to wait until it's warmer to order from somewhere else to give yourself added protection.

ETA: Yes, there are some people here that are great at identifying breeds in chicks. Change your title to add in a warning that dead chicks are pictures and post pics, you'll get help figuring out who's who.

Very sorry for your loss.
 
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It's been very hard on shipping with chicks right now, I had two orders recently where I had major losses and the hatchery was very willing to help me out afterwards with replacements. Just call them because at times they will just duplicate the order for you.

Sorry to hear of the loss... it's hard I know.
 
I think McMurray will work with you- I have ordered from them several times and all arrive alive each time.

Call them and tell them the problem. See if they will send you replacements. They can always include free roosters as "packing peanuts" to keep the others warm (this is a common practice for some hatcheries).

And yes- BYC'ers might be able to tell you who survived by photos.
 
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I ordered them several weeks ago (as my bday/xmas gift to myself), so that they'd just ship when they were ready. I got an Email yesterday (which surprised me since it was sunday), to expect them soon. They arrived today. We are up north, so cold is a likely possibility, but I went with their experience and assumed they'd ship when they knew it was safe to.
 
Thanks everyone, I'll find out if McMurrays wants to duplicate the order in which case, ID'ing breeds wont be an issue.

If not, I will post pics in hopes some of you can ID. I'll post the live ones and dead ones in separate threads so that no one has to see the dead ones if it would bother them.
 
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thats what i would do ask for replacement of whole order. they will need to ship min. of 25 anyway to keep them warm.
 
McMurray will work with you on this. On another thread, there were a couple people who had the same problem, and they got another order shipped to them the next week.

Call them sooner rather than later. What day did you get them? How many were Dead on arrival? How many died in the following days? You will need to tell them this information.

This was my first time ordering from McMurray as well. My chicks got here today. I ordered 25 plus the free rare breed. So 26 total. I was shipped 27 birds. I have one that isnt doing very well, but all of the others are perky and doing well.

Please call the hatchery ASAP to report your losses. They will more than likely offer a refund, or send you another shipment.
 
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