15 of 26 Chicks Dead

[Chad the Chicken Man]

Ok I will do that. I will call them and tell them what has been going on.

 

[Judy]

I lost nearly half my shipment last spring. MM staff told me at the time that they only ship on Saturdays, as there is always enough room on the Fedex airplanes on Saturday. I since learned on here that some staff tell customers that and others do not. I am wondering if they actually went out last Saturday and were simply delayed too long by the PO. Maybe they have changed how they handle things.

At any rate, I did not want a reshipment, and they credited my credit card immediately. I would be very surprised if they doubted you were telling the truth. I had the PO employee sign a form to verify the arrival deaths but MM never asked for it.

 

[Chad the Chicken Man]

Well like I said this is my first time with chickens, and I always thought that they were 100% flow balls when they were first born, and these guys look like they might be getting there wing feathers in, if that makes any sense? so I dont know if that means they are older than a couple days? because I thought they ship them when they are first born so they can life off the egg they were born out of. I dont know if im saying this right or not, but thats what I thought.

 

[Chad the Chicken Man]

live off the egg, sorry not life off the egg....

 

[nop169]

Chad, Sorry about your chicks - it sounds like you are doing the right things so hopefully you will not lose anymore. Note that your survivors will probably have pasty rearends the next few days from the stress. an antibacterial may be warrented in their water when & if this occurs. As for MM.... I do not want to bash a hatchery but I had the same experience several years in a row with MM. Although to be honest I ordered BLR wyndottes last spring for my wife from them (only hatchery that has them) and out of 25, 6 were dead or dying upon delivery... I used the antibacterial for the pasty rearends from stress & did not lose anymore than those 6. This was the first time I have used MM in years because of the almost total death of chicks shipped in previous years. The other reason I do not loke MM is that even though they will replace your order without question - the customer service people were like it was no big deal that the shipments died. I do not like the callous attitude. All animals whether pets or destined to be human food deserve compasionate treatment during their lifespan. For me - I have found IDEAL to be a much better source with few to no loses over the last 6 years & I have ordered hundreds.... although to be fair - again MM has the better true to form bantams compared to size & color than Ideal.
Sorry about your dissapointment - we felt the same when we lost the 6 BLRs.... hang in there & hopefully your replacement shipment will be in better shape...

 

[Eggs4Sale]

When our shipment of baby chicks from MM arrived, we got a call Monday morning, 7 a.m. Not a one of them (50 chicks) had any feathers to speak of, and all still had their egg tooth. Yours sound a little older, and I really think they were in transit too long.
Their catalog states you will be given a refund or replacement (your choice) for chicks that have died within 48 hours of arrival. That's why the lady wanted to wait to see.

It is always possible that a postal employee doesn't know the protocol and puts a box of chicks in a postal truck, or leaves it on a loading dock, or who knows what. Mistakes happen, unfortunately.

I'm sorry you had to find your chicks in this condition.


Nop169, I wouldn't knock them for a callous attitude. We get bothered by things, like sick or dead chicks, sick kids, dying pets... but the people who work in those fields see it ALL THE TIME. And just like the people on this site, some people come across as more sympathetic than others. You can call ANY company and get either a very nice person, or a very rude person. It just depends on who answers your call. But I'll bet MM doesn't have any rude people working their phones. They are just very used to receiving calls from distraught people, so it's not a big deal to them. I don't think I could ship chicks all over the US with a 100% live rate, and I sure couldn't deal with the distressing phone calls. I give legitimate hatcheries credit for their efforts, personally.

 

[write2caroline]

Be careful about too much sweet in the water. You might then end up with pasty butted chicks

Could you spoon feed them some water with some apple cider vinagar (ACV) about a tablespoon to a cup of water? It is okay to mix and give to all the chicks.

Mine seemed to do better with the spoon then the dropper.

Also watch the temp - careful it is not too warm or too cold. Mine seemed to like 90 degrees better than 95 degrees. If they are clumped up they are cold and if they are all spread out away from the heat they are cold. They will tell you what they need by their actions.

I am so very sorry for your losses. It is horrible to be so excited and then have a tragic loss.

I lost my favorite one to my dog at two weeks and nearly lost the other two I had left.

For the remaining chicks watch them and check on them every couple of hours if you can and offer water mixed with the ACV. on a spoon. Hopefully - even if they are wobbly for a few days they are hearty little creatures and can bounce back strong.

Sending little chick prayers for your sweet patootans remaining.

Caroline - Today it hit triple digets - so my girls got ice in their water!
Jax FL

 

[Chad the Chicken Man]

Whoa I am so happy I joined the BYC site, thank you all so very much for all your help, I knew nothing at all about chickens 6 months ago and after reading some books and being on this website I feel alot better about the things I can do to help my chicks, and its nice to know if I have any questions just to go ahead and ask. Thanks guys!!!

 

[justmeandtheflock]

I am so sorry this happend to you

. I am sure that they will do what they can to make it right.

Here is a pic of a 4 day old EE from McMurry. I don't see any wing feathers yet.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

That had to be terrible when you had been looking forward to the chicks arrival.
MM will make it better. Sorry this had to happen to you.