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

[6Happiness]

Quote:
Not new with chickens, but new at the shipping.

And yeah, when they told me the 7th for shipping, I thought that meant they were going to be shipping out on the 7th (mon), not that they'd be arriving that day.

 

[6Happiness]

Quote:
x2. I get very frustrated when I read these kinds of posts. I wish the hatcheries would just stop shipping this time of year. It doesn't seem to matter how many people warn newbies not to order this time of year, they are too excited to get their chicks and then we wind up with threads like this. Gah!

When I was researching shipping and hatcheries, I only saw warnings about what days to ship, and that you needed a lot of chicks for body warmth or a heat pack in there. So its not just how much you warn, but if the warnings are getting out to where people are likely to see them (not that i am blaming you!).

I also assumed that given all their experience shipping chicks, the hatchery knew what they were doing- and they'd not ship if most would end up dead (how is that even good business!? They just have to refund/replace and upset/loose customers). If this is a reoccurring problem, then they should seek to fix it- either stop shipping like you said, or find a safer way (maybe heat packs in all boxes and better insulated boxes?)

 

[deerman]

Quote:
Not new with chickens, but new at the shipping.

And yeah, when they told me the 7th for shipping, I thought that meant they were going to be shipping out on the 7th (mon), not that they'd be arriving that day.

Think this would be a good reason not to get chicks from them, even if PO fault for only Friday shipping.

I have never had trouble with Mt Heathy , and I bought thousands for resell . When I had my store. Chicks are hatch Sundays, and Wednesday,

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Quote:
I have to wonder though...the hatchery has no way of knowing what the weather may be doing when they set the eggs, so they can't just not SET them. What would they be expected to do with the chicks if they didn't ship? My understanding is that chicks need to be shipped immediately for the best survival because they can still live off of nutrition from the yolk for the first couple of days.

I think it makes more sense for them to send them out and hope for the best instead of just mass culling entire hatches because weather makes shipping iffy, don't you think so?

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

that's exactly what ALL hatcheries do, they could careless,. For every 1 order they have reported problems with, they'll get 8-10 out either with no problems or at least a buyer who doesnt report one.
As for know what the weather will be, well in January and Feb. you can pretty much bet it's gonna be COLD. If not there or at the arrival P.O., It will be somewhere inbetween.
And plain and simple, day old chicks need to be kept at 95 degrees. Shipping in freezing temps just is bad for them.
What they ALL should do, is ship similar to how I do. Heat packs manditory in every box regardless of time of year, 2 this time of year, and by Express mail when it's bad weather. One night and with good heat packs would make all the difference.
I used to ship by Priority and the 3-4 day trips they often took to get there was just murder on them. So we switched to all Express on all orders and very very seldome loose any more chicks, maybe 3-4 all season long. They just cant take slow Priority trips especially in this cold weather. We only sell eggs this time of year too, cause the end result of shipping chicks is this thread in Jan. and Feb.
We will only start shipping chicks when its constantly warm here, and always ask our customers, "what's you temps like" when they want to place an early order in the spring. If they say , "oh it's only 20-30 at night here any more" We MAKE them wait, a few weeks for better weather aint gonna kill anyone.

Not blaming any buyers here, blaming the hatcheries, they should simply follow some of these simple rules. Ask the buyer a few quick question ans set a hatch date according to their location, if you live in say The Dakotas or Great Lakes regeions, chances are your 10 feet in snow right now. Not a real good time to be shipping chicks to them and the hatcheries should care enough to ask and work with you BEFORE there's a shipping problem, NOT after half your order is dead.

anyway, that's just my 2 cents worth

Hope all works out for all those who have lost orders

 

[Thomasturkey]

I think this is a freak thing and not all that common. I have ordered early in the year since I was a kid with no problem. My post office has never seen this before. I do think this was my first time having a Monday pickupbut my box shows they where mailed out on Saturday. They hatched at 1700 on 2/4. My thought was they might have died from heat rather than cold. Maybe someone placed them near a heater and they cooked or piled to get away from the heat. Our weather is not cold here. This weekend was in the 80's. Even our night temperatures where nice.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

I wish it was an uncommon thing, but it's not. I see you are new here, just give it a month or so and watch how many threads and post come up this year about it.

It would take temps over 110 to kill the babies for a good period of time, so I highly doubt it was heat. Honestly, for the most part, It's just another box to move for postal handlers, and most are automated any more so I doubt anyone put them infront of a heater. Where you live really doesnt matter, what all did they go threw getting to you. If I remember right, they are out of IA, it's pretty darn cold up there right now I would imagen. You have to consider where they left, where they went and all points inbetween weather wise. That's why right now, it's a safe bet to assume they will hit some cold weather along the way.

 

[Whiskey Bay]

Both of my boxes showed them being shipped out on Friday.The first one last week was delivered Tuesday.Thats 4 days.26/26 lost. The second this week came in on Monday...3 days.19/25 so far.I will be calling them tomorrow.I won't order from them again.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

boy!
For a lack of a better word, that's sucks.
That's what I was talking about earlier though, with Priority it is very common for a 3-4 day trip, they just cant take that any time of year, 2 days tops, after that they are going to be dead, dying or very weak. If they are only shipping out on Fridays and Saturdays now, they should offer Express shipping as a customer upgrade option. As part of that, the P.O. is required to deliver on Sundays and Holidays on it, would be a much safer way to ship them.
Not really sure why they say their P.O. will only except them on Fridays any more anyway.
Actually I have a list of Postal Zip codes that only except them where delivery is expected BEFORE Fridays, and some that will not Except them into the system even by Express if not posted before Thursday. To ship Priority and on Fridays is just insane as you are guaranteed a 3 day minimum trip by the time you get them Monday.
Have a feeling they are going to be eating a ton of chicks this year.....

No I wouldnt buy any more from a hatchery that ships day olds like that either, that's just asking for it, even with the replacements...I mean look what happened to the second order above.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Quote:
x2. I get very frustrated when I read these kinds of posts. I wish the hatcheries would just stop shipping this time of year. It doesn't seem to matter how many people warn newbies not to order this time of year, they are too excited to get their chicks and then we wind up with threads like this. Gah!

When I was researching shipping and hatcheries, I only saw warnings about what days to ship, and that you needed a lot of chicks for body warmth or a heat pack in there. So its not just how much you warn, but if the warnings are getting out to where people are likely to see them (not that i am blaming you!).

I also assumed that given all their experience shipping chicks, the hatchery knew what they were doing- and they'd not ship if most would end up dead (how is that even good business!? They just have to refund/replace and upset/loose customers). If this is a reoccurring problem, then they should seek to fix it- either stop shipping like you said, or find a safer way (maybe heat packs in all boxes and better insulated boxes?)

Everyone should remember that we raise our chicks under 95 degree heat to start and if you are trying to ship them in 30 degree and below temps you are going to lose them. Is is really that important that you have to get them now, can't it wait until the weather warms.