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

[6Happiness]

Quote:
No, the date wasn't especially important.... I ordered many weeks ago as a combined xmas/bday gift to myself to be shipped as when they were available... they've been doing this how many years, I figured they knew what they were doing

 

[6Happiness]

UPDATE:

Have been told to call the hatchery back tomorrow after 48 hrs with the final results on how many survived and didn't. Not sure what they will offer to do. Still not sure what I should request. Is it safe to replace them now? Will they do a replacement but delay shipment to a warmer time? Should I get a refund and order eggs from others instead (are those as likely to break in the mail as chicks are likely to die in the mail?)? Some say this was unusual, others say to be expected. Who to trust? I've had bad luck with 2 local sources (from one, the chicks died in months from a virus; from another they infected our house/pets with the worst case of mites our vet ever saw were were hell to eradicate; that one also tried to sell us a sick/dying pigeon for a 10% discount)

The chicks are in a very hot room now that I'm starting tomatoes in too. 2 more died later on the first day which brings us up to 21 dead.

A couple more still look iffy, I continue to make sure they are getting water and food by hand since I don't know if they are getting any on their own.

The rest are looking okay now.

The survivors are mostly black legged, black beaked black chicks with cream on the belly which I suspect are mostly (if not entirely) Jersey giants. A few are "chipmunk" looking, a feathered legged that should be a dark Brahmas, and i'm not sure what the remaining clean legged chipmunks are.

I figured out which were the Polish, Sultans, and blue laced Wyandottes - all which did not make it. There are more black and more chipmunks that didn't make it too.

I don't know if to count among the survivors or the dead the: black rose comb, cuckoo marans, lankenvelders, white faced spanish or Sussex or araucana.

 

[classicsredone]

If you call for a reshipment, ask them for a heater to be placed in the box. I was one of the members that lost almost a whole shipment (22 of 26) this past week from a McMurray shipment. In my case, I think most of the chicks were fine until they got to my post office. It was actually a shipping distribution center. The chicks sat there all day Sunday, and half of Monday. Then instead of calling us as the box instructs, they put the chicks on the mail truck. The chicks sat in that unheated truck on a day that happened to be colder than normal for our area. Trust me, the post office heard about it.

I've been reading about the new arrivals, and almost everyone that received a call on Sunday from the post office had very few deaths. Same for those where the hatchery used a heating pack. McMurray should require heating packs for cool weather shipping. I don't remember seeing the option on their site, but I did some research and the packs are actually really cheap.

 

[6Happiness]

Quote:
Thanks, I have read about the packs but didn't know McMurray's had any. I will ask them about that possibility. Did you pay extra for the heat pack? how much?

As a matter of fact, that is what happened with ours too- the Post Office didn't call us, they brought them to the house. But it was still in the morning, aroudn when I'd have expected a phone call, and I didn't know anyone would even be around to have called me on a sunday since they're closed.... so i didn't think anything of it.... retrospectively now, I'm thinking that's what exposed them to more cold air than they'd have been if I transported them home in my car- i'd not be stopping at every house with my window rolled down.

i had told the PO the chicks were coming, and it said on the box to call first, so I don't know why they didn't.

What did you say to your post office? Did they do anything about it?

 

[draye]

See I told you I thought it the fault of the post office.

I think you can request a delay until it is warmer repacement shipment.

 

[classicsredone]

We didn't get the heat pack because we didn't know about it at the time. My family was so disturbed that we decided to go with the refund and find replacements from a hatchery that is closer. By chance, our feed store got in chicks from Belt a month earlier than they had thought. I picked up 6 day-old Barred Rocks that had just made the trip.


Regarding the post office - when we hadn't gotten a call by noon, my husband called the post office. He spoke with the lady up front, and she told us that they guys in the back put the chicks on the truck. (I assumed they would put them in one of their minivans, but it was a regular truck.) After all of the deaths, my husband called back and spoke to the lady. She felt horrible and started choking up when he explained what happened. I asked my husband to call back sometime this week and follow up with the Post Master for that center. The box was perfectly clear that they were live animals and to call immediately.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

yep, heat packs and EXPRESS MAIL, save chicks, period. Bad thing is, to alot of hatcheries, you're just another number for the day and they dont take special request. I try to get some stuff every year from Ideal for color project work. For some reason though (Priority mail) they take 3 days to get here from Texas to Georgia every time, well being that, half are ALWAYS dead, they other half near death. Like I said earlier, we switched to mandatory express if you want chicks from us, and heat packs go in all our boxes year round. I called Ideal customer service on the last order and explained my 3 year history of deaths in their shipments. Just simply asked to up grade to a heat pack and express being more than happy to pay the extra fees for it.
They said, sorry we dont do that, they'll be fine??????? I just told them for 3 years none had had more than are 40% 1 week survival rate from them like that, didnt matter, they'll be fine.....
Well they sent them normal, so, 50% were DOA and most all the others were so weak they died within 3 days or so. Bad thing is, they pretty much automate their packing, so to take you specially off the line and do a little extra would slow them down, to them you're just not worth that extra 5 minutes is all I have been able to gather.
When dealing in mass production, the individual doesnt take priority. Maybe not all hatcheries do like that, but that was how I felt in the long run.

OH and yes, I always order in the summer when it was warm

 

[bunchmtnfarm]

hi

i live in georgia i always buy my chicks from ideal and it takes them 2 days for them to arrival and they have always been alive

i ordered broiler chicks from pa it took them a extra day to get here that was on a saturday and they were all alive

just my 2 cents on ideal i like ordering chicks from them

 

[6Happiness]

I spoke too soon about them looking better, 2 more died, and 5 more look weak today

calling the hatchery in a minute...

 

[HollywoodHillsHens]

Quote:
So very sorry to read about all the losses on this thread!!

Not to play "Poultry CSI" or anything, but it seems like the chicks may have gotten into the "gro gel" and perhaps were poisoned?

As some advice that worked for us, call and speak with your postmaster IN ADVANCE at the actual post office where you will be receiving your chicks. We live in Hollywood (yes, Los Angeles proper) and I developed a great phone rapport with the postmaster - the office called me as soon as they arrived (the very next day after they were shipped) to alert me to pick up the loud peeping box, which was quite amusing for all the local tattoo'd rocker types in line at the post office. All four girls arrived in great shape.

Of course, because I have been a "talent agent assistant" in the past (think Lloyd from Entourage) I have been trained to confirm everything twice, assume nothing, and stay on top of things by checking in with the hatchery regularly to see that the chicks shipped out. It may sound extreme to some, but because only the USPS ships live animals, we have to compensate sometimes for "good enough for government work."

Some may think this "amateurish," but we ordered our hens through MyPetChicken.com and had a TERRIFIC experience - they ship out on Mondays, and as mentioned, got ours overnight Tuesday. And they answered all my "new chicken mom" questions cheerfully by phone.