2 chicks missing from order, but which ones? (edited, now with PIC)

[sksmass]

I got my order from MM today and all survived! Yay! The only problem is that there were 26 chicks in the box and there were supposed to be 28 (according to the packing list). Hmmm.

How do I tell which ones are missing? The birds are a mixture of layers and CX meaties. I can identify some of the more obvious ones like the black cochin and the buff brahma and the polish, but there are a bunch of nondescript yellow ones. I suspect that the missing chicks are 2 pearl white leghorns. Is there any way to distinguish a leghorn from a CX chick at two days old? They all look pretty much the same to me.

Also, has anyone else had completely missing chicks from their order? If I can identify which ones are missing will MM send replacements?

 

[gritsar]

I hate to sound morbid, but have you checked the bottom of the box carefully, including under the straw? The reason I ask - when my order arrived I was so absorbed in taking each one out of the box and making sure they got a drink of water and something to eat that I forgot to count them. Sure enough I was two short. They were DOA, crushed pretty badly in the bottom of the box. In the dim light of the outbuilding, I could hardly see them.

 

[sksmass]

Yes, I checked under the box padding, and even checked underneath the newspaper in their brooder once I was sure there was an undercount. No trace.

 

[gritsar]

Hmm, guess you might try posting pics of the ones in question. Like you, I would have a hard time telling a leghorn from a meatie at days old. Good luck.

 

[schmije]

I can't answer all of your questions, but you'll be able to tell the difference between a CX and a white leghorn by the first week. The leghorn will be much smaller. As for right now, it might be difficult to tell. McMurray will definitely reimburse you regardless of whether the chicks were missing or whether they died, but I don't know if they'll reship you just two chicks. You'll probably have to call and find out.

As for your question about missing chicks, yes it happened to me. I ordered 35 chicks from McMurray in February. The packing list showed that 37 chicks were shipped, and there was a note in the box saying that they had replaced 3 New Hampshires with 4 white orpingtons (for a total of 38 chicks by my math). The box arrived with 36 chicks, and one of them was dead (yes, it was squished flat like gritsar said). I hadn't ordered any new hampshires, so I didn't know what breed had been replaced. Needless to say, we had a difficult time figuring out what we ACTUALLY received compared to what we SHOULD have received. As it turned out, I had 35 healthy chicks, which was exactly what I had expected. The replacement breeds were acceptable alternatives for us, so we didn't ask McMurray for any compensation or changes. I did, however, write an email to McMurray telling them about the confusion with our order. I thought it was important for them to know when things don't add up in their orders.

And if you were curious, we eventually figured out that the 3 "New Hampshires" that were replaced were 2 white leghorns and 1 brown leghorn.

 

[countrychix]

I have never had leghorns but we recently purchased some CX's. They may have been a couple days older than yours though. Ours were very full looking in the upper breast area and felt full there as well, much different from our other chicks in which we could easily feel the keel. Hope this helps.

 

[sksmass]

This picture might help. I split the image up into alphanumeric segments (e.g. A1 to E5). Any guesses as to what all the yellow ones are?
Here's what should be in the box:

1 barred rock
1 dominique
1 black australorp
1 black giant
1 SL wyandotte
1 GL wyandotte
1 black cochin (she's there, confirmed by furry feet)
1 buff brahma (she's there, confirmed by furry feet)
3 easter eggers
1 RIR
2 BOs
2 leghorns
11 CXs
1 "free exotic chick" which is in there and I can positively identify it as a white polish (by the funny hairdo it has)
Total: 28

 

[Kim_1970]

on the lines between 3/4 b/c I think that is your RIR

 

[schmije]

I'm not feeling like much help with the picture, but I remembered a couple of other things:

- In our experience the leghorns feather out quicker than the CX's, so you may be able to tell that way.
- Our leghorns this year were 1.5 weeks older than our CX's. We got the CX's at 1 week, so the leghorns were 2.5 weeks old. At that age, the CX's were already heavier than the leghorns. Do you have a food or postage scale?

Have you called McMurray yet? They may be able to help if they had a shortage of something in this week's order. If they don't know, then you may just have to wait a few days. I'm betting there will be a noticable size difference in the next week. It will be hardest to tell if you're correct that the leghorns are missing, because you won't be able to compare them. The leghorns should be equal in size or smaller than the RIR, Ausralorp & BO. The CX will likely be bigger - both in feel and in weight.