Another horrible week- I'm not sure my heart can take this!!

[ilovechickens]

Thank you for your information on Welp, that makes me feel better, as for the post on canceling from McMurray, I have ordered from them 4 times and everything was fine, they usually came early, and our Post Office in Eau Claire calls us as soon as the chicks arrive and we have the choice of going to pick them up or wait until the next day to get them from our local post office, I go as soon as the call comes, maybe reconsider, call them and tell them of your fears and see what they say, you will really enjoy your Ameracauna's

 

[kycklingmamma]

Hi all,

i sure hope those little ones make well.
I personally ordered from Ideal, mainly because I live in Houston Tx so shipping would be very short. They all arrived very chipper and happy and I am amazed as to how well they are doing. I have now had them for a full week and they are already getting their feathers in...fast.
I wish you the best and will keep my fingers crossed that the chicks will show up safe and sound.

Petra

 

[Kezzie]

UPDATE: the chicks came this morning (between 4-5 days in transit). I was sure they were all going to be dead but the post office said they were making a racket!

They shipped 24. 6 were DOA and I have 4 in the ICU. But there are 14 holy terrors running around and jumping on my 11 day old chicks. I fully expect to lose more over the next couple of days but I'm in awe that any of them are still here.

I lost my Faverolle and Red Cap again which makes me sad. But right now I have a total of 24 chicks in the brooder peeping up a storm!

I think I will be buying hatching eggs or breeding my own from now on. I'm not cut out for the stress of relying on the post office!

Thanks to all for your hugs and good wishes. You'll never know how much those gestures meant to me. I'll take some pics once these guys are a little more settled in.

...kezzie

 

[Chickapooh23]

Quote:
I have never ordered from a hatchery but am looking at one. I live in Ohio and after looking at all of them decided to go with Meyer which is a few hours from my house. I haven't decided if I am going to order yet. I will know in a couple of weeks after my eggs are done hatching but I agree that maybe you should look at some place closer. The other place I was looking was Randall Burkey but that is in Texas a lot farther. Good luck with your chicks.

 

[jandmeg07]

I'm so relieved for you that some of your babies made it. Congrats on the new peepers and post pics when you get a chance! *HUGS*

 

[Mrs MIA]

I'm a heck of a lot farther away from MMH than you are, and my orders make it ok, so it's not your fault. My theory is that it's just too darned cold en-route, and they shouldn't even offer chicks until April. The only time I had losses was my first order that I received in February. THAT was my mistake. But the 4-5 other orders received in May/June were 100% live and healthy.

Can't wait to see pics of your new babies.

 

[eschwaderer]

Quote:
I have never ordered from a hatchery but am looking at one. I live in Ohio and after looking at all of them decided to go with Meyer which is a few hours from my house. I haven't decided if I am going to order yet. I will know in a couple of weeks after my eggs are done hatching but I agree that maybe you should look at some place closer. The other place I was looking was Randall Burkey but that is in Texas a lot farther. Good luck with your chicks.

Good luck Chickapooh. There seems to be a run on chicks this year. Most day-old's on Meyer's website shows Not Available, even assortments.

"Baby Chicks are available on first come basis. Please call for availability..."

 

[seymojo536]

Quote:
I have never ordered from a hatchery but am looking at one. I live in Ohio and after looking at all of them decided to go with Meyer which is a few hours from my house. I haven't decided if I am going to order yet. I will know in a couple of weeks after my eggs are done hatching but I agree that maybe you should look at some place closer. The other place I was looking was Randall Burkey but that is in Texas a lot farther. Good luck with your chicks.

Good luck Chickapooh. There seems to be a run on chicks this year. Most day-old's on Meyer's website shows Not Available, even assortments.

"Baby Chicks are available on first come basis. Please call for availability..."

If Meyer doesn't have what you need, there is Eagle's Nest in Oceola, Ridgeway in LaRue or Mt Healthy over near Cinci. Aren't you close to Marietta? They have a show with a bunch of birds for sale on the 28th this month.
http://seohiopoultrybreeders.org/showinformation.html
Worth the drive.
Of course there's always the Lucasville swap meet on April 11th.

 

[JudyH]

kezzie....

It turned out so much better than I anticipated! I really expected more of a loss with a 4 to 5 day transit...

Hope your babies in ICU perk up and make it through!

 

[firedove]

Kezzie, so glad to hear that most of your peeps arrived OK!

MM does what they can to get your chicks out safely and then it's up to the USPS. I live in NH and got my chicks in on Monday Feb 23rd. The postage label said that it was shipped Friday the 20th which surprised me since they said it would be a Saturday hatch, I thought maybe they just made the labels ahead of time and they really did ship on Saturday, but who knows. I had just 1 DOA and lost one weak one the next day. The remaining 26 are happy and healthy at 2.5 weeks now. It was fairly cold that weekend during the day and very cold at night, and there was a big snow storm Sunday afternoon through Monday too so I went out of my mind from early Sunday until they arrived Monday morning thinking that the chicks didn't have a chance with the storm slowing things down and the cold weather! I have heard though that some postal routes are better with chicks than others. There are two facilities in MA that process the chicks coming to my area of NH. I've heard from a few people, that have gotten chicks many times, and have learned that if they go through one postal routing system they are good but if they go through the other, that station leaves them in the truck overnight and most arrive DOA.