babies not on the morning truck:(

[aran]

unfortunately we have had some chicks not make it...the 3 Rhode island whites and one of the production reds have died

The production black that wasnt eating is doing better though. I talked to the hatchery via email to see if there have been problems shipping to rochester ny before...am waiting to hear back from them tomorrow. I had checked the temp in the box when i picked em up from the post office..69F. The hatchery told me that was probably the problem. I mean we want a flock of around 25 total eventually and now we are down to 7 out of our order of 11 birds..we had only ordered one rooster and 10 pullets so i dont know whether the dead are all girls or the rooster is in there too...whole mess sucks really!

So can you guys who have got chicks from ideal give me a little advice here? should i reorder some more pullets and maybe another rooster? Should I get more of the white ones that have died which we liked the colours of originally? Is there the option to pay for express overnight rather than priority mail? Is the trip from Texas ( ideal) to New York ( me) just too far for mail order chickies?

Oh and one other thing while im here...some of the chicks have stool stuck to their butts...i read about it here...tried to wash it off...not much luck its really stuck on there...and i also read to feed em boiled egg yolk and yoghurt. Well i mixed up the egg and yoghurt, put it on a saucer and put it in the brooder, and they just ran through it and covered themselves in it!!!!!!!!!!!

Now what?

 

[aran]

oh yeah i checked out all the local shops...all sold out of chicks and not getting more in
I have not managed to find any farmers around with chicks for sale and i have had no replies to the post I put up about byc members in upstate ny.

 

[kalisgirl]

This may sound strange, but try a little vegetable oil on there pasty butts. It really helps loosen things up. I also used a soft tooth brush this year on a suggestion from someone and that worked great. They will die if things get too blocked, so you need to keep their vents clear.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

aran- My chicks from Ideal are all doing great. I have not had any losses, and only one seems prone to pasty butt. My chicks took 2 days to make it to me, and if you recall, I am only 4 hours from the hatchery. However, it's been warm here, so I think that may be the reason they all made it.

Definitely do your best to keep the chicks bottoms clean- I have just been using a very wet paper towel and wiping. It is unpleasant for both me and the chick, but so very important. This is my first experience with the problem, so I have little to offer in the way of what to do, other than what I have read here. Vaseline will help to keep things from sticking, as I assume baby oil or mineral oil would. I have not tried any yet, but I believe I will today.

My chicks did the same with the yogurt. Try this: mix some yogurt with some of their starter to where the consistancy is crumbly and looks more like the regular starter. This is also what I plan to do today. I figure if it looks like the food they are used to, they will be more likely to eat it. If this works, it may be possible to increase the yogurt amounts gradually until they will accept it even when not almost dry.

As far as ordering from Ideal- I will order from them again because I had such good luck. You might consider ordering the minimum 25, as that number of chicks will generate much needed warmth during shipping. I think it is generally assumed that there will be some loss with every order. If not, then you will only be over your ideal flock size by a few birds. I don't know of any hatcheries closer to you- I'm sure there are some, would just need researching. That may be a better option, but like I said, mine took 2 days for a 4 hour trip, so there are no guarantees that a closer hatchery will get your birds to you quicker. I do not know of any express shipping options. You would have to call and ask the hatchery.

Another option may be to see if any feed stores close to you will make the order for you. I am not certain, but they may get better/quicker shipping service. I know my local feed store has no problem doing this. They may also be able to re-home your extras for you. It's always a good idea to befriend the feed store folks!

And of course you should order more of the white, if that is what you originally wanted. Honestly, if you don't do it now, you will later.

I know I thought I ordered some of each breed I wanted- but lo and behold, here I am thinking, 'man, I shoulda gotten a couple of these, oh- and some of those...' LOL. Personally, I hope to have a very colorful flock which makes it tough to NOT want some of everything!

I don't know how much help any of this is, but I wish you luck! Please keep us posted on the new chicks progress and, of course we want pics!

 

[michellerene]

Seems to me they should replace the ones that have died due to shipping stress. Not your fault, really.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Ideal will credit you back the dollar amount in chick loss, provided you stay in contact with them. They won't re-ship just a few chicks because it will be just as unlikely they would make it through shipping. This is partially why most hatcheries prefer a minimum order of 25- warmth!

 

[aran]

i had planned on ordering 5 buff orpington pullets and 1 BO male, and 5 barred rock pullets and 1 BR male. I havent asked the hatchery if they will replace the lost chicks yet...i guess i can talk to them about that tomorrow when they are open. I have to get the butts clean on these chicks its bad!

 

[AccidentalFarm]

aran-
just keep in mind that you will probably receive extra males for warmth- especially considering that several didn't make it the first time. My order of 10 pullets included 7 extra roos for warmth in South Texas in May!!. In my mind, I would have been better off just ordering 17 pullets. Or better yet, I wish now that I had ordered the whole 25.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

They ordered 11, now are down to 7. They've lost 4, which isn't an unusually high loss. I guess percentage-wise it would seem high, but overall a loss of 4 chicks on a shipment to that far north..I just don't see it as excessive. Of course, we all hope for 100% survivability.

Anyway, the folks at Ideal are super nice, super friendly people. I'm sure they will work with aran on this as it was really no one's fault, the mail just ran like it did..unreliably.

I too, would call them up and speak with them, but without the anger. I don't think aran has had the opportunity to speak with Ideal, due to it being a weekend. I think an email was sent, but a reply will have to wait til Monday... And so, I don't think (unless I missed something) that Ideal has promised anything in the way of future orders.

This is just my opinion, but I'd hate to see someone happen upon this thread and get the wrong idea about a hatchery without all of the facts.

Aran- please keep us posted.

 

[aran]

a lady at ideal called Cherith has been emailing me back and forward from before the chicks even came. She has been really nice and has told me dont worry they have a live arrival guarantee etc. To be honest the cost of the chicks is so minimal anyways I am really just concerned with not ordering and hence sending another bunch of babies to potential slow death

Anyway none of the birds were actually "dead" when they arrived so I dont know if that would nullify any guarantee.

So i managed to clean the butts on the two babies with dirty behinds...man is that a FUN job...NOT!

AF--> I would assume they would include males this time around although last time they did not even though Cherith had said that they would. I had contacted her and told her if they needed to pack out the box with extra chicks that i would pay for females rather than get a bunch of free males...she said they didnt have females ready to go and would only pack 4-5 extra warmth males...in the end there were no extra chicks male or female in with my order...just 11 cold lil babies.

Becky...they were shipped on Tuesday morning and arrived Thursday a little before 5pm. So about 48-55hrs in the box give or take.

Overall although there have been losses which I put down to a couple of easily remedied problems Ideal have been very helpful and accomodating. I needed the birds shipped tuesday to arrive thursday as I was only able to get time off on thurs afternoon. They did that for me. My only concern would be that live animals of any kind should be shipped express overnight not priority two day shipping. Two days with food/water/heat/comfort is just too long for any animal in my mind. Just my two cents worth.