Chicks dehydrated on receipt? Is there anything to do?

[DonR]

Two of my Chicks were listless when I got them home. I had sugar in their water and dipped their beaks in it- then left them for the night. One expired that night, the other made it through to the next night- in bad shape. I tried giving her water through a dropper several times during the evening and she'd rally for a while, but still she died.
My other two Chicks are vigorous and active, liked you'd expect. An acquaintance who keeps Chickens said it sounded like the two that died were dehydrated from shipment and there wasn't anything to be done for them. Which at this point sounds right.
Is there anything I could have done differently?

 

[jenniemig]

Two of my Chicks were listless when I got them home. I had sugar in their water and dipped their beaks in it- then left them for the night. One expired that night, the other made it through to the next night- in bad shape. I tried giving her water through a dropper several times during the evening and she'd rally for a while, but still she died.
My other two Chicks are vigorous and active, liked you'd expect. An acquaintance who keeps Chickens said it sounded like the two that died were dehydrated from shipment and there wasn't anything to be done for them. Which at this point sounds right.
Is there anything I could have done differently?

Of my 4 ducklings that were shipped to me one was DOA, and the other died shortly after. They were both very obviously dehydrated. I tried hydrating the last one that died, but she was too far gone. Their little webbed feet were all shriveled up, it was awful. The other two were strong and have been doing well so far. I think that you did all that you can do, some are just weaker than others. I think what did it for mine was that they didn't make it to me for 3 days, it was too long in shipping.

 

[gander007]

Two of my Chicks were listless when I got them home. I had sugar in their water and dipped their beaks in it- then left them for the night. One expired that night, the other made it through to the next night- in bad shape. I tried giving her water through a dropper several times during the evening and she'd rally for a while, but still she died.
My other two Chicks are vigorous and active, liked you'd expect. An acquaintance who keeps Chickens said it sounded like the two that died were dehydrated from shipment and there wasn't anything to be done for them. Which at this point sounds right.
Is there anything I could have done differently?

sound's like you did every thing you could the problem a lot of people
do not understand is shipping live animals is tricky and in most cases
an honest attempt was made by the shipper but also if you buy some
chicks in the colder seasons you might want to order heat pads of
have an order of 10 or more so they can keep each other warm as
a lot of the chicks will be taking their first flight and the storage area
is not heated for them and after 10,000 feet it gets cold ...........
Good luck with your other 2 chicks .......