For those ordering chicks

[seminolewind]

Every year it's the same thing. BYC is filled with posts about shipped chicks dying. Every year. Chicks are supposed to be kept at approx 95 degrees for the first week. It's for a very good reason-to stay alive. Can anyone's post office guarantee that the shipped chicks will be kept at 95 degrees, 90, or even 85 degrees at this time of the year?

Chicks that get cold stressed during shipping frequently die. I don't want to offend anyone here, I just want to bring up a subject that needs to be brought up.

 

[gritsar]

Yep, I'm the most impatient person in the world and even I can wait until it's actually SPRING to order chicks, for their sake.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
Gosh, I'm the second most impatient person in the world, LOL. That's why I get eggs in the mail instead! Gritsar, if you don't have a bator, get one, you can have chicks all winter! (who you callin an enabler?)

 

[seminolewind]

Hey, my title just changed!!!

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Do you think that it is any better to buy chicks in winter if you live in a warm climate? I live in California, but if the chicks are shipped from another state like Ohio, might they still get too chilled on the journey? What about when a heat pad is included? I have never purchased in winter, so I have no idea.

 

[seminolewind]

I would think that if it's warm by you, and warm at the hatchery and in between, it would be okay. Heat pads, the good ones are expensive and the cheap ones don't keep heating more than about 8 hours, if that long.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

And I'm the third most impatient person in the world...it IS so hard to wait.

 

[heritagebirds]

Quote:
you broke 5000 posts!

 

[Shannon's Chix]

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I would be careful with that...I'm in florida, my chicks came in october, only 8 of them, from Indiana (or Illinois?) and they did not include the heat pack like they were supposed to. They were so mushed together they looked like one big chicken blob and 3 died the first week.

There are so many options, incubate your own or get some eggs from someone else, or wait of course. Unless there's a hatchery near you...

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
You Flockmaster you!!!