GRRR Where's me babies

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4bdennis

4bdennis

Chirping
Jan 14, 2016
30
2
64
Maryville, Tennessee
And so it went, my wife and I where talking about maybe getting chickens , this year, but she agreed. Yeahh so I ordered some Meyers chickens. Barred Rocks, Buff Orpintons, Easter Eggers, and The brown egg layer assortment.26 in total ... Waited.... Read thur Stories again,.. Waited.... Got the brooder prewarmed to 101 degree waited... Built a new nipple waterer.. Waited...Shipping day comes and guess what , Freaking snow storms poping up everwhere this week GRRRR My babies are hanging around in some post office in Cleveland freezing there little tail fuzz off. Ok I am OK thee just chickens .... NOT there my babies and I havent met them yet ... Thanks for the vent session
barnie.gif
 
Oh no! I hope that they will be alright. Is there anyone that you can contact to find them? It is very possible that they will all die without your care. If there is anything that I can do to help (which there probably isn't) please tell me.
Hope that everything turns out alright!

~chickenchick
 
If it makes you feel any better, my local post office here and the one where I lived before (in a different state) would always pull the peeping boxes inside where it was warm. Hopefully the one thats holding your chicks will do the same!
 
So they were due today and will arrive tomorrow instead? That's not too bad considering winter foul weather. If they aren't shipping later today and are at your local postal hub you could probably call to go and pick them up. Like my local hub is a bit over an hour away, usually not too far from you. Could get them into a warm car and even give some feed and water before ride home.
 
101 F is a high to brood chicks. 90-95F on one side of brooder is more suitable. Giving them a cooler area on other end so they can self regulate temp.
 
Vent all you want. Most of us understand.

Some people at the post office are better than others, just like any group of people anywhere. Most will follow procedures and try to take care of the chicks. I wish you luck in getting decent people handling your chicks.

With 26 chicks in that box they should generate enough heat to keep themselves warm as long as the box is not set outside on a shipping dock for any length of time. That’s why most hatcheries have a 25 chick limit this time of year, but that limit may drop to 15 later in the year. They want their chicks to arrive alive and having enough to generate enough heat helps with that. The odds are pretty good they are staying warm enough.

The chicks absorb the yolk before they hatch. They can live off of that yolk for at least three days, often longer. They don’t need to eat or drink for that long. I’ve seen chicks go five days without eating or drinking when I put some incubator chicks under a broody hen. She waited that long before she brought them off the nest to eat and drink. But that was in warmer weather. In colder weather they will use more energy to keep warm, especially without a broody hen, so the limit is probably closer to three days.

Your biggest risk with those snowstorms is that they get delayed in shipping. That’s a risk we take ordering this time of year. You don’t know what the weather will be like when they are shipped. I did that last year and lucked out. It was below freezing when the post office called but they were not delayed in shipping. They were all fine.

All I can suggest is have the brooder ready so when the post office calls you just go get them. Instead of using that nipple water system immediately I’d suggest putting water with electrolytes in a shallow bowl for their first water. If you don’t have electrolytes just use some sugar dissolved in the water. Put some small rocks or marbles in the water so they can walk on top and not drown. Don’t worry about them getting their feet or even body wet, in the warm brooder that won’t matter. Drowning would. Dip their beaks in that water when you first put them in so they know where the water is. After the first day get rid of that bowl and just use regular water and your nipple system. You don’t want the sugar water to go sour. I’ve never used the electrolytes so I’m not sure if they will clog the nipple system or need to be cleaned. The electrolytes or sugar give them instant energy and help them recover from shipping stress.

I wish you luck. Most of the time shipments this time if the year make it just fine, but when the weather hits there can be disasters.
 
I did the same thing last year. I ordered in Jan and got so incredibly lucky. We went and picked them up at the post office, in a snow/ice storm (sketchy). Then our power was out for a few days, so I had to bring them inside and set them up next to the woodstove. I DO NOT like having chicks in the house. You'd thing I'd have learned my lesson, but....nope. I've been running my incubators since Dec, and I'm :fl we keep power this time (its snowing right now)!

OP- I do hope your chicks will be okay. Keep us posted please!
 
A heat pad? I would not have expected that but I don’t know how you could fault Meyers at all. They did all they could. The timing of that snowstorm was just bad luck.

I’d be disappointed with the loss of three but you are right, concentrate on the living. That’s what is important. :thumbsup

I like that brooder set-up, heat on one end and lots of good ventilation. And it looks like it is in a garage or outbuilding, not in the house. I’m not sure how big it is, they may outgrow it, but you’ll manage that if you need to. I think you will do OK.
 
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