Has Anyone Had Problems Ordering Chicks Recently?

[papajoesfarm]

I'm getting ready to order chicks, but am wondering if the USPS has ironed out their problems from last year. I'm considering placing an order on 2/24 with one hatchery, but wonder if I am better off waiting a few months if delivery is still experiencing delays. What kind of delivery speeds are y'all seeing?

 

[MildlyOffensiveChicken]

I work in an office environment that sends and receives a lot of time sensitive mail.

There is no consistency. Some weeks it is on time. Some weeks we get mail 3 weeks old from the neighboring state.

I received chicks on time 11/3. Shipped 1,500 miles. Local PO called very early to pick them up.


The USPS structural issues (no need to dig into opinions why) also mean heavy reliance on temps, rural carriers and other methods. Without any real data, the carrier matters a lot. A few of our regular temps are fantastic. A few deliver a couple hundred letters on their day that go to the building next door because they don’t sort properly before heading out.

One of my former employees continuously complained (until they moved on) to my boss that it was weird for me to be friendly with the various mail/parcel carriers. I find that being cordial and personal means both parties are happier. They catch mistakes and take care of them and I don’t act like a jerk when a mistake gets made. It is also nice to see people that have (even superficially) a fondness for you and you for they.

Maybe give a call to your local PO and see if you can get some info on shipping times. The postmaster in your area SHOULD have a handle on timelines.

 

[KyCoop]

I'm still waiting for an item shipped on Dec. 8th. Thankfully it's a blanket. NOT LIVE CHICKS.

 

[FortCluck]

I haven’t had a problem ordering chicks. I live in VA and my chicks came from Texas both times and they got here fast and all alive.

 

[Allthefloofs]

I have a friend who is an engineer for USPS and with the machines taken offline and almost half the people out with Covid he has been delivering mail and packages these days even though he is an engineer with an office job. It isn't something the USPS is doing badly because they are lazy, but they are crippled right now with a high volume of packages (more people chose online ordering), less automation (machines not allowed to auto sort) and 45% of their work force out for sick leave. I think if you are close to a main annex in a big city (for us we are one stop away from the Phoenix annex) then you are probably safer. Any smaller cities and satellite POs should be more cautious. I had a two day express package leave on the 14th from northern CA and it got here today. I was supposed to be here on the 16th. Live plants, which fortunately made it fine, but that is catastrophic for chicks.

 

[CluckerFamily]

With all the possibilities of something going wrong especially in 2020 and certainly into 2021 at least, you may feel better to look for a locate hatchery or a feed store near you to get chicks from.

 

[cmfarm]

I shipped chicks all year and didn't have any problems. I don't think there should be any major problems this next year for them either.

 

[Sally PB]

One of my former employees continuously complained (until they moved on) to my boss that it was weird for me to be friendly with the various mail/parcel carriers. I find that being cordial and personal means both parties are happier. They catch mistakes and take care of them and I don’t act like a jerk when a mistake gets made. It is also nice to see people that have (even superficially) a fondness for you and you for they.

It blows my mind that your former employee found this weird. I worked in shipping, and I made SURE to go out of my way to help them, because that helped us. They gave me their cell phone numbers, so I could get ahold of them. (I called one driver to tell him we didn't have anything one day, and he was so grateful. Saved him a lot of time.) We became known as "the nice stop on the route."

Sorry, this is off topic of the original post.

 

[papajoesfarm]

I haven’t had a problem ordering chicks. I live in VA and my chicks came from Texas both times and they got here fast and all alive.

Thanks FortCluck. Was that Ideal you ordered from? I'm considering them as closer to me and not nutty about order size (15 chicks).

 

[papajoesfarm]

Thanks to all for the advice. Our world has changed this year, and methinks some, if not many, of the changes, are going to be around for a while. Online ordering in particular. Our delivery systems are going to have to adapt, and with agriculture we may be better off going local. I always go to our local feed store for my farming supplies, but we don't have a hatchery close. (Maybe I need to unretire and get a certification). All of this definitely makes me consider purchasing live poultry from local sources. I don't like the idea of risking shipping newborns chicks with uncertain delivery systems, especially in the colder months.