If your going to buy from Heartland I don't recommend their chick days, maybe pick up from their store or ship, perhaps that would be less stress on the chicks.
I've purchased twice from them now, on two separate occasions and have had a bad experience both times. Last year I got two goslings and some BLRW's, the geese are great, we still have them, but the chicks were sickly and failed to thrive.
I thought I'd give them another try, so picked up 17 chicks this past weekend, buff Cochins, silkies and lavender Orpingtons. Within hours of getting them home two Orpingtons were dead and a silkie was struggling with each breath (poor little thing was a fighter though). By the next morning the silkie was gone too, 3 chicks in less than 24 hours. I sent them videos of the sick chicks on FB, and was told to call Alan, which I did. He was very nice, but the whole conversation felt like a lecture about how it was probably my fault that the chicks died, the bedding was wrong, they must have caught a chill, etc. I've never lost chicks so fast before, and normally have very few losses. Keep in mind these chicks traveled from their hatchery to a farm store in the morning, and then another in the afternoon when I picked them up. At the feed store they had no food/water/heat, I personally think that was too hard on the small fragile Orpingtons. The rest of the Cochins and silkies are doing wonderfully, happy, active chicks, but I don't hold out much hope for the Orpingtons. I do understand that losses will happen with chickens, but I really don't think it was something I did or didn't do that caused these babies to die. Alan offered to give me some extra chicks if I come back next month to their chick days and buy more, but I'd rather use another local hatchery that I've always gotten lovely healthy chicks from.
I've purchased twice from them now, on two separate occasions and have had a bad experience both times. Last year I got two goslings and some BLRW's, the geese are great, we still have them, but the chicks were sickly and failed to thrive.
I thought I'd give them another try, so picked up 17 chicks this past weekend, buff Cochins, silkies and lavender Orpingtons. Within hours of getting them home two Orpingtons were dead and a silkie was struggling with each breath (poor little thing was a fighter though). By the next morning the silkie was gone too, 3 chicks in less than 24 hours. I sent them videos of the sick chicks on FB, and was told to call Alan, which I did. He was very nice, but the whole conversation felt like a lecture about how it was probably my fault that the chicks died, the bedding was wrong, they must have caught a chill, etc. I've never lost chicks so fast before, and normally have very few losses. Keep in mind these chicks traveled from their hatchery to a farm store in the morning, and then another in the afternoon when I picked them up. At the feed store they had no food/water/heat, I personally think that was too hard on the small fragile Orpingtons. The rest of the Cochins and silkies are doing wonderfully, happy, active chicks, but I don't hold out much hope for the Orpingtons. I do understand that losses will happen with chickens, but I really don't think it was something I did or didn't do that caused these babies to die. Alan offered to give me some extra chicks if I come back next month to their chick days and buy more, but I'd rather use another local hatchery that I've always gotten lovely healthy chicks from.
