I wondered about this too...I would like to be able to ship chicks to other places not close to me to other people. I'd like to know how to ship live chicks as well.
I know EggCartons.com has the shipping boxes and pads to ship the chicks with and you can buy from 1 carton up to I think 40 per pack and they come with the padding.
You can call your local post office and see what their policies are on shipping live chicks and then do like the hatcheries and only ship on the days when they won't sit over the weekends and such.
There are also differences in minimums to ship when it's cold out so they don't freeze and not shipping when it's too hot as well.
Hopefully someone on here that ships a lot won't mind sharing their info.
HTH
I probably shouldn't even comment here as I have never shipped chicks but it makes me nervous just thinking about it! Couldn't you just ship the eggs?? I do know a breeder close to me and he will not ship chicks, only eggs. He said too many things can go wrong.
And, just for your information, I ordered 25 chicks from McMurray the middle of Oct. and only 3 came out of the trip alive. They apparently got cold somewhere along the way. It was heartbreaking.
You will want to check with your local post office first. I can't ship from my location... I have to go 250 miles to Anchorage to ship live birds, and even then it's a pain in the patootie. So I only ship eggs.
I have gotten all of my chicks from Ideal. So far I have only lost one. It was sick when I got it and only lasted one day. The Ideal site gives the shipping dates.
MissPrissy ordered 100 from Mcmurry and I think only one survived. She closed the thread so I don't really know for sure. I don't know if the P.O. was at fault or Mcmurry.
I mostly buy shipped chicks. I've actually never lost a one. Ideal knows how to pack to keep them warm. So do most of the hatcheries that ship small batches. There are heat pads that can be packed with them.