How to keep chicks alive when shipped a very long distance?

[BYCforlife]

Why not call Murray McMurray and see what they have to say about how crossing the border would work (and what other arrangements could be made). Their customer service is pretty good, in my experience. I prefer working with Cackle though. From what I can tell, the New Hampshire chicks I got from Cackle are MUCH closer to the breed standard than the Buff Orpinton chicks I got from Murray McMurray. They are also one of the few hatcheries that have true Amerucana chickens rather than misnamed Easter Eggers.

I probably will. I will check out Cackle hatchery, thanks for the info!

 

[BYCforlife]

Glad you're starting early to plan for this. You should have all your ducks in a row by the time you're ready for your bright new little breeds!

I hope you'll be updating your thread all the way to the exciting end!

Good luck!

Thanks! Hoepfully I will! I am working on getting my passport at the moment. I believe it takes 4 months to process sometimes. Good thing I'm not ordering in February!

 

[3riverschick]

Hi
You need bottle of Bovidr Labs poultry Nutridrench. You can buy it online. Here's what you do. It is best for the chicks if they start to eat within 6 to 24 hours after hatch. The closer to 6 hours the better.
Here's why. I have been studying this for over a year with the papers and research from the international Poultry breeding industry.
Here's the "why" behind it.
When the chick is hatched, it is low on nutrition. The yolk sac is biologically reserved for nutrition for the development of the muscles and maturation if the G.I. tract.
Now if the bird doesn't eat early after hatch (6 to12 hours) , it starts to use the yolk sac for energy instead. Now we are developing a challenge to the developing systems ,aren't we? Plus, we are stressing the chicks with the movement in transit.
What to do?
As soon as you get these chicks, dose them with a drop each orally of Nutri-drench. Then watch for any which aren't perky and redose them one drop orally every 8-10 hours until they are perky. Feed them as soon as you get them and water them too. Do not wait till you drive home to offer food and water. The nutrition from the Nutridrench will
Help with energy needed for the muscles . And G .I. tract ( and thus the immune system). Put the Nutridrench in their water at maintinance dosage for the 1st 2 weeks you have them. It will mitigate travel stress and assist nutrition during this crucial time of G.I. tract development.
You see the G.I. tract does a tremendous amount of maturation during the first 12 days of life. Anything you can do to support it during this time will have lasting benefits for the life of the fowl. Be it lack of stress, probiotics, supplemental nutrition, etc. is a good thing.
The trick with the Nutridrench is that, aside from the all natural formula containing all kinds of good things for the bird, it doesn't need to be digested. It mainlines directly into the bloodstream bypassing the immature digestive system. Adding to the nutition it needs to mature properly and efficiently.
You can read the stats on that at the poultry section of the Nutridrench website.
I have been using Nutridrench products on my Collies and Poultry for 1 1/2 decades with great success. Never had a sick or dead chick. Except one a hen laid on and accidentally smothered.
Just happy, robust chicks.
Best,
Karen

 

[azygous]

Hi
You need bottle of Bovidr Labs poultry Nutridrench. You can buy it online. Here's what you do. It is best for gechicks if they start to eat within 6 to 24 hours after hatch. The closer to 6 hours the better.
Here's why. I have been studying tjisforover a year with the papers and research from the international Poultry breeding industry.
Here's the why behind it.
We hen the chick is hatched it is low on nutrition. The yolk sac is biologically reserved for nution for the development of the muscles and maturation if the G.I. tract.
Now if he bird doesn't eat early after hatch (6to13hours) , it starts to use the yolk sac for energy instead. Now we are developing challenge to the developing systems ,aren't we? Is we are stressing the chicks with the movement in transit.
What to do?
As soon as you get these chicks, dose them with a drop each orally of Nutri-drench. Then watch for any which aren't perky and redose them one drop orally every 8-10 hours until they are perky. Feed them as soon as you get them and water them too. The nutrition from the Nutridrench will
Help with energy needed for the muscles . And G .I. tract ( and thus the immune system). Put the Nutridrench in their water at maintinance dosage for the 1st 2 weeks you have them. It will mitigate travel stress and assist nutition during this crucial time of G.I. tract development. You see the

This is excellent advice. I suggest, after the Nutri-drench, having finely minced boiled egg, whites and yolks together, ready for the chicks to nibble on. It's the first thing I feed my newly hatched chicks.

 

[3riverschick]

Excellent advice azygous!

 

[MINDANAO DAVE]

I am wanting to order a lot of chicks from Murray McMurray hatchery, but I am wondering how I would posibbly keep them all from dying.

McMurray Hatchery is in Iowa, and I am in Central Alberta. I would have to drive to the border to pick them up, and the hatchery sells $75 crossing papers.

Would I want to put them into a temporary brooder in the back of my car? I would be worried about them losing their footing and hurting something, though.

This would be next spring, but I want lots of time to plan. What if I for some reason got denied at the border?? My life would be over.

Thanks!

You are definitely in a up hill battle here. You can only do the best you can and depending on the time of year makes a difference. The only thing I could add would be to put small pieces of water melon in the boxes once one starts picking at it the rest should follow. That will help keeping them hydrated and water not spilling all over the place and less times opening the boxes and letting out the heat. You can also cover the boxes with a blanket leaving enough open for air. Take a motor home and run a generator and plug in a heater. Look for a 12 volt heater and plug it into your cigarette lighter. Hope this helps. They also sell the heated pads for warming car seats. One in each box might just be enough.

 

[BantyChooks]

Oh, Murray McMurray sells Chanteclers?

I believe they do---whites.
I would, however, recommend checking out the CFI website and finding a local breeder or one that ships chicks within Canada. We have plenty of high-quality birds up here without going to the bother of importing.