HOw to mail live birds? Help?!

[Godiva]

I was wondering if someone who does this often could fill me in on the how to's of mailing birds? I am trying to decide if this is going to be worthwhile and relatively safe to do for some chicks I have for sale. What are some of the pitfalls and special tricks of the trade? How do you keep them warm, fed and watered??? WHat is the best way to do this, it seems that expense isn't really an issue for the buyer... how many per box and how big... any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Vcomb]

Quote:
how old are the birds you're gonna ship? that'll play a part in it

 

[Godiva]

THey are 6 weeks old. A mix of std and bantam, 11 of them

 

[Split Socket 222]

Shipping is really stressful on young birds. A lot of day old chicks are shipped in the spring , but then a just hatched chick is good for three days without food or water. He is still absorbing nutrients. I would think shipping 6 week old chicks to be a foolhardy venture at best. When I ship adult birds I put in some apple or pear slices, some kind of fruit that they can get moisture out of. Fowl are easily dehydrated during shipping , after all, water and a cardboard box don't mix. I received a shipment once that should have taken overnight, three days later. This was just from the western part of the state to the eastern . You never really know how long they are going to be in that box. 6 weeks-- bad idea

 

[Emzyyy]

Yea I wouldn't try it. It would be really hard on the birds.

 

[bigmike&nan]

Thank you for the advice. We are "the other party" and being we just lost our girl Sapphire this morning the last thing we want to do is stress other birds or risk them any harm in transit...

Best,

Michael and Nan

 

[KellyHM]

I had 7 6-wk-olds shipped to me a couple months ago and they all arrived in great condition. Just my experience.

 

[Split Socket 222]

A couple of months ago was nice weather. Two days ago was great. Today we got wind out of the north at 40 mph, freezing drizzle rain, and just nasty as all get out !!! How well do you think 6-7 week old chicks, sitting out on some Post Office loading dock would make it in that ? Glad yours made it Ok, but these people are talking about right now. 6weeks---still a bad idea

 

[Mrs MIA]

The first thing to do, if you decide you want to go that route, is talk to your local PO to see if it's even a possibility. I can't ship from my local podunk PO, but would have to drive 2 1/2 hours to get to a hub that can accept them. Then you get the "not worth it for me" vs. "too expensive for them" scenario. There's always a risk involved.

 

[Godiva]

Great advice folks, I am going to stick with local pickup. I doubt our postoffice would do it either as we are in the middle of nowhere small town. It would be awful to have something go wrong with little ones lives at risk. I guess if I ever do it it would be in the nice weather and with newly hatched chicks... still dicey though.