I made a HORRIBLE mistake ordering from a hatchery! (Graphic Photos)

[B_Chickle01]

Hello everyone.

I am just devastated at the events of the past 2-1/2 weeks that have seen two (2) orders for specialty Silkie hatchery chicks arrive dead or dying. Initially, I thought this was the fault of the USPS, but I've come to discover that this falls squarely on the hatchery, Valley Hatchery, and their shipping practices. For reasons I can't explain, they will only ship USPS Priority Mail, not Priority Mail EXPRESS, the latter guaranteeing quick and careful shipping. Worse, they don't even bother to put any notification on the container that there are "LIVE ANIMALS" in the box. WTH?

Valley Hatchery has locations in OH, MO, TN, CA and MT and can be found at www.valleyhatchery.com online. I've cried for days over this! Opening the box I had to retrieve at the local post office today was absolutely heartbreaking, sixteen (16) dead birds all because this hatchery couldn't be bothered with shipping EXPRESS, a service we requested several times after their 1st shipment of eighteen (18) birds saw only 6 survive (8 were dead in the box, 4 more died over the ensuing days), and the 6 survivors required near round-the-clock ICU-type care to make it.

As I write this, my husband is taking up the cause to try to get some rules/guidelines/laws changed regarding the shipping of live chicks. He's reaching out to the MO AG's office, the USPS Board of Governors in Washington, DC, our senators and representative, and more. No bird should have to suffer the way the birds in these two shipments suffered! What a horrible way to die!

I will never order hatchery chicks again, NEVER. We placed another order between these two horrific orders, and they were shipped twice the distance to our home as the Missouri orders, but they were shipped Priority EXPRESS, and they arrived in less than 2 days healthy and happy, but I still feel VERY guilty about subjecting the chicks to the trip from CA to NC. For that reason, I won't do it again; it's just not worth it.

If you're going to order chicks from a hatchery, be sure you get Priority Mail EXPRESS shipping. Without it, you'll likely get to suffer through the same scenes that we've had to endure... :-(

Spoiler: Graphic Photos

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That’s awful. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I can only imagine how traumatic it must have been to open a box containing that type of carnage, especially since it happened several times. Unbelievably, I believe many hatcheries do not offer express shipping due to the associated costs. However, I don't understand why this would be a problem for them, as they typically charge the customer for expedited delivery. You would think they would with living animals, especially with newborn chicks as delicate as they are!

 

[NatJ]

Unbelievably, I believe many hatcheries do not offer express shipping due to the associated costs. However, I don't understand why this would be a problem for them, as they typically charge the customer for expedited delivery. You would think they would with living animals, especially with newborn chicks as delicate as they are!

That has been addressed elsewhere in the thread:

Express shipping is useless for USPS. Many hatcheries that do offer Express as an option will add a note below the option that it often does not come any sooner. I stopped using Express for usps a couple of years back because every time I paid extra for express regardless of what I had ordered it actually took longer for it to arrive. Express packages would often be held for extended periods of time at the main USPS hub before it was taken to my local USPS.

And on the USPS website:
https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/604.htm

9.5 Priority Mail Express Postage and Fees Refunds
9.5.5 Refunds Not Given

Postage will not be refunded if the guaranteed service was not provided due to any of the following circumstances:

(...)
The shipment contained live animals or hazardous materials and was delivered, or delivery was attempted within 3 days of the date of mailing.

So even the weak USPS guarantee (refund some or all of postage) does not make them deliver Express mail chicks any faster than Priority Mail chicks.

It costs more, but has no expectation of chicks arriving any faster.

 

[Iluveggers]

Mt Healthy recently posted that they now have a truck & driver, and started driving their chicks to neighboring states once a week just to alleviate some of the issues usps is causing. Cheaper to do that and not have to replace or refund, also knowledge your chicks are being taken care of correctly. Wonder if we will see hatcheries setting up sub-stations in different regions so they can be closer to their customers across the country.