is it normal for so many chicks from one order to die within 2 days?

[STEPHANIELAUREN]

my neighbor and i ordered 25 baby chicks of all different breeds from mcmurray hatchery and they came in 2 days ago. i had 12 and she had 13 plus the free rare chick they gave us. well they came into the post office 3 days ago and were there overnight but were all still alive when we got them, they were energetic and eating/drinking well. since then my neighbor has lost 4 of her babies and another 2 are really sick. i had one with dhiarrea and he died last night, this morning i woke up to find another one dead who didnt appear to have anything wrong with him last night, now today the free rare chick who had a messed up crooked neck which has straightened out alot since then because ive been giving him poly vi sol hasnt been eating or drinking on his own, has slept all day, and is brething heavy. im so scared im gonna lose him too but i dont know what else to do. is it really normal for so many chicks from one order to die in just 2 days it just seems like that would be such a waste of money all the time if it was

 

[PurpleChicken]

Losses from shipping are normal. Your numbers are not too high.

It sounds like you are doing what you can for them. Sometimes you lose
more than others.


All your chicks should be on a vitamin, not just the weak ones.

 

[giasmom]

Figure in how HOT it is, & how far they were shipped. This takes a big toll on them. Do they have proper heat source, did you dip their beaks to show them how to eat and drink ? There are so many thing that can cause this. Personally I would not order any this time of year, just for this reason alone. Sorry bout the chicks !

 

[STEPHANIELAUREN]

ive got a heat lamp on them and the room is warm but i do live in south florida and it gets pretty hot here it could have just been too hot for them at the post office idk

 

[STEPHANIELAUREN]

well my little one just died pray for me that no more do i dont know how much more i can take

 

[annek]

So sorry. The losses should slow down, these are probably ones that were weakened by the shipping. You need to contact the breeder to see if they will credit you for the ones that died. It is tough losing them. Hope the rest will be okay.

 

[giasmom]

McMurray will replace.

 

[froggie71]

Our 1st shipment was over Easter break. They always ship on a Friday. They didn't arrive to our local PO till Tuesday and we lost 10. Call McMurray ASAP so they are aware there is a 48hr guarantee. They replaced our 10 and added 13 packing peanuts to arrive the next week. Shipped Friday, arrived at Main PO on Sunday. We drove to get them instead of waiting till next day to arrive at local PO. All are fine and thriving. Good luck with the rest of chicks.

 

[Judy]

My shipment from McMurray was supposedly sent on a Saturday. They said when I inquired that they always ship on Saturday. About 1/3 arrived dead, on a Tuesday. OK, I should not have ordered in February, and there was a cold snap that week. They credited me for those that died within 48 ours, which was nearly half.

What I learned, only after I placed the order, is that they do all their shipping on Saturdays. They said this was because this is when Fedex has plane space. OK, I understand that Fedex handles all USP air shipments. However...

Other hatcheries ship on other days than Saturdays. I will not order from MM again, because of the Saturday shipping. The USPS is not very efficient in south Georgia. The local folks were cooperative, but do not work on a Sunday. Frankly, I suspect the same is true of shipping centers, as in Atlanta and Albany.

 

[currycomb]

we ordered chicks last year from i think mcmurray, they arrived mid week. i notified my post office they were coming in, left my phone number and they called me early that morning, i went in and picked them up and never lost a one. and it was feb or march.