Just received a box of dead chicks from Ideal Poultry...

[Abriana]

Believe me, this is what I would do if I had that option! Sadly, there aren't any farm stores here that hatch their own chicks. There is a feed store in my city that orders chicks from a hatchery, but they still get them delivered by USPS shipping.

Ah, ok. Yeah I was wondering if maybe there wasn’t a farm store near you.

 

[Kenny_]

I hope you're doing the extra males, heating pad, and adding gro gel. I'm a huge fan of gro gel with shipped birds. I think you'll have a successful next shipment! Best of luck and a HUGE welcome! I'm so sorry that you had to experience that first shipment. It's rough seeing all of those lives lost seemingly for no reason. You didn't do it. It's not your fault. Best of luck with your chicks, and please stick around and let us know how everything goes with your next batch and how they grow up!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Believe me, this is what I would do if I had that option! Sadly, there aren't any farm stores here that hatch their own chicks. There is a feed store in my city that orders chicks from a hatchery, but they still get them delivered by USPS shipping.

X2
Feed/Farm stores don't hatch their own chicks. They always order from a hatchery but since they order hundreds at a time, the shipping success tends to be greater.
Buying from them does eliminate the possibility of losing birds in shipment because the feed store has already absorbed the loss of any that died in transport.

 

[Abriana]

X2
Feed/Farm stores don't hatch their own chicks. They always order from a hatchery but since they order hundreds at a time, the shipping success tends to be greater.
Buying from them does eliminate the possibility of losing birds in shipment because the feed store has already absorbed the loss of any that died in transport.

At my farm store and man hatches the chicks and drives them to the store.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Is ideal poultry the closest hatchery to you? I have read that it is best to buy ftom the closest so that shipping is the least stressful.

 

[Acre4Me]

Well I spent the last month researching baby chicks and building a brooder, got a feeder and water all set up, and placed my very first mail order from Ideal Poultry -- 15 assorted pullets. I've raised hens before, but this is my first time getting baby chicks shipped.

According to the tracking number, the chicks were taken to the Austin Distribution center Tuesday afternoon. They spent about 42 hours in transit before arriving at my local post office. I got to them first thing Thursday morning only to find every single one dead as a doornail

I KNOW -- it's January, and not the best time to order. I live in California and the daytime temps have been in the 60s, nighttime low is about 45 degrees F, so I thought this time of year would be better than in a few months, when it can get quite hot (the chicks were shipping from Texas).

I posted recently about my experience - also received ALL DEAD chicks. I'm in OH and hatchery is in OH (but weather was not going to be too bad on ship date and next 2 days). I purchased 26 chicks and they shipped with at least 2 heater packs that were still warm 2 days later when we finally got them. The tracking only showed Postal receipt, and transfer to distribution center on day of hatch, then they left distribution center 11pm Monday (day of hatch) and arrived WED morning 6am - so, 31 hours in a truck I guess. They were starting to smell, so I don't think they lived too far into their journey. Next time, we are going to pick them up since my 11yo (who was with me) was pretty sad.

 

[Lauren Kim]

I personally recommend Purely Poultry. They sent me very high-quality chicks that lay eggs everyday. Plus you have the option to vaccinate them so that you don’t get sick. And I believe the minimum number of chicks you can buy is 3 instead of 15(they also give you an extra).
www.purelypoultry.com

 

[SarahGfa]

I posted recently about my experience - also received ALL DEAD chicks. I'm in OH and hatchery is in OH (but weather was not going to be too bad on ship date and next 2 days). I purchased 26 chicks and they shipped with at least 2 heater packs that were still warm 2 days later when we finally got them. The tracking only showed Postal receipt, and transfer to distribution center on day of hatch, then they left distribution center 11pm Monday (day of hatch) and arrived WED morning 6am - so, 31 hours in a truck I guess. They were starting to smell, so I don't think they lived too far into their journey. Next time, we are going to pick them up since my 11yo (who was with me) was pretty sad.

OMG that must have been horrible to open a box with 26 dead chicks! I am really surprised that even 2 heater packs did not help. 31 hours does not seem like such a terribly long time, I would have expected them to be okay. I wonder if somethnig else happened to them....

 

[song of joy]

It's way too risky to ship chicks this time of year. Their bodies are tiny and even heat packs can only do so much in below-freezing temperatures. It's a prime recipe for DOA chicks. Hold off and ask them to re-ship in early April.

Ideal included the "extra males for warmth" in one of my June shipments of chicks. Yes, it helps to keep the chicks warm, but during cold winter weather it may not be sufficient to protect the chicks from the effects of chilling due to cold temperatures.

Also, it's a pain to get rid of the male chicks. Nobody seems to want them because they take almost 5 months to grow out . . . and that's for a small amount of meat.

 

[azygous]

To have every single chick die in a shipment of fifteen during a transit where the temps weren't below freezing leads me to suspect a postal employee screwed up and didn't pay attention to the other cargo. Policy clearly states that live chicks must never be included in shipments of food which are on dry ice. The fumes will gas and kill chicks in minutes.

By all means try again. As long as the weather stays above freezing and the transit doesn't take longer than three days, your chicks will do fine without any gel pack, but a heat pack will definitely help. They do last three days.