Lavender Orpington project ....

[CityChicker]

Thanks, Kathy. I just replied to your PM before I saw your message here. The largest chicks didn't even make the trip. They were dead in the box and then I lost chicks of various sizes upon arrival. It makes me wonder how old even the smallest ones were. I have never seen a malnourished chick before (even in 25 years of raising poultry) because who would malnourish a chick intentionally? That said, even the larger chicks just don't look right. You can plainly see the one on the right that is in profile how thin it looks relative to its' size. Its' proportions are just not right for a chick that age. It makes me think they are sending chicks of various ages and either A. Not feeding them before shipment or B. Just feeding them enough to keep them alive. Of course, this is conjecture on my part.

...oh, and these were all purchased as "day-old chicks". I never would have agreed to the deal otherwise.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

It's very apparent they are not all from the same hatch. Only reason days old are allowed to be shipped is that they can live off the yolk sac for upto 3 days. Older than that should not be shipped as they need food and water. Adult birds yes with fruit available for them in their shipping box but not that size. I still think temp change and shipping added to no feed/water did them in.

I would ask for my money back since they are not all day olds from the same hatch.

 

[CityChicker]

Thanks, Tuffoldhen. I emailed them back just now and said that I think they should refund all the chicks that have died. The other ones that were surviving after shipment, I was able to get to live to about 4 days, but they just never rebounded enough to live. I agree with you that there could have been some other factor as well, like temperature or something, but the age of the chicks almost certainly played a role, if not was the primary cause of death. It is frustrating as well that I bought these chicks over 2 months ago because they said they could ship within 2 weeks. I reiterated several times to them that the auction was for day-olds and I only wanted day-olds. Anyway, what's done is done. I just hope they agree to refund them and never send chicks like this to anyone again in the future.

 

[cherylcohen]

Quote:
I'm so terribly sorry for your losses. It is just so emotionally draining when things like this happen. I can't remember if you said they were a byc or ebay seller. Regardless of which they are, can you please leave your negative feedback on them. I don't mean to destroy their reputation, but since we all do so much purchasing, the feedback is a really critical place for others to find out a sellers performance.

 

[buildingmyark]

CityChicker, I'm so sorry for your tragic loss. I can't begin to imagine, BUT you do have 5 absolutley beautiful babies that are obviously very determined to make it! In my opinion, after all they've been through, bless their hearts, that's very special.

 

[Newyorkrita]

Quote:
My Hatching Eggs just got here and I unpacked them. Put them in an egg carton on my counter to rest. Great packing job and no broken eggs. I had bought 6 in the auction and was sent 8 so I am very happy. I will let them rest for 24 hours and put them in the incubator tomorrow. Meanwhile I will try candeling and looking into the eggs later tonight when it gets dark. This is because I am new to hatching and trying to educate myself as to what to see during different stages of development.

I was surprised at the color of the eggs. Of course I have never even seen an Orps eggs before but thought they were more of a brown color than these are. These are a very light, light kaki or sand color. Almost cream. At any rate, I am happy and hope my eggs will hatch.

I candeled my eggs tonight as it is day eight and all eight are developing. Hurray. Now just to wait and candel again next week.

So it's a week later and seven out of eight are good for sure. The last I am not sure of, could be a quitter. I marked it and will check them all again just before lockdown on Wednesday as they should hatch next Saturday.

 

[CityChicker]

Okay, I will say since several people have encouraged me to do so that the breeder in question was Greenfire Farms. I don't take lightly posting something negative about a business like this and everyone can make up their own minds about whether or not to purchase from them. All of my communications with them have been cordial and for all I know, maybe they will decide to stand behind their stock and refund for all the chicks that died. That would do a lot as far as improving my impression of them and determining whether I would consider ordering from them again.

We all make mistakes and we all change the way we do things as we gain more experience. To me, shipping started chicks period, let alone of different ages, shows a real lack of experience with poultry (not to mention, it is against the law). As I said to them in email, you may do it several times with no issues, but eventually you WILL have issues like this. I am trying to be as nice and fair as I possibly can and assume this was an honest mistake. I will let you know how they chose to handle it from here. The first email I got back from them showed no indication that they were accepting any wrong doing or even admitting the chicks were not all day-olds (sort of what I expected).

Thanks again for all your kind words. It has been very sad and disappointing.

 

[DANNY]

I totally agree these birds were different ages and should not have been shipped like that. I think these people should know better because they are experienced. An adult bird can handle shipping but a baby like that can't unless they are shipped immediately after hatching. That is not only poor judgement but cruel to the chicks. I do have one question. Were they shipped priority or express and how long did it take to them to get to you?

 

[Tony]

Quote:
I candeled my eggs tonight as it is day eight and all eight are developing. Hurray. Now just to wait and candel again next week.

So it's a week later and seven out of eight are good for sure. The last I am not sure of, could be a quitter. I marked it and will check them all again just before lockdown on Wednesday as they should hatch next Saturday.

Good Luck with your hatch NewYorkRita!!

 

[Tony]

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