Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

[duluthralphie]

Here's a handy tip that will give them natural grit and also give them a jump start on forming immunity to the coccidia and other microbial life in your soils...give them a shovelful of your local earth, grass and all. They will climb on it, pick at it and eat from it. More helpful even if the soil comes from near where your other chickens live. Chicks brooded by an actual mama will gain these from their mother, but brooder raised chicks don't have that opportunity when their immune system is the most active~first two weeks~ in forming antibodies. Then folks put them out on those soils at the age of 2 mo. and they wonder why they get coccidiosis and die.

I do that when I can, however this time of year my local soil is frozen into a solid mass (like granite but harder) from the surface to 6 feet down. It would take dynamite to get a shovelful!!

But I have to add granite chips to my sand it is so fine it has virtually no rocks for grit.

 

[Beekissed]

That should tell ya something!

 

[Blooie]

Not sure I'd have headed out the door until the PO called and said they were actually there....Tracking on both of my orders said they'd already been delivered on Wednesday when in reality they spent the night at the Casper Post Office loading area, then had to be trucked 5 hours. I got them on Thursday. The first batch of chicks that happened with suffered for it, too - it was 19 below zero when we picked them up! Our postmistress even checked my tracking information on her computer and was a puzzled as I was, but she called the Casper office, found out they were there, and had them put a note on the box telling the carrier to keep them in the cab of his truck for the last leg of the trip. He did. When I got them the note was still on the box.

The Post Office doesn't seem to honor that "Express Shipping" when it comes to live chicks, even though we are required to pay for it, depending on the order. MPC even has a statement on their site that explains it, and cautions that there is no express mail guarantee from the PO on shipping chicks. I copied and pasted this directly from MPC's web site:


"Please notify us Thursday if your package has not arrived by then--but do not notify us before Thursday. The US postal service is very good about handling baby chick deliveries, and they are rarely late! In fact, we only have losses about 1% of the time. A package is late only if it does not arrive by Thursday afternoon. If your package has not arrived by then, its tracking number will have been associated with the individual orders in the hatching facility's system, so on Thursday we will be able to track down individual packages should there be the rare problem. We cannot provide tracking numbers earlier than Thursdays.

We do understand how exciting receiving baby chicks is; we understand that you want to know where your package might be in transit. However, in most cases the USPS doesn't update tracking information often enough to be helpful, as their priority is to get the babies to you as smoothly and quickly as possible. Because we My-Pet-Chicken-people all value pet chickens personally, it's important that we concentrate any tracking efforts on packages that are actually late. In the rare instance that a package is misdirected, we have never failed to find someone locally to adopt the babies. Their safe journey is our top priority, so please allow us to dedicate our time and attention where it is most needed. Thank you for understanding."

And:


Q: My chicks were delivered a day late by the post office. Will they refund my shipping since they didn't meet the overnight Express Mail guarantees?

​

A:

Unfortunately, no. USPS does NOT guarantee overnight Express delivery for live animals, as much as we would like them to. We agree: it seems a little crazy that the MOST important packages aren't subject to the same guarantees that much less sensitive packages have... but that is their policy. This is excerpted from their website (choose the "special handling" tab on that page):

What Needs Special Handling?
Special Handling Service is required for unusual items that need different handling through the mail, like live poultry and bees. This service is only available at your Post Office™.
Ordinary items that are breakable or fragile don’t need special handling if they are packed with the right cushioning, and marked clearly with the word “FRAGILE.” Add Registered Mail™ to further protect valuable or irreplaceable items.
What mail services are compatible with Special Handling?

• Express Mail®
• Priority Mail®
• First-Class Mail®
• Parcel Post®
• Media Mail®
• Mailing Live Animals

Live animal shipments (including poultry, reptiles, and bees) have very specific packaging requirements. Though you can drop them off at any Post Office, it might take longer to ship depending on the availability of transportation. With a few exceptions, pets and warm-blooded animals such as cats, gerbils, hamsters, mice, and dogs can’t go in the mail.
Live animal shipments using Express Mail® should expect a 2- to 3-day transport, so try shipping early in the week and avoiding holiday weeks with limited acceptance days and times. Express Mail postage will not be refunded unless the delivery or attempted delivery is more than 3 days after the day of mailing.​

Even though the Post Office won't refund your postage, as a part of My Pet Chicken's 100% Live Arrival Guarantee, in addition to refunding the cost of lost chicks, we do cover shipping costs in some circumstances (out of our own pockets). Read details of our 100% Live Arrival Guarantee here and in the related questions below.

 

[duluthralphie]

That should tell ya something!

People living in Minnesota are too hard headed to take hints easy.......

 

[Beekissed]

I know! I watch Dr. Pol with much amazement and head shaking. Trust me, it's not limited to Minn. If we had a vet show in WV, I'd be doing the same thing. Folks having calves and lambs in January, shivering out there in the cold and snow...it always makes me wonder what folks be thinking.

 

[Couchmo]

Here's 2 of the 26 little rascals peeking out of one of the caves. All 26 arrived seemingly healthy and none the worse for wear. All got busy drinking, eating and checking out their temporary home. They LOVE the brooders and some have even hopped up on top ;-)

 

[Blooie]

Yayyyy!!

 

[Couchmo]

Here's a handy tip that will give them natural grit and also give them a jump start on forming immunity to the coccidia and other microbial life in your soils...give them a shovelful of your local earth, grass and all.   They will climb on it, pick at it and eat from it.  More helpful even if the soil comes from near where your other chickens live.  Chicks brooded by an actual mama will gain these from their mother, but brooder raised chicks don't have that opportunity when their immune system is the most active~first two weeks~ in forming antibodies.  Then folks put them out on those soils at the age of 2 mo. and they wonder why they get coccidiosis and die. 

Bee! What a GREAT idea. Thanks sooo much for posting it here. Will be putting some in the brooder coop later today. I love doing things the way nature intended.

 

[Hholly]

Here's 2 of the 26 little rascals peeking out of one of the caves. All 26 arrived seemingly healthy and none the worse for wear. All got busy drinking, eating and checking out their temporary home. They LOVE the brooders and some have even hopped up on top ;-)

Congrats!!! What kind are they?

Here's my updated brooder. I found a baby pool, and it's working pretty good. But they are big enough that I'm hoping to get them out to the coop this weekend or early next week if the Arctic temps let up.

 

[akaruby]

My almost 5 week old chicks were moved out to their mini coop with the MHP and did great! It's pretty cold, about 15 out. But I keep checking on them and they are still on top of the heating pad. Before bed last night they were all in the cave...so I'm assuming it's working well!

@Blooie wasn't scout out in negative temperatures around this age? I'm being a worrier that it's not warm enough when it's going to get in to the negatives this weekend.

I turned on a ceramic heat emitter lamp last night to help keep water from freezing.

Here they are early yesterday. The arch of the cave looks smaller than it is.