MIA - Is thare a chance?

[PrincessLaundry]

Hello! I need some help. I have 6 chickies on the way from Ohio via mail. They were scheduled to arrive Tuesday at 1:00 PM. I understand delays, time changes, chickies stopping off at McDonalds for nuggets, bathroom breaks, yadda yadda yadda. However... It is now Thursday at 9:00 AM and my girls are still MIA.

I have called the Post Office, gone down there a billion times, called the company who reassured me that my girls and I would be "watching TV by Thursday afternoon."

What are the chances that they have even survived their holiday tour of the southern states at this point. Seriously... Why on earth did they go to Mobile? But I digress...

I was told they "may be in the 11:30 shipment." I have 2 1/2 hours left of nesting in me. Is there hope or have I ordered a frozen box of nuggets?

I'm losing it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Are they chicks or adult birds?
If chicks, I assume they had a heat pack.
I've had chicks lost in the mail and they all arrived alive but they came from a breeder so were likely more robust than hatchery birds.
Where ( what hatchery/breeder) are they coming from?

 

[PrincessLaundry]

Thank you for the quick response. My chicks are coming from mypetchicken.com

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I know they use heat packs so they are likely ok.

 

[azygous]

Do you have a tracking number? Do you know when they left Meyer Hatchery in Ohio? If it's MPC, they usually ship on Monday. They ought to be here today sometime. If they don't show up until Friday, they should still be fine.

 

[PrincessLaundry]

It has been a rough day....

Finally my box of doom arrived after 11:00 AM.
2 frozen dead chickies
1 warm dead chickie

I just about tossed out the box when I decided to pet one... I found 3 barely breathing. I put them on the heated rice pad and gave them electrolytes. I gave them bits of Poly vi which seemed to help. My remaining Easter Egger started coming back first and was becoming so busy I put her in the brooder under the EcoGlow. Then my Blue Cochin started moving around, so she went into the box. My little Americana was happy but then died around 2:00. The two busy girls moved weakly around the box but continued to improve. Unfortunately my Cochin started making a clicking noise when breathing and quickly went down hill, she dies around 4:00. Now it is 6:19 and out lone Easter Egger is sitting in the brooder barely peeping. She is moving around, but prefers sleeping under the warmth right now. She is not eating or drinking on her own yet.

I called the company and they are offering a refund on the passed birds, or I can choose from what they have and get them replaced with others...But due to winter seas, I have to order 25!!! Um...

Yeah. Rough day.

 

[azygous]

What a horrible experience! I forgot it's winter and very, very cold for just six chicks making a journey from Ohio. Taking a day longer than they should have is probably what did them in, or they were subjected to being too long sitting on a freezing loading dock.

I went through this grueling ordeal twice this year, but it was coming into the warm part of the year so when my order was lost for 24 hours, the chicks survived. I did learn a lot about the care they are given enroute. Most postal employees and Fed Ex employees are on the alert for peeping boxes and they take the box inside and place it under a heat lamp until time for it to move on to the next leg of its journey.

But occasionally, chicks are handled by an employee who doesn't care, and sometimes mistakes are made, a truck doesn't make the connection with a flight, and the chicks are stranded.

I'm so sorry you have lost all but one chick. It's not going to be a walk in the park raising a single chick, but I would think carefully about ordering more chicks until after May and that way their odds of making it to you alive increase by a lot.

 

[Traceaskew]

Could you look on local FB groups for some local chicks? It was looking for chicks and yes, they all require a min order of 25 in the winter so they can stay a bit warmer. I did find a couple people locally but they only offered them as a straight run and I can't have Roos where I live. I ended up splitting an order with a friend and found a hatchery that is only about 3 hours away so they don't have too far to go. I'm so sorry about losing so many, I'm sure it's heartbreaking

 

[PrincessLaundry]

Fabulous suggestions by everyone! Thank you! We live inFlorida and the temps have been in the 80's until (of course) the last 2 days. We are a military family and wanted to get an early start on chickens this time before we are transfered again in two years. This is our permanent home, so our girls when we do get more will get to stick around. Woot!

What wool it be like for a single chick though? Tips for a single child? My daughter said she could live in her room. LOL NO! lol

 

[azygous]

This lone chick is going to be expecting some mates, and its instinct requires it to peep constantly and loudly to signal its presence to any would-be chicks in the vicinity. the longer the chick goes without any other chicks to satisfy these instincts for survival, the more frantic its peeping will become, taxing your sanity. Just understand it's normal.

You can try to fool it into thinking it has company by putting a mirror in the brooder. A heating pad scrunched up so it can hide in its dark, warm folds will comfort it. A scrap of polar-tech or velour cloth for it to snuggle with will also help. Some find a natural feather duster hung inside the brooder will give the chick the sensation of hiding under a broody hen. You might try combining it with the heating pad somehow.

Let your daughter hold the chick under her neck or inside her shirt. This will also calm and comfort the chick.

This first week with a lone chick will be the most trying. By week two, the chick should be settling into a routine with its new "flock" you and your family.