Mortality risk of shipping chicks in April?

[song of joy]

I'd like to place an order with Ideal Poultry (TX) for 8 pullet chicks, to be delivered to Pennsylvania in early to mid-April. This would be a combination air and truck shipment, taking around 24 hours. Can anyone advise me on the risk of chick mortality with this scenario (April shipment, Ideal Poultry, 8-chicks)? I understand that Ideal will add "males for warmth", but I found it VERY difficult to find a home for these males last time (Ideal included 8 males for warmth with a 7-pullet order when I placed a June order).

 

[Eggcessive]

I have received 2 shipments in different years from Meyer Hatchery in Polk Ohio which traveled 24 hours to me in southern Ohio the first week of April that did fine. The first shipment was 26 chicks, and the second was 15 chicks with a heat pack. All lived and did well. Your chicks will probably take 2 days, but I think April is fine for shipping chicks. Texas can be pretty hot in May-June, and heat can be as bad as cold. I would advise you to get a few more chicks because with small orders they could get chilled. If you got more female chicks, your shipping may be less which could cost the same as getting fewer chicks with the higher cost of shipping plus heat pack. Then give away the extra females. With Meyer, and probably most hatcheries they charge a high shipping charge with small orders, so it comes out the same getting 25 chicks. With every 5 chicks they lower the shipping rates. Meyer has a lot of good breeds and would be closer to you, unless they don't have the breeds you want. Good luck with your chicks.

 

[song of joy]

Thank you for the reply. Shipping rates are really inexpensive with Ideal, so that's not an issue with order size. With regard to heating packs, Ideal uses "males for warmth" as the biological "heating pack". I was hoping to avoid that, but I do like your suggestion of ordering a couple more pullets for warmth, and re-homing them if needed.