Murray order received DOA

[jjthink]

I'm so sorry for those poor little ones.

Freezing winter and blistering summer - I've lost count of the number of very sad posts about DOA's.

The hatcheries shouldn't be shipping when there's bad weather yet they do, and the post office makes mistakes and/or runs into inclement weather that slows down transport. It's pretty clear we can't count on the established system to protect the little munchkins. We always mean well - such great big hearts on this site and elsewhere - but it is incumbent upon us to take matters into our own hands and order when the little ones stand their best chance of survival. We can obtain them locally if possible - so no shipping is involved - or at least choose weather on both ends that is as close to ideal as possible for shipping. Posts like Barb's (thank you) will raise awareness and hopefully more and more people will time their shipments in favor of the munchkins.

My heart breaks a little more every time I read about a beautiful living creature that could have had a joyful life but instead suffered and died closed in a box, turned coffin, on its way somewhere.
JJ

 

[s6bee]

Where are you located? I did keep my order to a farm closer to home. You can try and get them to ship again, but most likely it was the weather. Can they hold an oder off for a month?
I ordered mine from Meyer in Ohio. I would do it again. They were so helpful and the came a day early! Not a single death and the representative must have listened to me 'cause I said I live in the burbs and can't have an extra chick be a roo. I got an extra female instead! They are all beautiful and health to this day.

Sorry for your loss.
Steph

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
The hatcheries wouldn't be shipping in winter if there wasn't a demand for them. If one hatchery were to decide not to ship any chicks while it was still winter, then the consumer who insists on having their chicks now would simply go to a hatchery that will.

The consumer is demanding it, so the hatchery is supplying it. It's that simple. It's up to us, as the new chicken parents, to exercise patience. Your chicks will be just as cute in April and alot better off for not having the extra stress of dealing with freezing temps at a tender age.

 

[barb]

I live in Western New York. I googled hatcheries by state, and couldn't find any in NY, although I did see some in PA and OH. Meyer is in OH, but when I looked at their site, the bantams that I wanted are not available. A previous poster said Meyer may be a supplier for My Pet Chicken, and I see that the bantams are available there. If Meyer drop-ships for MPC, I may go that route. I called MPC today and left a message for a return call.

On transporting chicks: I would think (and may suggest - after more thought) that hatcheries, or anyone shipping livestock, would chose a shipping method that gives a tracking number. Does this make sense, or am I missing something? In this case, if we could have located the birds when they didn't show up Monday, I might have been able to make other arrangements for them. Also, if more experienced people in the loop (i.e. - the firm shipping the birds) contacted the purchaser and advised a delay due to weather and increased risk of loss, fewer birds would die. Instead, the lost birds are part of the hatcheries' overhead. It's more profitable to absorb the cost of lost birds than to incur the additional labor cost and interruption of cash flow that would result if they were to talk with customers and delay delivery.

The individuals I spoke with at the hatchery and Post Office were all very helpful and compassionate. This is not a criticism of them. Policies are developed at the top, and that's where change will come from.

I do apologize if this is not the right forum for my rant. I'm an accountant and often see these decisions made with the bottom line always in sight. Of course, my company deals with inanimate objects, not livestock

Thanks again,

Barb

 

[chickenranchwife]

Barb, I'm so sorry for you and those babies. I just got my order on Monday and it was the same result as yours. However it was due to the weather. They will replace your order, and will hold the order for awhile. I moved my replacement order back to the 1st weekend in March. Good luck with finding a closer hatchery.

 

[hart31]

Quote:
I use delivery confirmation and tracking on almost everything I ship. The USPS tracking is disgustingly poor compared to UPS but my local postmaster was able to locate a shipment of hand made farm toys that had gone astray for me. If you are using the usps tracking website it will only tell you when it was accepted and when it finally arrives but the PM was able to submit a request using another method and found my toys.

Something everyone needs to remember about ordering chicks is that the day olds you are supposed to get this week were put into a hatcher 3 weeks ago and the reason that chicks are relatively easy to mail is because they absorb the yolk just before hatching and don't need to eat or drink for a couple of days. And the weatherman isn't perfect. Predicted storms don't always happen and light snow flurries sometimes turn into major blizzards. If McM or other large hatcheriy gets a flood of phone calls this week to stop shipment on a total of 5,000 or 10,000 chicks or more it is very unlikely that they would have a local customer ready and waiting for all of them. And even if they did you might have to wait another 3 weeks to get yours if they are booked up.
During February there is almost certainly a storm in some part of the country they are shipping too on any given day. Trucks also breakdown, even new low mile ones, traffic jams happen, and flights or transfers to other trucks get missed because of it. I had an order of eggs in January that were frozen solid, but the ones that arrived the morning it was -35F were warm and toasty. (And doing great on day 13 in the bator)

Considering the huge numbers of chicks that are hatched and shipped each year, the hatcheries and the usps do a fantastic job. It is unfortunate that every chick can't arrive healthy and hearty.

Please don't think I'm calous or jumping on anyone for complaining or ranting abit. I know it hurts to lose any kind of livestock, especially baby ones. I've lost newborn calves in late season blizzards and, for me at least, it's never been about the lost monetary value. I see it as a failure on my part to have lost the life of an animal whose care was my responsibility.

Why didn't I check just 1 more time during the night?

Why didn't I walk 50 feet farther to the left the last time I was out?

I didn't expect her to have twins, if I had I maybe I would have seen that calf half covered by snow laying in the shadows.....

Another member suggested only ordering from the southern hatcheries this time of year. For those of us in the northern great plains that would almost surely mean dead chicks. I can get packages shipped to and from either coast in 2 days almost anytime. But north and south? forget it! Priority mail to Houston averages at least a week.

 

[Jsto]

I'm sorry for your loss

I will agree not to hold it against the hatchery when there are so many other determining factors, especially this time of year. Still, that doesn't make a box of chicks that aren't chirping any less saddening

I bought my first chicks last year from My Pet Chicken. I had a wonderful experience with them and I think it's a good alternative for people who only want a few chicks. I got 5, ended up with 6. Customer service was lovely and I was very pleased with every all around. My absolute only beef is this 'high-tech heating implement' which is basically just like those hand warmers you would use in winter. $25 for that alone is a bit of a rip off, but I just couldn't do 25+ chicks so I took it on the chin. I would definitely recommend them to anyone who was only looking for a few chicks and could afford the extra cost for the heating.

I would agree on waiting for warmer temperatures to get your chicks. I know it's hard to wait, but I think it makes for a much smoother process over all

Again, I'm sorry for your loss. It's something they always tell you to get used to, but I doubt anyone ever does. Good luck for the future

 

[MNKris]

Quote:
Unfortunately places like Fed Ex and UPS won't ship chicks. You have to use the Post Office.

 

[gritsar]

Barb, I didn't want you to think because of my previous post that I was unsympathetic to your loss; because I'm not. It's just a sad happening and I will be hoping for much better for you with your next batch.

 

[barb]

I thank you all for your compassion, thoughts, and experience. In our house, and probably for most of you too, our animals are more pets than livestock. I have one goat who thinks, because she spent her first week with us in the house being nursed back to health, that she's a house pet! She's rather insistent about it. It sounds like the folks on this forum think of their animals in the same way. So when we lose an animal, we also look back and try to see what we could have done differently. It's always sad, and always a learning experience.

I drafted a plan for options in changing shipping processes, and was going to include it in this post, but it's way too long and probably not appropriate here. I am, however, going to include it in my letter of concern to the hatchery.

Thanks again,

Barb