My babies have shipped, trying to stay calm

[LadyVictorian]

So I had ordered babies back in January from Meyer that just shipped today at 7 am and I am already getting super nervous. These were probably things I should have asked BEFORE ordering chicks online but I didn't so now my chicks are out there in the big world in a tiny box coming home to me and I am panicking because I want them to all show up healthy and alive.

First off, looking at the shipping tracker it says 2 day's until arrival. Does that mean they will be in shipping for 3 days as in it will arrive 2 days after the day it was shipped or does it mean it will arrive the day after they are shipped out?

Also the website says they can arrive either 25-27th. How long can chicks survive without food and water before I should expect to open a box full of dead chicks? I am concerned because I know if they arrive Wednesday I have work and worry about them not coming in right away in the morning which would mean I would be at work and can't pick them up until the next day on Thursday. I am really starting to get nervous now.

 

[eggbert420]

They will arrive in two days.

 

[LadyVictorian]

So if they show up on Wednesday I can't imagine any of them will be alive then will they T.T

 

[azygous]

The very best thing you can do to prepare for the arrival of your babies is to get a bottle of Poultry Nutri-drench. It has everything in it to counteract stress and many developmental problems that might be lurking. Have tepid sugar water ready to dip their beaks in as soon as you unpack their shipping crate. Then get them under heat to warm up asap. A heating pad is a very good heat source.

Chicks will survive three days, even four without food and water, but sudden dips in temperature is the big villain. Not much you can do about that except notify your post office of this expected shipment and request a call as soon as the truck comes in, no matter how early. Most of us have been allowed to pick up our chicks early at the loading dock before hours.

I'm sure your babies will arrive safe and sound. Meyer is a good hatchery.

 

[peaceisgreen]

are chicks sent to the nearest post office or the address you give them

 

[LadyVictorian]

I already have bottles of nutri-drench along with electoyites and probiotics.

The only problem is if this tracking is correct they are arriving on Wednesday at 3:00pm and my post office closes at 3:30pm and I work that day until 9:00pm at night....if they shipped out today will they even be alive on Thursday when I will have to pick them up and what will the post office have to do while they are there overnight?

 

[LadyVictorian]

And they said post office though I don't know about nearest since the nearest post office for me in in St. Francis but I technically live in Isanti which is half an hour drive to the Isanti post office from my house and the St. Francis one is 2 minutes from my house. Nothing has ever shipped to the St. Francis post office though unless we specifically use our po box in St. Francis which we normally do but I used my home address thinking just in case they shipped to our house instead.

 

[azygous]

The hatchery will ship to whatever address you gave them. If you don't know what address they used, call the hatchery and find out. Also ask when the chicks shipped. That will give you an idea when to expect them. It shouldn't take but two days from Ohio to Minnesota.

You will also learn a lot by calling your post office. They will tell you when shipments come in from Ohio and where they first land. I also have had shipments from Meyer. I also have a rural PO box. I have no home delivery.

I found out that my chicks were going to be held 24 hours at a sorting facility two and a half hours away before finally ending up at my local post office. I elected to cut out this last 24 hours from my chicks' journey and driving up to the sorting facility to get them. Another shipment prior to that one came all the way down to my post office and the chicks were in transit three days. They arrived in fine shape.

By calling the hatchery and calling your post office, you can learn a lot of information to put your mind at ease and perhaps open up some options you didn't know you had.

 

[LadyVictorian]

My post office is already closed though T.T and don't open until 9 tomorrow. Meyer's decided to send my the confirmation message AT the very minute the post office closed. According to the tracking info the chicks left the hatchery at 7:04am this morning though and got picked up from the main hub at 12:15pm.

 

[LadyVictorian]

I don't know if watching the tracking is a good thing or a bad thing because I just noticed my chicks sat in a warehouse for about 6 hours straight and I am just imaging incompetent mailmen throwing heavy boxes on their box and squishing them to death or putting them someplace cold or where they can't breath. I know my co worker said they have gotten a few boxes of all dead chicks for the store because of mailmen not knowing how to handle the birds. Guess the next few days I won't be sleeping much, just need lots of coffee and lots of zoloft to stay calm o.o