My ducklings were DEAD ON ARRIVAL

[ChickenToes]

I ordered 4 Campbells, 3 Mallards (who were for my neighbor) and 3 Cayugas.

I love McMurray too, I ordered my chickens from them in April and they were all healthy. I only lost one, a runt.

I've read on a few other threads that this was apparently a bad week for shipping birds. It's been so hot everywhere.

 

[go-veggie]

Were they sent express/overnight? I think that should always be a requirement, right? Poor little babies. My 6 chicks came from OH to WI earlier this week and the temps were high, but thankfully, they made the trip just fine.

 

[ChickenToes]

Well, this was the weird thing. McMurray is in Iowa, but the stamp on the box was from California. But the shipping only took 2 days, so that's not the reason they died. McMurray says they only ship birds in the fastest way possible, and I believe that. It's still just sad, even though it's not my fault, I still feel bad about it.

 

[Scrambled Egg]

Poor little things, it's so hot they could dies from the heat. I hope the next ones make it safe and healthy

 

[go-veggie]

Quote:
It is really sad.
Just wondering...did you ask about the California thing? Do they use another hatchery for some babies they don't have in IA or something? I am so curious now...

 

[Frosty]

Most hatcheries have different sources that the birds are drop shipped from. Perhaps CA was the only source that still had ducklings available?

I seem to recall someone on a different list that I belong to saying that they used to work for USPS and could tell some real horror stories from boxes of chicks on the bottom of the stack in the truck to boxes of chicks getting run over by a forklift while sitting outside. Just unbelievable!

I always feel so bad for any that are DOA... got a turkey poult once that was dead to the point of stinking so bad that I had to get rid of it before I put the box in my car (in transit for 2 days and it stunk like that?) Heavy losses with that bunch...

 

[go-veggie]

Quote:
My mom told me stories like that, and I swore I would only go to local hatcheries to buy baby chicks after that. The first time I got chicks back in May, I picked them up myself, but then I started to see a few different breeds I liked and realized the only way I was going to get them was to have them shipped. Like the OP, I would haved felt just terrible if something would have happened to them. I think one of the biggest things is that they need to be shipped overnight. The bottom line is that the p.o. just handles them better when the shipper or recipient has paid the big bucks to have them receive total priority. I'm sure there is much less of a chance of something bad happening because they are in such a hurry to get the box from point a to point b to fulfill the delivery deadline. It is my opinion that all live animals should be shipped overnight only and these hatcheries are irresponsible if they do it any other way. My turtles came overnight too and they were just fine. I am sure there are exceptions where things happen during overnight shipping too, but probably a lot less. One night in transit is stressful enough, and that's all they should be put through.

 

[LV426]

I believe that McMurray gets their ducks from Metzer Farms in California which is why they are so expensive. I'm not positive on this but this is what I suspect. I just order from Metzer and they ship my ducklings overnight with a cool pack and they are much more reasonable than McMurray prices. I've never had ducks arrive dead.

 

[banter]

We live 2 miles from Poland Springs. My husband is a a Walgreens manager, and the water he gets from them comes from a warehouse in Ohio! Not exactly an efficient way of doing things!
I wonder how many side trips the poor things made! So sorry!

 

[go-veggie]

Quote:
So many things are done so ridiculously nowadays! It makes me want to go back to a time when everyone did everything they needed to and got every product they needed from themselves and their animals and other local businesses. Geez...