Nearly DOA mail order chicks

[Kiki]

Nutri Drench.

 

[Smuvers Farm]

Always ALWAYS try heating them up first. Heat does amazing things for baby animals.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Well, that was fast. 2 passed and the 3rd recovered once in the incubator. The survivors are now in the brooding box eating, drinking, and sleeping. Thanks all for the quick replies! Should this happen again in the future I'll just be placing in the incubator.

Good plan.
In the meantime, order some Nutri Drench.

How agravating... I couldn't believe the obvious mishandling of the box. Beware the USPS!

Bad things can happen when most of the shipping process is automated. For an extra special handling fee, one can insure the package is handled manually.
USPS usually contracts with other vendors for the air handling so during that time it is out of their control. I truly appreciate the PO. Without them, we'd have to drive our birds across the country to hand deliver them.

Well, one of them anyway. 7 of them were 10 days old. Oddly, the survivor was the only 4 day old.
By that meaning of the 3 which were in trouble but alive. 3 were ok on arrival.

Well, there's your problem. It is against USPS regulations to ship anything other than DAY OLD chicks and ADULT birds. 4 days old, 10 days old are not deemed to be able to survive shipping. That's the reason for the rules. Most of your chicks failed to survive because they were shipped outside of the mail-able parameters.
Were they shipped overnight yesterday morning?

The following live, day–old animals are acceptable for mailing when properly packaged: chickens, ducks, emus, geese, guinea birds, partridges, pheasants (only during April through August), quail, and turkeys. All other types of live, day–old poultry are nonmailable. Day–old poultry vaccinated with Newcastle disease (live virus) also is nonmailable.
The specific types of day-old poultry named above are mailable under the following conditions.

1. Poultry that is not more than 24 hours old and is presented for mailing in the original, unopened hatchery box from the hatchery of origin.
2. The date and hour of hatching is noted on the box by a representative of the hatchery who has personal knowledge thereof. (For Collect on Delivery (COD) shipments made by a hatchery for the account of others, the name or initials and address of the hatchery or the Post Office box number and address of the hatchery must be prominently shown for this standard.)
3. Box is properly ventilated, of proper construction and strength to bear safe transport in the mail, and is not stacked more than 10 units high.
4. Day–old poultry is mailed early enough in the week to avoid receipt at the office of address (in case of missed connections) on a Sunday, a national holiday, or the afternoon before a Sunday or national holiday.
5. Day–old poultry can be delivered to the addressee within 72 hours of the time of hatching.
6. Day-old poultry sent via surface transportation, must include special handling service fees, in addition to regular postage.
7. Day-old poultry sent via air transportation must meet all provisions of the airlines. Delivery of the mailpiece is dependent on the availability of air carriers having available equipment to safely deliver the day–old poultry within the specified time limit.
8. Day–old poultry that is first shipped via a commercial air express or air cargo service and then presented for mailing to a final destination must be in good condition and properly packaged as specified in526.32a-e.
9. Boxes of day–old poultry of about identical size, securely fastened together to prevent separation in transit, may be accepted for mailing as a single parcel, provided the total length and girth combined does not exceed Postal Service limits.

Lastly, I'd like to give a shout out to member Ayam onthe farm. His communication was great, very fairly priced, he sent 3 extra over what I purchased, thoughtfully packaged with heating pack, watering gel, and food. He also waited until they were 10 days old before shipping on all but one to help ensure survival rate.

I don't feel anything which went wrong was his problem.

I wouldn't hesitate to purchase from him again. Thanks Bob!

I disagree. 10 day old chicks should never be shipped.
Regulations.
https://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52c5_008.htm#ep184002

Always ALWAYS try heating them up first. Heat does amazing things for baby animals.

X2

 

[Windus]

I thought that was very strange too when the age of the birds were mentioned. I thought chicks had to be shipped at 1 day old because they could survive without food or water for 1-2 days.

 

[lazy gardener]

Poultry Nutri Drench, sugar water, home made electrolyte solution are my go-to's.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Windus wrote;
I thought that was very strange too when the age of the birds were mentioned. I thought chicks had to be shipped at 1 day old because they could survive without food or water for 1-2 days.

Correct. The regulations are in place to insure the animals are protected against death. Only those animals with the ability to survive without food or water during transport are acceptable for shipping. That is day old poultry and adult birds.
Chicks can be no more than 24 hours from hatching at the time delivered to the P.O..
One can't blame the USPS when one doesn't follow the rules.

 

[Smuvers Farm]

Windus wrote;
I thought that was very strange too when the age of the birds were mentioned. I thought chicks had to be shipped at 1 day old because they could survive without food or water for 1-2 days.

Correct. The regulations are in place to insure the animals are protected against death. Only those animals with the ability to survive without food or water during transport are acceptable for shipping. That is day old poultry and adult birds.
Chicks can be no more than 24 hours from hatching at the time delivered to the P.O..
One can't blame the USPS when one doesn't follow the rules.

Good plan.
In the meantime, order some Nutri Drench.


Bad things can happen when most of the shipping process is automated. For an extra special handling fee, one can insure the package is handled manually.
USPS usually contracts with other vendors for the air handling so during that time it is out of their control. I truly appreciate the PO. Without them, we'd have to drive our birds across the country to hand deliver them.



Well, there's your problem. It is against USPS regulations to ship anything other than DAY OLD chicks and ADULT birds. 4 days old, 10 days old are not deemed to be able to survive shipping. That's the reason for the rules. Most of your chicks failed to survive because they were shipped outside of the mail-able parameters.
Were they shipped overnight yesterday morning?

The following live, day–old animals are acceptable for mailing when properly packaged: chickens, ducks, emus, geese, guinea birds, partridges, pheasants (only during April through August), quail, and turkeys. All other types of live, day–old poultry are nonmailable. Day–old poultry vaccinated with Newcastle disease (live virus) also is nonmailable.
The specific types of day-old poultry named above are mailable under the following conditions.

1. Poultry that is not more than 24 hours old and is presented for mailing in the original, unopened hatchery box from the hatchery of origin.
2. The date and hour of hatching is noted on the box by a representative of the hatchery who has personal knowledge thereof. (For Collect on Delivery (COD) shipments made by a hatchery for the account of others, the name or initials and address of the hatchery or the Post Office box number and address of the hatchery must be prominently shown for this standard.)
3. Box is properly ventilated, of proper construction and strength to bear safe transport in the mail, and is not stacked more than 10 units high.
4. Day–old poultry is mailed early enough in the week to avoid receipt at the office of address (in case of missed connections) on a Sunday, a national holiday, or the afternoon before a Sunday or national holiday.
5. Day–old poultry can be delivered to the addressee within 72 hours of the time of hatching.
6. Day-old poultry sent via surface transportation, must include special handling service fees, in addition to regular postage.
7. Day-old poultry sent via air transportation must meet all provisions of the airlines. Delivery of the mailpiece is dependent on the availability of air carriers having available equipment to safely deliver the day–old poultry within the specified time limit.
8. Day–old poultry that is first shipped via a commercial air express or air cargo service and then presented for mailing to a final destination must be in good condition and properly packaged as specified in526.32a-e.
9. Boxes of day–old poultry of about identical size, securely fastened together to prevent separation in transit, may be accepted for mailing as a single parcel, provided the total length and girth combined does not exceed Postal Service limits.

I disagree. 10 day old chicks should never be shipped.
Regulations.
https://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52c5_008.htm#ep184002


X2

X2!!!

 

[Crooked path]

Well, thank you all for the replies. Duly noted on all accounts.

All that said however, the fact feces was all over the outside of the box sides near the top around air holes clearly indicates it spent time on multiple sides during transport. This fails to mention the collapsed portion.

I now understand the specifications and reasons for day old chicks; however if I were to offer a service from my company and fail to operate with reasonable standards contingent with said service, I would expect to be held accountable.

If only one company offers me a service Noone else will and does a terrible job at it, that's not doing me a favor. That's simply doing a terrible job. I don't make excuses for myself much less others when I'm accountable for my comittments.

Again, I feel my statement of "beware the post office" in regards to their failure to meet basic expectations wasn't out of line, nor do I feel anyone should avoid using them. I'm simply sharing my observations for those to make their own informed decisions and expect the potential of abuse of such a sensitive package even though they spread a perception to the contrary.

I appreciate everyone's comments and recommendations. This is a learning experiance for sure.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm old as the hills and learn every day.
I didn't know all this stuff years ago.
When packages are in the automated system, they travel down conveyors and drop into bins. Without the special handling, no humans come into contact with the packages during in transit sorting.

 

[Kiki]

O boy, looks like they regularly ship older chicks...by older I mean more than a day old chick.
#1