Ordering Chicks Needs Advice

[Jeevan Singh]

Hello everyone, I am completely new at ordering poultry. I have my heart set on ordering chicks from IdealPoultry. I’m only ordering 8, but I’m tormented about them putting in extra males for warmth. So I’m not going to select that option. My question is will ordering 8 chicks be safe in May traveling from Texas to California? What causes chicks to die after ordering them and even keeping them at home?

 

[lazy gardener]

Some companies have a 15 chick minimum after April 1. Your best bet is to call the company you want to do business with and ask them what their policy is.

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYC. Glad you joined. Congrats on your about to start chicken adventure! If you don't want the extras, order by phone and make sure that they don't include any. Whether they'll be safe depends on where you are in CA. Mountains? Coast? North/South? Early/late May? Location makes a huge difference too. (that being said, please put your location in your profile. Old folks like me will never remember your first post )

Chicks are packed with a (water) gel pack so they can drink in shipment. They can normally survive for 3-5 days with no problem during shipment. They can and do die for any number of reasons. The shipment could get delayed or "lost". It might sit overnight in a truck in a cold location like the mountains during travel. The hatcheries can't do physicals on every chick they ship and some are just not healthy internally and fail to thrive or die during or right after shipping. They can get injured during shipping.

Even after you've owned them for a while, things just happen. One might have a heart condition, or some other genetic issue that causes death. They can catch diseases that can kill them. They could get killed by stray dogs, your neighbor's dogs, YOUR dogs, or any of a host of predators that love chicken dinners. And in the end, they will all die as that's how life works and always ends. The average life for a large fowl chicken is 4-6 years. Of course there are always a few that live to be 25 , but that's not "average".

So anyway, there's a wealth of info, knowledge, and experience shared here. Also, great folks eager to help others with a problem. Browse around and learn what you can. Post when you have questions. And above all, make yourself at home!

 

[Jeevan Singh]

Some companies have a 15 chick minimum after April 1. Your best bet is to call the company you want to do business with and ask them what their policy is.

Ideals policy is a $25 minimum not a minimum of chicks, another reason I want to order from them. Thank you! Will 8 chicks keep each other warm enough?

 

[MrsMistyReal]

Welcome aboard to BYC family gr8 people tons of information and loads of fun, enjoy shake your tail feathers

 

[Latestarter]

Again, it depends on a lot of factors. I detailed them out above. Where in CA are you located? Coast? mnts? north? south? When in May? early? late? The hatcheries have extensive shipping knowledge and experience as to what will and won't work. Ask them and go by what they recommend!

When you do order them, make sure you notify your post office/postmaster-mistress that they'll be coming and when. You could ask for the PO to call you as soon as they arrive so you can drive there and pick them up vice waiting for delivery. You can let your daily mail carrier know they're coming and to please bring them directly to the house vice leaving in/at the mail box or siting inside your gate if you live off the road.

 

[lazy gardener]

Ideals policy is a $25 minimum not a minimum of chicks, another reason I want to order from them. Thank you! Will 8 chicks keep each other warm enough?

I assume you are referring to "keep each other warm enough in shipping?" Again, I would refer back to the hatchery. I am in Maine, so what would work for you might not work for me. As it is, ordering chicks through the mail ANY TIME of the year is at best, sketchy for me b/c I'm at the end of the line as far as USPS is concerned, no matter what hatchery I use. Also, my climate is much different than yours.

No matter what you choose to do, be sure that you avoid shipment near a mail holiday date!!!

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

I ordered from Ideal. We live in Missouri, so it wasn't too bad. That seems like a long way to ship chicks. We bought a heat pack for three dollars that they put in there instead of males. There wasn't anything in there for them to drink, and the chicks can approximately live for 78 hours on the yolk, but that seems like a long way to ship. Hope it works out for you! I'm going to be ordering from them again around the end of February.

 

[Jeevan Singh]

Greetings and welcome to BYC. Glad you joined. Congrats on your about to start chicken adventure! If you don't want the extras, order by phone and make sure that they don't include any. Whether they'll be safe depends on where you are in CA. Mountains? Coast? North/South? Early/late May? Location makes a huge difference too. (that being said, please put your location in your profile. Old folks like me will never remember your first post )

Chicks are packed with a (water) gel pack so they can drink in shipment. They can normally survive for 3-5 days with no problem during shipment. They can and do die for any number of reasons. The shipment could get delayed or "lost". It might sit overnight in a truck in a cold location like the mountains during travel. The hatcheries can't do physicals on every chick they ship and some are just not healthy internally and fail to thrive or die during or right after shipping. They can get injured during shipping.

Even after you've owned them for a while, things just happen. One might have a heart condition, or some other genetic issue that causes death. They can catch diseases that can kill them. They could get killed by stray dogs, your neighbor's dogs, YOUR dogs, or any of a host of predators that love chicken dinners. And in the end, they will all die as that's how life works and always ends. The average life for a large fowl chicken is 4-6 years. Of course there are always a few that live to be 25 , but that's not "average".

So anyway, there's a wealth of info, knowledge, and experience shared here. Also, great folks eager to help others with a problem. Browse around and learn what you can. Post when you have questions. And above all, make yourself at home!

I ordered from Ideal. We live in Missouri, so it wasn't too bad. That seems like a long way to ship chicks. We bought a heat pack for three dollars that they put in there instead of males. There wasn't anything in there for them to drink, and the chicks can approximately live for 78 hours on the yolk, but that seems like a long way to ship. Hope it works out for you! I'm going to be ordering from them again around the end of February.

Heat Pack sounds heavenly instead of males! My heart can’t afford more than two males( I ordered 2 Golden Phoenix Males) I had two roosters with no problem, when the third was born there was chaos! Now they are all gone and I won’t let that happen ever again + I need someone to guard 3 remaining hens and the 6 new hens because hawks and cats are a threat to my pets existence

 

[Nksg75]

One thing to check out is what mail hubs your package goes through.
I found this out that if anything went through Chicago hub, I should expect delays at the least. (This was hatching eggs)