pick up chicks at 8:30 am - don't get home til 7 pm - should i leave them in the box? and #2 split

[saildog]

i got a call at 5 sunday night that the chicks are at the post office - so i have to pick them up tomorrow, problem is that i have to get them at 8:30 in the morning when the post office opens, but have to then go straight to work with them, and won't get home til about 7 - 8 PM.
so should i just leave them in the box? i can provide heat for the box, ( do i need to do that or will that bake them ) that seems safest to me rather than opening it to water them and having to then stress them 8 hours later with another transport. it is a 90 minute drive home after work.
thoughts??
thank you

also ( unrelated question ) i ordered 25 chicks due to the ordering minimum but really only want about 8 chickens, when is the best time to try to sell or give away the others. is it more stressful on the group to take away half of them when they are 3 months old than earlier? id like to keep my favorites so would like to keep them to the pullet age preferably to enable me to choose the friendliest ones , but don't want to make it harder for the flock if i do that.

martha

 

[dainerra]

I would open the box to give them water. Offer some chick starter as well. They're not going to be stressed by moving again. Just close the box back up and go home. Keep them out of drafts

 

[gardendufus]

I also would open the box to be sure they have water and food. Maybe even take along a larger box and move them into it to give them a little more room than the shipping box.

When I first got my day olds the trip in the car to my home was a little more than an hour. The extra move didn't bother them at all.

My oldest are now 14 weeks old. at 11 weeks I re-homed my rooster. No one seemed to be upset about him being missing at all, once they got over the ruckus my actually CATCHING him caused. They just went about their business. Didn't even follow me to the run fence trying to say goodbye.

 

[ArcticFowl]

also ( unrelated question ) i ordered 25 chicks due to the ordering minimum but really only want about 8 chickens,

You probably ordered from the same place I did and I now have 25 EE's lol

 

[dainerra]

garden, next time you have to rehome a bird, just wait until they go to bed for the night. Pick him up and put him in a box or crate. No fuss and a lot less work!

 

[HEChicken]

Shipping is a lot of stress for chicks, and getting them home to provide proper food, water and heat lamp would be my top priority. Sitting all day in the shipping container is only going to add to the stress of the shipping and you may lose some. If I were you, I'd be asking my boss to let me take some personal time to run them home and get them set up, rather than have them sit waiting on you all day.

 

[RonC]

x2

 

[off-grid hen]

Shipping is a lot of stress for chicks, and getting them home to provide proper food, water and heat lamp would be my top priority. Sitting all day in the shipping container is only going to add to the stress of the shipping and you may lose some. If I were you, I'd be asking my boss to let me take some personal time to run them home and get them set up, rather than have them sit waiting on you all day.

I agree.