Problems With Ordering Online?

[aatx]

So if I waited till, say, August, I would get a better selection of chicks? Really?

I think they mean if you don't mind ordering now and planning on it taking several months for them to arrive.

 

[azygous]

If you call and order for an August hatch, you would probably see more chicks from more breeds available, but your chicks would not get to you until after they hatch in August. If you got to Mypetchicken.com and click on the various breeds, select for gender or straight run, the tables shown there will indicate on what hatch dates are still open for ordering or if they are unavailable.

Different hatcheries, of course, will have different breeds available. And sometimes, the closer the hatch date is, customers cancel orders, and those breeds then become available. So there's a chance you might be able to get chicks that you desire much sooner than you think. It's a matter of stalking the hatchery wen sites until you find what you want when you want it.

Then it becomes a waiting game and it's stressful to wait to see if your chicks have survived the stressful trip through the mail, often arriving very thirsty and cold after being banged around for an average of 48 hours.

Even if you go buy chicks from a feed store, those chicks have been subjected to the same shipping process to get to the feed store, but the dead and sick chicks have already been weeded out of the shipment when you come in to the store to select your purchase. That doesn't guarantee you won't get home and find you have a sick chick, but it's a little less likely.

 

[esme13]

I would pick Meyers and pick a date 4 weeks ahead. Usually 21 days before your hatch date they modify the breeds and put a lot of breeds. You need to be quick because they go really fast. I check the inventory on mypetchicken which drops ship with meyers. Example, an order for may 18 ill check april 27 (monday, tuesday and wednesday). Usually tuesdays and wed they seen the update inventory. I know I check to often. Meyers allows for small orders. 3 and up.

 

[azygous]

Just a quick note to report that my six mail order chicks from My Pet Chicken arrived well. I was especially worried about their 24 hour "layover" at a post office north of where I live before they would reach me. I was worried they'd get chilled and then I'd have to cope with all the problems arising from that when I finally got them.

I opened the box and they were well packed in a shredded excelsior material formed into a nest rising around the sides. Under one corner of the box under the packing was a heat pack secured so there was no way a chick could come into direct contact with it and suffer bad consequences, but it kept the interior of the box warm.

So, go ahead and order your chicks. Hatcheries seem to have this mail order concept well under control and chicks can survive the rough two day trip. Beyond two days, though, the heat pack is exhausted, and if the shipment gets held up, that third day could be the deal breaker for your chicks if the weather takes a bad turn.