Second order from McMurray, DEAD

[NYRIR]

Lexingtons forecast for Sunday is for a high of 41 and a low of 21. Thats hardly mild. Certainly cold enough that if chicks are left in the cold for any length of time they could easily perish. Newly hatched chicks need to be brooded in temps in the 90's. Its not to say that chicks ordered during the winter will always die, they wont. Many do make it. But there will be stories like these where they got chilled and died, which likely wouldnt happen if they were ordered in April instead of February.

Lol...I notice you are from Florida....us Northern folk want the chicks to grow into fully feathered adults before the big winter freezes! You know here in NY, summer comes every year ...on a Tuesday in July....never fail!

Seems like it's ALWAYS cold here!
Seriously, though, this winter has been super MILD compared to usual, so people are getting the spring bug around here! 41 with a low of 21 is paradise for here in February!!
Personally though, I wait until later myself... but I can't blame people for wanting to order earlier.

Also, with some breeds, if you wait until may-june for temps here to be warm enough usually, all the chicks are sold out!

 

[EweSheep]

Yep I do order chicks in Feb and March a few times and had no problems resulting from the shipping part.

 

[Anna_MN]

I guess the only advice I can give is order from a hatchery that is closest to your house and call your post office ahead of time and inform them. Sometimes you get nice people who work for the post office and enjoy the chicks and sometimes you don't. It's just a luck of the draw I guess. I don't think a hatchery is to blame- especially in colder temperatures. I wish everyone the best of luck with their new babies

Happy chick raising!

 

[AprilAWZ]

Just an FYI. I too have had two orders from MM come in dead. I believe they would have been alive if it didn't take 5 days to get here. I spoke to MM and they said they are having a terrible time getting timely deliveries to KY, SC and LA. They don't know what the problem is all of a sudden.

You know, I just got a box of Dom eggs in from KY yesterday. It was clearly marked "Fragile" and "Hatching Eggs". The box was mangled! It looked like someone kicked it! Apparently, the nice folks at the PO decided to prescrammble them for me so I'd only have to dump them in the pan when I got home...

Luckily, the seller knew what he was doing, and only the 3 extras were damaged. But, of all the boxes of eggs I've received over the years, this was by far the worst damage. If I'm not mistaken, the OP was from KY also... I wonder if it's something with their POs there? I also wonder if it would have been in as bad of condition if it was only marked "Fragile"...

I'm driving to Webster City to pick up my chicks on Sunday morning. McMurray has been great to work with - it's the USPS that I don't trust any further than I can toss.

*edit - My grasp on my native language is tenuous at best.

 

[AprilAWZ]

Lexingtons forecast for Sunday is for a high of 41 and a low of 21. Thats hardly mild. Certainly cold enough that if chicks are left in the cold for any length of time they could easily perish. Newly hatched chicks need to be brooded in temps in the 90's. Its not to say that chicks ordered during the winter will always die, they wont. Many do make it. But there will be stories like these where they got chilled and died, which likely wouldnt happen if they were ordered in April instead of February.

Lol...I notice you are from Florida....us Northern folk want the chicks to grow into fully feathered adults before the big winter freezes! You know here in NY, summer comes every year ...on a Tuesday in July....never fail!

Seems like it's ALWAYS cold here!
Seriously, though, this winter has been super MILD compared to usual, so people are getting the spring bug around here! 41 with a low of 21 is paradise for here in February!!
Personally though, I wait until later myself... but I can't blame people for wanting to order earlier.

Also, with some breeds, if you wait until may-june for temps here to be warm enough usually, all the chicks are sold out!

halo, those temps are mild for Feb in the Midwest. Those are the temps I normally see in early April. Those are the temps I look for when ordering eggs and chicks, and I've no problems with weather. The two times I've had trouble was when the chicks were stuck in the PO system for more than 3 days. I look at the weather both at the hatchery I'm ordering from, and here in SD. When I see that the extended forecast shows days in the 40's and nights in the 20, I get my birds before they're sold out! Not everyone who keeps poultry lives in Florida, and we do just fine.

 

[sgtmom52]

For those who wonder about how the USPS handles your packages ~ here is a video showing the process. The majority of the handling is by machines. Other than the people at the beginning and end ~ most other people along the way never see the "Eggs" or "fragile" marked on the boxes. It is actually amazing that as many boxes many it through as well as they do.

http://uspsvideo.com/video/40/priority-mail-processing-b-roll

 

[ReikiStar]

The hatchery....the post office....does anyone stop and think what those chicks are feeling?! What they endure?! Just because they arrive alive doesn't mean they had a pleasant journey. Personally, I think shipping animals is cruel unless they are transported in a manner where the method is designed for their comfort, survival and to minimize stress.

To the hatchery ....to send a perfectly healthy new born animal into a system that couldn't care less about it's welfare -- how dare you.

To the post office ....if you're going to do something, do it right. Not begrudgingly and because you want the business. Shame on you.

To the consumer ....DEMAND and use shipping methods that both ensure your "product" arrives in useable condition as well as consider it's a living, feeling lifeform you're asking to be stuffed into a box.

 

[thasista]

halo, those temps are mild for Feb in the Midwest. Those are the temps I normally see in early April. Those are the temps I look for when ordering eggs and chicks, and I've no problems with weather. The two times I've had trouble was when the chicks were stuck in the PO system for more than 3 days. I look at the weather both at the hatchery I'm ordering from, and here in SD. When I see that the extended forecast shows days in the 40's and nights in the 20, I get my birds before they're sold out! Not everyone who keeps poultry lives in Florida, and we do just fine.

Not only are these temps mild, they are downright warm for the "dead" of winter! I woke up to 54 degrees this morning. I don't get my weather info from the weather channel. They aren't here.

 

[Daddas1Punkin]

Everyone (it seems) has dead chicks from McMurray!

to them!

 

[halo]

halo, those temps are mild for Feb in the Midwest. Those are the temps I normally see in early April. Those are the temps I look for when ordering eggs and chicks, and I've no problems with weather. The two times I've had trouble was when the chicks were stuck in the PO system for more than 3 days. I look at the weather both at the hatchery I'm ordering from, and here in SD. When I see that the extended forecast shows days in the 40's and nights in the 20, I get my birds before they're sold out! Not everyone who keeps poultry lives in Florida, and we do just fine.

I know those are mild for Feb in the Midwest, but they are not mild for newly hatched chicks. As I said, thousands of chicks are mailed out now and most make it just fine. But there will be some orders, due to the winter weather, that will cause chicks to perish, that wouldnt happen if they were mailed in April. So thats all I am saying. If dead chicks arrive, dont blame McMurray, or any other hatchery.