Shipment of chicks ... problem!

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Increased the temp but the one that was dying last night, was dead this morning when I went in. Another ee.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Unbelievable. We were gone most of today (dealing with suicidal autistic kid is NOT fun) and when we got home, found the smallest silkie being trampled by the other silkies in that box. Did everything I could but it's drawing it's last breaths too.

Where are we now? Body count: 5 eggers and 1 silkie dead and 1 silkie almost dead from this hatchery batch.

I am SOOOO not happy!

 

[The Tinman]

This may be a dumb question but is your thermometer low at chick hight?
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[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

One therm at chick height and one on top of waterer. Not a dumb question.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

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Simple, they are in the business of selling chicks, and if they did not offer chicks for sale, people who want to order chicks at this time of the year will spend their money at another hatchery who will hatch and ship. If they don't ship, they have nowhere to put the extras and they won't be able to make that 2-3 day trip anymore as their yolk sac would be out of energy by then. Most will make it to their destination and usually the ones which don't are the ones being shipped to areas where there are lots of snow and the drivers just threw the chicks in the back where it is unheated. Some drivers are nice and will put live animals up front with them, but not all.

Plus, nobody can predict the weather 3 weeks in advance, and can you imagine the stink people would give if a hatchery said they would not ship out to you because you live in certain areas in certain times of the year? People would go to another hatchery. They can't be making money on having to replace DOA orders, but they can make money by keeping customers "happy" and shipping upon the customers request.

It is often up to the buyer to know when is a safe time for birds to get to their area, but we can't all guess when snow storms are.

This is all very true. Mail ordered chicks are always a crap shoot because we can't predict the weather that far out and there's no way to know what sort of trip they're going to have through the Postal Service.

FWIW I think it's more how hard of a trip they have in the mail than the weather that really counts. Most, nearly all in fact, make it through with only minimal to no losses. But the occasional box goes horribly wrong.

I've already had two chick shipments this year. The first one had 58-60 (we lost count) of Leghorn chicks from McMurray received January 30. That's Iowa to Florida. Ultimately lost six. The weather was fair in the southeast at the time, but pretty cold up north. The second order was 61 ISA Brown chicks from Townline in Michigan. Took three days nearly to the hour to reach me and all fifty eight was alive and they still are two weeks later. They arrived February 17th and again the weather was fair in the Southeast, but pretty cold up north.

Summer or winter it's a crap shoot when you mail order chicks. Most of the time they're gonna make it OK, but once in a while you roll snake eyes.

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Yeah buddy! I've gotten good at giving funeral services under the mulberry tree...

 

[jennifersmith326]

Because of the stories I have heard on here about so many chicks dying during shipping. I will not contribute to the hatcheries shipping these poor little chicks in the freezing cold. They are supposed to be kept at 95 degrees, even with a few extra there is no way they can stay that warm for 2-3 days while they are being shipped accross country.

It breaks my heart

 

[featherz]

Yah, I canceled my chick order for March. It's still too cold here. I'll make do with hatching them myself.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

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Well, actually, YES, they can stay that warm. This is the reason why most hatcheries require you to buy at least twenty five at a time or more. So there will be enough of them giving off body heat to stay warm.

Chicks have been shipped through the mail for over a hundred years now. When they have to send another box of chicks the hatcheries eat both the shipping costs and the costs of the extra chicks. A fast way to go broke if you're losing more than a very small percentage. Which should tell you something.

 

[ScotianChick]

Are they on medicated chick feed? Do you have the yellow electrolytes in the water? I've had chicks twice now, some from a farm and some I incubated on my own. I put them on the medicated chick feed and the booster in their water and I haven't had a casualty yet. Also to keep away the pasty butt, put some cornmeal in the chick crumble.

I'm so sorry this is happening to you and I hope you don't lose any more.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Thanks for the comments. I won't be doing hatchery again, but do have some due in at the feed store in March.

They are on medicated crumble, and have vitamins in the water. I'll add cornmeal to their feed tomorrow.

No more losses so practically holding our breaths. Moving them to larger accommodations tomorrow, along with banding them for identification purposes.