Shipping experiences this year? (2022)

[Citychicgonecountry42]

I had an order with Purely Poultry due to arrive today and spent an hour on the phone this morning trying to find where they were. Turned out USPS decided to send the chicks out for delivery instead of letting me pick them up. Needless to say, they arrived dead. 100% of the poor babies died.

Heartbreaking.

I've never had such an experience and I'm just wondering how other people's shipping experience has been this year....normal for most people or has it been a bad year with USPS?

My chicks were ordered through Townline Hatchery. They were sent out on Tues 22 of Feb. I get a call from USPS on Thursday 24 that was in another county 25 miles from me. They said that they would not be delivered to my local post office until next day. I told them I would pick them up ASAP! Two minutes later, he calls back and tells me he just wanted to inform me there was not as much peeping in the box as the night before. I had 17 chicks delivered. My D'Uccles (4) were DOA. I had to nurse several as soon as I got them home. I had several die on me. It was heartbreaking. I was really hoping first time mail order was going to be a good experience for me. The hatchery did refund my money for the ones that I lost. I was prepared and did all my research to give them the best possible start, but I just hated the loss.

 

[springvalley123]

That's what I'm seeing here in Arizona also this year. The Purely Poultry shipments are coming from nearby Texas and taking four days to reach me, so not quite as bad. At least in four days the chicks can survive, especially if they were shipped with gel food. The D'uccles I received by mistake were shipped without gel and we lost six the first night. I kept em going the first day by dipping their beaks every little bit but they couldn't take the night with no one asking them to drink and eat. I felt awful. The surviving chicks are very vigorous now though, and on the good side, Purely is asking the shipper to add gel for the next shipment.

I have the right breed replacement chicks from Purely and a batch of chicks from Cackle coming in April. I re-read some of you guys posts trying to figure out if there's anything else I can do to pick up those chicks faster. Thinking of trying to see if I can pick em up from the local distribution center since they reached there the night before they reached our post office. One night would make a huge difference.

Picking up at the local DC might save you a day, but even my local USPS doesn't know how to cal lthe DC. The irony is that although TX is closer to AZ than IA, the postal DC consolidations in the south (including TX) are causing the delays. The birds from the north, where there aren't DC consolidations, are on time. The consolidations are causing rerouting per the local USPS people. So far, unfortunately, they've been proven correct. My first ever 3 day shipment was from TX, after having shipments from IA and NM come in 2 days.

 

[McChooky]

I ordered from Cackle and Ideal and everyone made it through shipping fine.

I'm glad to hear they made it okay! I'm placing an order with Ideal!

 

[ChicksnMore]

Picking up at the local DC might save you a day, but even my local USPS doesn't know how to cal lthe DC. The irony is that although TX is closer to AZ than IA, the postal DC consolidations in the south (including TX) are causing the delays. The birds from the north, where there aren't DC consolidations, are on time. The consolidations are causing rerouting per the local USPS people. So far, unfortunately, they've been proven correct. My first ever 3 day shipment was from TX, after having shipments from IA and NM come in 2 days.

Man that's depressing.
Wishing I hadn't ordered this year. Cackles out of MO so hopefully better and if gels added to the next shipment from Purely then they might make it ok.
6:30 is when my post office gets its delivery too so I can hopefully shave 2 hours off the shipping time. Not enough but something.
Is there any way I can look up what DC are consolidating? Wondering if my nearest DC is one of them.

 

[McChooky]

I signed up for text updates, but the option to add delivery instructions said it wasn't available for the chicks. Probably because the shipper had instructions on the outside of the box to hold and call me.

Purely Poultry got right on it and the replacement chicks should arrive this Friday. I called the post office to let them know what happened and try to insure it doesn't happen again as we have more chicks coming in April from another hatchery. The post office said there were no delivery instructions on the box or from me...but the instructions were clear on the box. I double checked and it was clearly marked to hold and call with the correct phone number.

We ordered call ducks from Purely last year and half were dead on arrival. But I could see they'd been handled roughly...they had gel food cups stapled inside and heat packs but the food was splattered all over the top and sides. I assumed it was how USPS handled them rather then the shipper.

I've always had good luck with shipping except the last two years. Both times seem like USPS error though so just wondering if it's about the postal changes going on, bad luck or somehow with the hatchery.

I got a phone call from my route carrier at 7 am in the morning (his number is programmed in my phone)after receiving an automated message at 11 pm the night before from Purely Poultry(confirming my chicks were shipped) My carrier hung up the phone before I could climb out of bed (loft bed) He didn't leave a message or take my calls when I called back but my chicks were there when I drove down there(an hour later) Purely Poultry is the last hatchery I'll order from again. They sent an email the same day I got my chicks stating I should expect them in 24 -48 hrs proving they didn't have a clue when they were sent or arriving. Half my order was the wrong breed and one of my pullets was a rooster. (How do you mess up the gender of an autosexed breed?)

 

[springvalley123]

Man that's depressing.
Wishing I hadn't ordered this year. Cackles out of MO so hopefully better and if gels added to the next shipment from Purely then they might make it ok.
6:30 is when my post office gets its delivery too so I can hopefully shave 2 hours off the shipping time. Not enough but something.
Is there any way I can look up what DC are consolidating? Wondering if my nearest DC is one of them.

Here's a list I looked at, it showed that the TX was approved for consolidation:
https://about.usps.com/news/facility-studies/assets/pdf/facility-list-02222012.pdf

I had searched for a way to contact the DC, but didn't find a way. You could try the toll free USPS number and try to get a representative, or possibly someone at your local post office knows the back door way to do that. But that would save at least an overnight. No way to take care of the delay my birds had at the Houston DC, where they spent a full extra day though, except to avoid ordering from hatcheries where that would be the birds' next stop after the hatchery.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Here's a list I looked at, it showed that the TX was approved for consolidation:
https://about.usps.com/news/facility-studies/assets/pdf/facility-list-02222012.pdf

I had searched for a way to contact the DC, but didn't find a way. You could try the toll free USPS number and try to get a representative, or possibly someone at your local post office knows the back door way to do that. But that would save at least an overnight. No way to take care of the delay my birds had at the Houston DC, where they spent a full extra day though, except to avoid ordering from hatcheries where that would be the birds' next stop after the hatchery.

Checked the list you gave and Gilbert, Phoenix and Tucson are on it...Tucson's my local dc. So guessing all my orders will run long.

Think I can request faster shipping for a fee. Never needed it before but never seen so many chicks die either.

Thanks so much for the info.

 

[springvalley123]

Checked the list you gave and Gilbert, Phoenix and Tucson are on it...Tucson's my local dc. So guessing all my orders will run long.

Think I can request faster shipping for a fee. Never needed it before but never seen so many chicks die either.

Thanks so much for the info.

I think you can request express but the hatchery says they arrive no faster and cost much more. My USPS said they'd arrive a day faster, so ?? I'd ask your local post office what their experience is. You can't be the only person in Tucson who's ordered chicks this year, so hopefully they have a good idea.

 

[Iluveggers]

Here's a list I looked at, it showed that the TX was approved for consolidation:
https://about.usps.com/news/facility-studies/assets/pdf/facility-list-02222012.pdf

I had searched for a way to contact the DC, but didn't find a way. You could try the toll free USPS number and try to get a representative, or possibly someone at your local post office knows the back door way to do that. But that would save at least an overnight. No way to take care of the delay my birds had at the Houston DC, where they spent a full extra day though, except to avoid ordering from hatcheries where that would be the birds' next stop after the hatchery.

What am I looking for on this list? Thanks!

 

[springvalley123]

What am I looking for on this list? Thanks!

Whether or not your area DC is approved for consolidation. for example, Tucson is approved to be consolidated into Phx. So if you ordered from a hatchery in Tucson, there could be delays if the box was routed to Tucson then sat a while before going to Phx and on to your area.