Splitting Chick Order With Friends

[bernadette-peepers]

Hello, just joined this forum and I'm so excited to be here! I've been researching chickens for over a year, but will be a brand new chicken owner starting next week. To save on shipping costs, my friends (who inherited a coop and adult chickens when they bought their house) and I ordered some chickens together. They arrive on Tuesday. My question is, once they arrive, what would be the best way to split them up so as to cause them as little stress as possible? I know they need to stay extra warm. My first thought was to bring them all to my house, and get them settled in the brooder right away, then we can sort them and my friend can take her chicks home to her house. Does this sound like a good plan? Is there anything I'm not thinking of? Thanks so much!

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Are your chicks arriving by mail? If yes, have you talked to your local post office in person, you must do that soon, making sure that your phone numbers are there, and that you want a call any time of the day or night, and you will pick them up immediately on arrival! If there's a central post office site nearby where you can get them sooner,. that's even better.
Have your brooder already warm, set up and ready to go, the night before they arrive, so you aren't scrambling around at the last minute. Have a thermometer on the floor under the heat lamp, so you've got the temp. regulated, a warm area and cooler on the other side of the brooder, water and food in there, and all that.
Pictures of your brooder set-up here would be good too.
Yes, get them all in your brooder immediately, and your friend also has their brooder up and running, then do the 'division' when everyone in settled and has eaten and warm.
We do love seeing chick pictures!
Mary

 

[WishingStar]

My first thought was to bring them all to my house, and get them settled in the brooder right away, then we can sort them and my friend can take her chicks home to her house. Does this sound like a good plan? Is there anything I'm not thinking of? Thanks so much!

I'd do this, but give them a day or more all together in one brooder, sounds like yours in this case, to recover from the shipping stress.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I frequently split orders with other local chicken keepers. It's a great way to meet minimum orders, and allows folks to pick up a bird here and there that want without having to place an entire order to get them.
Yes, the most sensible approach is for the person who places/picks up the order get the chicks settled, warmed up and started on eating and drinking.
When I have had people tag onto my orders, I let them know once I have everyone home, unpacked and getting settled. If there have been losses along the way , I identify the breed and let the person who ordered that breed know, I also will do the same with any chicks who seem to be not doing quite as well as the others. We generally give them several hours (pickup at the pist office is usually around 6 am and most folks come at the end of their work day...) to rest and recover before packing them back up.
If you are each ordering specific breeds that might look even remotely similar, be sure to ask the hatchery to mark them. This is generally done either with colored leg bands or with colored spots placed on the chick's heads. It may also be helpful to discuss ahead of time how you will handle any losses or struggling chicks if you are both ordering some of the same breed, even with friends it's good to have a clear understanding ahead of time what that will look like for each of you to avoid any hard feelings or disagreement as far as who ends up with the weak chick or who ends up short birds

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Congratulations on starting the chicken life!

When your babies arrive, have some warm sugar water in the waterer. I think it's 1 tsp sugar per cup of water plus a pinch each of salt and baking soda. Some of the Educators may correct me, that may be too rich. @Ol Grey Mare, what mix do you use? Anyway, when the chicks arrive, as you take each one out of the shipping box, pick it up and dunk its beak in the sugar water. Then dunk its wet beak in the chick feed and set it down, and do the same with each chick. It will initially protest and then go, Oh! That's yum! And start drinking and eating.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I should add, the sugar water is a good start for shipping stress. Later in the day you can switch to plain water or water with Nutri-Drench, or better yet, two waterers, one with ND and one plain.