Talk about DOA...

[protodon]

I ordered 35 ducklings from Ideal that were shipped this week. I went to pick them up at the PO this afternoon. The lady at the PO said that a few were dead. I said, I hoped there wouldn't be any but I guess I few would be expected. I took a peek in the box as I put them in my car and I saw quite a few DOA. I finally get home, immediately open the box and half were dead! I couldn't believe it. 6 more have died since then and a few more are on their way. I can see that they are very dehydrated and I am trying to get them all to drink. They are pekins and cayugas. I'm down to 3 cayugas out of 10 and I have no idea how many pekins but I think it's less than 10 out of 25.

They hatched on monday at 10am, shipped the same day and arrived at my PO this morning. I ordered 10 from McMurray in october and they all arrived alive and took longer to ship. I have no idea how this many could've died. I am not sure if I should call ideal right away or wait a few days. This is really frustrating since these ducks were for processing mostly, so I was on a schedule because I want them out before my chickens come in. And I was going to keep a few breeders. Now it looks like I won't even have enough for breeders!

 

[Wifezilla]

Call ideal right away. Something like this is usually a post office issue or a weather issue.

 

[protodon]

well, I left a message. I guess I have to wait til tomorrow which might be good so I can see how many I have left.

 

[phoenixmama]

Quote:
That's true...I ordered some Bourbon Red turkeys from them last year. All but one was dead, and the alive one was just barely hanging on...then died the next day.

 

[Katy]

I'm sure some will think I'm being mean, but maybe you should have went and picked them up this morning when they came in instead of making them set at the post office all day that's a lot of extra hours when they could have been eating and drinking.

protodon wrote:
I'm also getting ducks from Ideal!At least 35 of them and they are sitting at the PO til I get out of work. They shipped around 7pm monday night and arrived 8am this morning at the PO. So less than 48 hours. Quick shipping, you should get yours soon!​

 

[protodon]

Quote:

I would've liked that but I was already at work when they called. My PO is 40 minutes from work.


ETA: Plus I picked up my other duck order in the afternoon and they were all fine. I had no reason to think this order wouldn't be in the same shape.

 

[WadeMD]

Did any look older? I was wondering after first reading this, if they might have held some for 12-24 hours to fill your order... that could lead to dehydration quickly as their yolks are completely gone. Or it could just be this evil cold and snowy weather we're having.

 

[protodon]

Well Ideal returned my call and they are reshipping my order. I lost 22 total out of 35. I may lose a few more by the time I get home today and I mentioned that to them. I'm not sure if they are replacing just the ones I lost or the whole order. The original order arrived very quickly so I just hope nothing is wrong with their breeding stock.

 

[ConchRepublic]

Quote:
They probably will replace your entire order. Well hopefully at least lol.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

So sorry for all the losses. I know we are so anixous to get our new little ones, but anyone that lives in these northern states should not be ordering this early. It is just too cold to be shipping. The people at the PO are going to think we are a cruel bunch of people. The problem is the workers see these little things dying right before their eyes and it affects them. Then they file complaints with their bosses and then shipping live birds will be prohibited. Please take this with a grain of salt, it is just my opinion.