Talk about DOA...

[protodon]

I would imagine hatcheries wouldn't ship to northern states during certain seasons if the weather was a factor. If people in these states were experiencing large losses in their shipments on a regular basis, then they probably wouldn't.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
They don't care. As long as people continue to order, they will continue to ship. At some point the consumer needs to be responsible for when they order regardless of whether the hatcheries are selling.

 

[protodon]

They would care if it affected their bottom line. Obviously it doesn't.

 

[silkiechicken]

With demand for early spring chicks, and the success of probably 99% of their early spring shipments, it probably falls within quota for the bottom line.

That said, it is human nature to share with 10 people a bad experience, and maybe share with one person a good experience. You generally don't hear about the 100's of good shipments, just the few that go bad per hundred.

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

I agree with 4h chicken mom. Since the hatcheries ship no matter what I think if you don't have a really good reason why you need chicks/ducks in Feb and even March then it would be better to wait. So many people are talking about all the deaths they are having in their shipments. Bottom line, wait till its warmer.

 

[cjeanean]

Quote:
good point....

 

[protodon]

I had a great reason. Ducks take 2 months til processing age and they do much better in cold weather than chickens. Normally they are hardier, ship better and they can go outside sooner than a chick/chicken. I have meat chicks coming mid march and turkeys mid april. Except for the turkeys I plan to be done most of my processing before June. So I had my schedule all planned out. Luckily ideal will ship next week, so my schedule will only be a week off, I hope.

 

[Duck_feeder]

Risk from weather and minor delays can be offset by the hatcheries by offering heat packs and travel-safe food.

I had my ducklings shipped in the middle of December during a really bad cold streak. Metzer requires you to pay for a heat pack for small orders (optional for larger orders) and provides the option of shipping with a grow gel (provides nutrition and limited water) so I wasn't too worried about the cold weather and possible short delays. All 7 ducklings (2 are mine, gave away 5) were perfectly healthy and were already eating the grow gel before I opened the box.

 

[protodon]

Quote:
I kind of wish more hatcheries had a grow gel option. I used to never care for such a thing but in this case, I'd like one. I've made it clear that I don't think weather was an issue in this case. 35 ducklings would have no problem keeping each other warm. The shipment arrived very quickly and in less than 72 hours which chicks/ducks should be good for but still grow gel couldn't hurt.

As I've already mentioned, the first order of 12 ducklings I received at the end of october all arrived alive. They took longer to arrived, they were happy, standing up straight trying to jump out of the box. The ones in this shipment still can't even stand up straight without falling over and they hatched 3 days ago.