Tell me about your 2021 mail order chick experiences so far

[sillygolucky]

We ordered 8 chicks (2 RI Red, 2 Buff Orps, 2 Ameraucanas, 2 Barred Rocks) from McMurray back in February for last week's hatch. They didn't have our 2 Buff Orpingtons, so they gave us 3 female New Hampshire Reds instead (which is fine, we okayed a substitution when we ordered). BUT...they also included an extra RI Red and Ameraucana (so now we have 3 each of those), but we don't know what sex the extras are. lol. (So we ordered 8 and got 11!!) This is our first flock, and a few friends have told me that's how the hatcheries get rid of their roos. LOL. I hope we didn't get two!!

Anyway, they shipped last Wednesday from IA and got here to IN first thing Friday morning. I stopped in at the post office on Thursday to let them know we were expecting chicks and they took all my personal info; and then they were super nice and called us as soon as they opened on Friday. All 11 were alive and well. One of the RI Reds was pretty small, and I think she may have been under the chick pile a lot and just more stressed from the trip...she didn't want to open her eyes. But after plenty of fluids and electrolytes and some good food, she has perked right up! The chicks are 7 days old now and all doing well--strong and active.

I think the only thing that was a little frustrating was the lack of tracking notifications. I signed up for texts for any notification, and anything that came through was two hours after the fact. I know in the past with Priority Mail there would always be a projected delivery day on the tracking page as well and they don't seem to do that anymore. Don't get me started...hehe

 

[RevlisRemmah]

Wow! So how did everything turn out now that it's been a few months?? Did you have space for all the castaways?

Hello!! So 15 of the 16 castaways lived and 8/9 new replacement batch lived. So I have 11 birds that are 6 weeks old (the OG bunch), 15 birds that are 4 weeks old (the castaways) and 8 that are 3 weeks old (the replacements)!

Also the 16 I have in my coop and the 7 chicks that have hatched from my broody hens.


I actually think I found someone to take 12 of the castaways! She is supposed to come get them tomorrow! I am keeping 3 of them, they are just the cutest ones I can’t help it! I hope she actually comes. Chicken math hit me HARD this year. I went from 16 to almost 60 within a month. That will give you whiplash!

Overall I don’t think I would order from McMurray again. It was too much. I think I’ll either order locally from Townline or stick to broody hens from now on. The experience this year was less than stellar.

 

[MissGreenJeans]

I hope you get them today and they make the journey okay! Hopefully the fact that UPS still says they're in Cleveland doesn't mean anything: of the three shipments I've gotten from Meyer two of them didn't have any updates after being scanned in Cleveland but they still got to me fine. I think they don't always scan the baby chicks there, they just send them on their way.

Got my fingers crossed for you, though!

Agree! Same experience for me but different hatchery. My chicks shipped on a Wednesday, and I was assured they’d arrive Friday very early at the post office. They weren’t scanned, apparently, because the tracking had them sitting in the origin state—until I got the call from the post office saying they were there and ready for pick up!

 

[24Elsinore]

Got my order from Cackle Hatchery this morning. They were shipped Monday, said they'd arrive as late as today, and I got a call this morning as soon as the post office opened. I ordered 15, they gave me 16, but one looked like it died pretty early on as it was dry and flattened. The rest looked like they needed a little TLC but after showing them where the food, water and heating plate is, they are all seemingly more active. None of them appear to have pastey butt either. I'll update this if things go south but here is hoping to a healthy flock!

 

[adwil21]

I have kind of a funny story. I'm in NY, I ordered from Mt. Healthy Hatchery in Ohio. I ordered for a May 19 hatch date. They sent me an email about 145pm on May 19 saying the chicks were shipped. I was obsessive with checking the tracking but it never even registered (no tracking). I woke up the next morning, the 20th, no call from the post office so I made plans to do lunch with a gf. I was getting ready to leave and something made me check the tracking before I walked out the door. It said OUT FOR DELIVERY. I checked it a few times to make sure I was tracking my chicks and not some random amazon package. So I called the post office and told her the story, she said oh yes you did receive chicks today and your carrier has them with her. I said WHHHHATTT! I was running around getting the brooder ready and she pulled in my driveway with my chicks on top of everyone's amazon packages They all looked wonderful, very healthy. ordered 6 and they gave me 7. Will definitely use them in the future. If I had left to go to lunch they would have been sitting in my garage alone for hours. I asked the mail lady why they didnt call me as the box instructed and she said she didnt see my number on there. It was there, in two different spots. Oh well. thankfully it was a happy ending.

 

[MastrangeloFamily]

Just got my ducklings and all is well. Super happy, no deaths, all looking healthy.

 

[Wordstoyourface]

curious how mailing animals works,so following

 

[doughouse]

I ordered chicks from Meyer in Jan or Feb for this past Monday’s hatch and I knew as I did it that it was probably a bad idea, but I couldn’t find anyone else with a low minimum order. I’m still waiting for my chicks - USPS says they’re guaranteed tomorrow by 3:30, but tracking hasn’t updated since Cleveland accepted them and none of the USPS people I called can find them. The 3rd person I called said they’ve been having FedEx help fly packages, but FedEx doesn’t use their tracking codes & there’s no way to tell where the chicks are until they are scanned somewhere.

I hope you get them today and they make the journey okay! Hopefully the fact that UPS still says they're in Cleveland doesn't mean anything: of the three shipments I've gotten from Meyer two of them didn't have any updates after being scanned in Cleveland but they still got to me fine. I think they don't always scan the baby chicks there, they just send them on their way.

Got my fingers crossed for you, though!

 

[ladybrasa]

I ordered two batches so far this year, one from My Pet Chicken and one from McMurray. All arrived alive and well - both shipped on a Monday and arrived Wednesday. One chick from My Pet Chicken died a few days later - possibly not recovered from shipping stress or something else - have to brood outside this year. If I recall the tracking on both never really updated much, and wasn’t helpful. I highly doubt the chicks went straight from the hatchery’s PO to mine with no stops!

 

[TheAlrightyGina]

I got a shipment from Meyer of ducks and geese and they're all doing great. Shipped late on a Monday and arrived by Wednesday. Post Office let me pick them up before they even opened.