The post office is killing my babies!

[AccidentalFarm]

I called and asked specifically for a heat pack, maybe you could try that?

Good idea. I'm going to call Meyer's tomorrow.

 

[critterwhisper]

Sorry for your loss of chicks. I had15 chicks shipped last month from Cackle,my first time ordering chicks. They sent me 16 i had one die after being crushed in delivery box,but the other 15 all have been doing well and over a month old now.They were hatched and shipped on a monday,i got them 6 am on that wed, with nesting material,green grow gel, and a heat pack.Pleased with Cackle,later that week got 6 from local feedstore who they buyfrom cackle or townline.They seem to be doing good. Maybe your mail handler was a lil rough with them? Sadly it seems like Doa's occur.Hopefully your replacement flock will arrive all safe.Good luck

 

[Karen12]

The 10 bantams I had shipped from cackle last week are all still doing very well. I have 1 that likes to paste up, but the ACV is helping with that. Ours had 11 chicks in it and all are growing and happy after a week. Cackle included 2 small heat packs and they were packed in tight with 2 boxes and the straw stuff. When we picked them up (they had sat at the airport for a while) they were still happy peeping and one toyed to make a run for it in the car.

 

[3riverschick]

Last week, my babies shipped from Cackle Hatchery in MO to near Austin TX. It was by priority mail, had a tracking number... last scan was for Springfield MO.... They were supposed to arrive in 2 days, so on that Wednesday. I notified my small local post office... I got a call the next day and when I arrived to pick them up, they were of course all dead. It had been 3 days shipping and it was cold up there in MO.

SO - Cackle offered me some different breeds which were better than what I'd ordered... re-shipped this Monday. Same deal - last scan was for Springfield.

I called the USPS big number (not the local office) and they told me that the hatchery should have shipped express as delivery would be guaranteed in 2 days and priority could be 2-4 days and most live animals ship express. My local post master said the same. When I called Cackle again today and talked to a supervisor she said that in their years of experience there was no decrease in transit time with express vs priority and express is many times more expensive.

I am not sure if my babies will arrive tomorrow or not... I have heard that Ideal hatchery here in TX has lesser genetics and being a scientist I would like my girls to start out strong in that regard. HOwever, Ideal birds are at least local to here and I can buy them in the feed stores. If this order does not survive I will likely buy feed store birds this year...

BUT, would like to know, what's your experience in baby shipping methods and times? I grew up on a farm and my parents and grandparents both mail ordered babies and never had much of a problem. Is it just that the post office is getting worse? It is frustrating that UPS and FedEx are not able to ship animals as this then would no longer be a problem.

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Hi,
Delays in shipping are a problem. If your chicks arrive on time, they may still have travel stress. Look at the BYC post:
How To Deal With Travel Stress In Baby Chicks. This has worked for me. I used it in collies and poultry for years.
My 10 day old chicks have it in their water now. Take time to get some at Tractor SupplyCcompany or order some
on-line. It really does work. One of its best assests is it mainlines into the chicks bloodstream and doesn't need
digested. This is a wonderful help when the chicks are stressed and their G.I. tract isn't functioning as well as it should.
Best Success with your chicks,
Karen in western PA, USA

 

[fatcatx]

==============
Hi,
Delays in shipping are a problem. If your chicks arrive on time, they may still have travel stress. Look at the BYC post:
How To Deal With Travel Stress In Baby Chicks. This has worked for me. I used it in collies and poultry for years.
My 10 day old chicks have it in their water now. Take time to get some at Tractor SupplyCcompany or order some
on-line. It really does work. One of its best assests is it mainlines into the chicks bloodstream and doesn't need
digested. This is a wonderful help when the chicks are stressed and their G.I. tract isn't functioning as well as it should.
Best Success with your chicks,
Karen in western PA, USA

Karen - this is a very old thread but hoping you could point me to the information you reference in your post? I've done an open search and article search but can't find it.

 

[mamajos]

Hi fatcatx. The person you want to hear from hasn’t been on this site since Nov. 2019. You may not hear from them. FYI.

 

[topochico225]

Karen - this is a very old thread but hoping you could point me to the information you reference in your post? I've done an open search and article search but can't find it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-deal-with-travel-stress-in-baby-chicks.746509/

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

The small local feed store we bought from has had issues this year with USPS ship times from the hatchery. They were really frustrated because a lot of the chicks didn't make it. They held the chicks a few days before selling to make sure they only sold ones who'd recovered from the ordeal, which I really respected. The three we purchased have had no issues after a couple days of pastey butt.

I think cutbacks with USPS have turned "2-4 days" (but usually 2) into "4 days, 3 if lucky" for priority mail.

 

[fatcatx]

Hi fatcatx. The person you want to hear from hasn’t been on this site since Nov. 2019. You may not hear from them. FYI.

Thank you - I didn't even think to check.