They're heeeeeeereeeee!

[Fly Be Free]

This morning was a nightmare.

The ones that I had nursed back that were playing, eating and drinking were gone. Then there were a few more. The body count is at 7 and there are more that aren't well.

It's only the smaller ones. The ornamentals and the bantams. The big berthas are doing wonderfully. Probably all brown egg layers. I'm not sure what to do. I'd like a replacement but I don't know if it was weather conditions or what? Like I said it's just the small ones. Maybe I should get them replaced and sent to me later??

I'm just sick to my stomach. I've done all I can and even when they were bright eyed and running about they died overnight. It just sucks.

Oh, in answer to which breed..... I got the 25 mixed laying hens. I wanted brown, white and colored eggs. I had ordered the bantams separate for fun. So far two out of four of them is gone.*sigh* Birds are so hard to nurse back to health.

I'll keep y'all posted. And no, I've not had this before with Murray. I've ordered before and they did marvelously! Not one loss.

Happy Peeping!!!

 

[runsw/scissors]

So sorry to hear of your losses, truly! I think only chicken people would/could understand.

Over night I lost all the ornamental chicks... I hope nobody else's losses exceed mine! Sooo I have 6 dead black tailed Japanese, 5 dead Sultan, 1 free chick (was a silkie). That's 12 out of 33!

I don't think I'll be ordering ornamental's anymore...

 

[Fly Be Free]

Okay, what is up with that?? I wonder how old these ornamentals were. I'm with you. I feel a refund coming instead of replacement.

I'm so sorry for your loss too. Some is expected but we're at dang near HALF and it's not even day two after delivery.

I hope that they do better for you.... and for me.

 

[Fly Be Free]

So sorry to hear of your losses, truly! I think only chicken people would/could understand.

Over night I lost all the ornamental chicks... I hope nobody else's losses exceed mine! Sooo I have 6 dead black tailed Japanese, 5 dead Sultan, 1 free chick (was a silkie). That's 12 out of 33!

I don't think I'll be ordering ornamental's anymore...

I'm at 11 and there are two more I expect to lose.

 

[Kannah43]

So Sorry for your losses. I also received the Rainbow Layer assortment from McMurray last year plus i ordered a few extras. I had a very similar experience. I lost 10 by the time it was all said and done. Like you, it seemed the smaller ones did not fare so well. There seemed to be a lot of one breed in the assortment which i believe were Brown Leghorns. Only 1 made it. I think some breeds can handle the stress better than others. i did not call for a refund or anything because i felt it probably had more to do with the shipping than the hatchery.

Last summer I ordered another 25 (Red Stars, Barred Rocks and Pearl Leghorns) and lost all but 4. They all arrived alive and within 8 hours started going down. It is common for the shipping stress to get them after they eat and drink. One thing the ones that lived did do was eat yogurt. I think it really helped them get their little digestive systems going. I did call for a refund with this order and was credited with no questions asked.

I thought maybe the postal route they had to take to Colorado from that hatchery might be too much, and i was not overly impressed with the packaging. it seemed there were too many holes and too much extra space in both boxes. So i have ordered from Meyer to give the ordering thing one last chance. If this one does not go well, i will hatch my own or buy locally from now on.

I know how you feel. It is very stressful and you feel like there should be more you can do when they are getting down. But most of the time once a baby decides to give up the ghost, they've completely committed and there isn't much you can do. It is frustrating and makes you want to cry. I hope the rest of your chicks pull through for you.

 

[Fly Be Free]

^^ You're right. Birds are funny that way. Once they show symptoms the damage is usually far gone. I'm with you. I'm going to give locally one more shot and/or hatch my own.

 

[New peeps]

My chicks will be shipped this Saturday to Colorado. Anyone that has received chicks in this area have any idea if I'll get a call Sunday or Monday? We're in the foothills southwest of Denver (Conifer). I'm so sad to hear about all the losses and wonder if getting Gro Gel with the chicks for the first day here would be a good idea? This is our first time getting chicks. Thanks for any advice!
Kim

 

[Brahmamama4]

I'm so sorry for all of your losses! I hope the rest feel better! This whole thread has made me very nervous for my shipment of chicks I'm expecting from Ideal this Thursday or Friday :/

 

[Fly Be Free]

Kim if you want the grow gel you need to tell them when you order. I'd call to see if they can do it for you now.

 

[chickensinwasillaAK]

Well I've ordered from MM 2 times, shipped clear up to Alaska and no losses in the box. I did have some black stars that were on the runt side, took them a couple weeks to catch up. Now I did use the grow gel and quick chick, figured with such a long trip they would need all the help they could get. I was pleased the the MM Customer Service, I asked about the runts, they were willing right then to re ship or credit my account, I just wanted to wait and see.
Now for the PO, they've done a great job the last two years. The hatch was Thursday, shipped at 4pm that day, arrived in Anchorage at 6am Saturday. At least that is when my phone rang with the clerk telling me my chicks were there, come get them. If there was a line of ppl, pass them all up and come right up to the window, they wanted them out of the building like they were a hazardous material!
Now I've also helped them along by mixing the water over the crumbles and feeding them a mash for a couple days. They really seemed to like it after the grow gel which they devoured.
This year I've ordered 290 chicks from two different hatcheries, lets see if I can't fill up that 5 tray GQF brooder. If any room, I'll hatch out a couple hundered more. We use them as weed control in the potato fields. Some will be sold to the local market since there are no large operating hatcheries here.