They're heeeeeeereeeee!

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Just wanted to share my experience with ordering chicks through the mail. We ordered 21 standard sized chickens from My Pet Chicken one fall. All arrived healthy, stayed that way and all ended up being hens (we'd paid the extra for females). They ship with a heater coil. We picked our chicks up from the post office.

Janie
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My 'replacement' shipment is due tomorrow morning. I'm nervous. It's a lot of work (of the heart) to watch them just give up and die.

I pray that they surprise me and do well.
 
Fly Be Free said:
My 'replacement' shipment is due tomorrow morning. I'm nervous. It's a lot of work (of the heart) to watch them just give up and die.

I pray that they surprise me and do well.
Click to expand...

I had commented way earlier in this thread and then lost track of it. I'm so sorry that you ended up losing so many. I hope your replacement shipment goes 100% good.
 
I'm so glad that ya'll had good luck. This is how my day went.
At 7:30am I got a call to pick up my chicks. It was 21 degrees outside. I held out hope that someone treated them extra special.

I got there and they weren't nearly as loud as the first batch and I ended up with a 17 chick loss over three days on that one. I peeked in and quickly closed it.

When I got home it was loaded with little bodies. Dead ones.

I quickly gathered up the living and made my concoction of warm water, chick start, grow gel and kayro syrup. I started dosing.

Then I began to go through the other chicks. I had three that were posturing and gaping. I laid them in front of the heater to get warm I figured that they at least wouldn't be alone and cold.

I went through the others. Nothing. So, I placed them into a ziplock and set them aside so that I could attend the others. There were 22 I counted as total loss.

I did all I could and left for a few. I came back and there was a yellow one standing in front of the heater. I just thought he had escaped when I was working with them. (I have short term memory loss) I picked him up, dosed him with some of the goo, and placed him in with the others.

After two hours of school I went in to get ready to go to the store. They were in my bedroom. I looked and there was a brown one standing there. "How on earth?" Then it hit me. DUH It's the babies that I laid in front of the heater. I dosed him and place him in the cage. Wait... I put three there. Where's the third?? He had run under the heater and was so close to the output that I didn't know how he kept from turning himself into a Mc Nugget. I nabbed him and dosed him and placed him in the cage. He was very weak.

I'm now kneeling down by the cage and watching the chicks when I think I see something out the corner of my eye. It's the zip lock. Nah, can't be. I look harder and sure enough I see a gaping beak. Okay, I snatch him out and dose him. It was SO weak it couldn't hold its head up. BUT I placed him in front of the heater. I just knew he would pass. Then I glance and see ANOTHER moving! I repeat the process. I removed ALL the babies from the bag to check each one again.

By now one of my cats, Brillo, who weighs 23 pounds (at least) joined me. Brillo never met an enemy. He makes friends with everyone and everything.

So, I'm rubbing and checking and placing them down again. One after the other they are dead. As I'm checking them Brillow is watching intently. Then he begins to pat and tap the ones I've laid aside. He did this several times watching them inbetween pats. Then he just looked at me for a long time. He didn't seem to understand. Soon he left and got on the bed.

I ended up finding two more chicks moving, if that's what you want to call it. I tried to dose them but they were too weak to swallow. So, I gambled and aimed for the crop. I laid them with the other two.

At the least they'd die warm and with company. None moved.

I went to get my clothes from the closet and all my other stuff... socks etc. I glanced back and one was trying to stand! Staggering like a seasoned drunk but trying to stand non the less!!

You got it... dosed and in the cage.

I got my bath with Brillo on the bed. I didn't figure that he'd bother the chicks as he was busy snoring.

I got myself all done and decided not to tempt fate. I would place the dying chicks in the cage and let them pass there.

They were SO far gone. :(

I got home and went to remove the dead from the cage. Brillo darted from the room the minute I opened the door. Hmmmm. Made me wonder what that was about. I go to the cage and look to retrieve my dead chicks except for one thing. I can't find them. Not because Brillo had turned them into kitty kibble but because they were up and running with the others!!!! YIPPEE

I don't know if they will pull through. I'm hoping that they do. Sometimes they bounce back and then perish suddenly. But for now, I'm so awwed. I look at it as a miracle.

So, lesson for the day.... Chicks are not like other birds. They are not dead until they are WARM and dead. ;)

Oh and Mc Murray was so appologetic. They gladly refunded my money on chicks lost. Even saying that if that number changed to call back Wed and let them know. I offered to repay them for the ones that revived and they refused. :) I love these folks. It's not just 'business' with them. There is a bit of heart in there too.

So, that was my day today. LOL
 
I only lost 3 today, and they were trampled to death. So, my bad. Right now they have a barrier between them and the chickzillas. The food and water are placed so they can all get to it. The heat lamp is hanging and slightly favoring the littles.

Oh Fly I am so sorry! Holy Cow! What a roller coaster ride you've had. Just watch them sharp as chicks tend to get pasty butt when they get cold, so make sure they can poop.
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