Too Long in Shipping? I guess there is a Dead on Arrival club?

[Wheeler Farms Chickens]

My order of 35 chicks shipped Wednesday from McMurray Hatchery and did not arrive until today. The tag on the box said they were born on Aug 30. The post office told me that the reason they didnt get out to our little post office today was because a flight was late. She added that many of them didnt look so good. She was right about that. As of a few minutes ago I have 3 broilers out of 35 still alive. I started with 9 this morning and used a dropper to get water into them and tried warming them up as quickly as possibly. Only one of my layers has bit the dust out of 10.

I assume the loss is due to the increased travel time? I didnt lose a one from my last order with them 2 months ago. Then again, they were shipped on a Tuesday and got here Thursday. I live right by Rapid City, SD, so we are not "that far" away from IA.

 

[Tiramisu]

My experience with mcmurray is they were not shipped well, I buy from a hatchery in the same area and they come in 3 days maximum and are all still happy and healthy. I believe mcmurray just doesn't have as good healthy stock at times. I got a box of 40 and out of them 10 were alive on arrival. I got a reshippment from them and the same thing happened. I also had a box from the hatchery in the same state come at around the same time and they were fine.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

It's because they are CornishX(I assume). They need to eat almost constantly, so that extra time killed them after their yolk was gone. The layers last longer because they don't need so much food, that's why you only lost one.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Quote:
That's probably true. Due to Hurricane Irene, a lot of flights were cancelled and delayed and haven't gotten back on schedule quite yet. Call McMurray to see if they can provide replacements or a refund/credit.

 

[Wildflower_VA]

Meyer Hatchery didn't ship chicks because of the delays caused by hurricane Irene. They said the chicks were too old by the time they could ship. They held a "chick adoption" for pick up only at $1 each. I admire them for not trying to ship and just hoping some of the chicks make it.

 

[Wheeler Farms Chickens]

Quote:
That's probably true. Due to Hurricane Irene, a lot of flights were cancelled and delayed and haven't gotten back on schedule quite yet. Call McMurray to see if they can provide replacements or a refund/credit.

I can understand that, but it was this week and they were only going from IA to SD. Even the regular mail gets here faster than that.