USPS embargo on live animals (chicks) through Feb 26, 2021!

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I researched it a while back when I was looking for hatcheries to buy from. I really like to know as much as I can about business practices when live animals are involved. If I find the source again, I'll be sure to post it.
Okay cool. Wonder how honest they would be if I asked point blank when ordering. Though the people taking orders don't ever seem to really know about the chickens besides what's on the website
 
I know Murray McMurray gives their extra male chicks to a hawk rehab facility.
Yes, it was actually a wildlife rehab located within the zoo that I was volunteering at where I discovered that.. The chicks came inside a bag that was tied up and put in the freezer. Some years before my arrival there, they found a rooster still alive inside the bag who got his own zoo habitat and they named him.. you guessed it, Lucky! They made a little goat petting zoo area to I learned of his story because he was in rehab crowing it up while being treated for bumble foot, also the first time I learned of bumble foot.

Thank you for sharing that sweet little tidbit! It's great when we can realize the things we THINK are appalling might NOT be as bad as we imagine! :thumbsup
They don't feed them live? I didn't think hawks would eat carrion - but i'm honestly ignorant on the subject. Eagles will, i know.
Did you know that vultures WILL hunt prey also!! :eek:

The zoo keepers laughed when I expressed concern for the rabbits inside the tortuous/turkey vulture enclosure. I had forgotten they mostly ate carrion.. WHICH btw.. my family NO longer sees ANY road kill on our travels, we see carrion, now!

I was shocked when a fellow BYCer claimed a vulture attacked and killed their chicken.. they said they would not have believed it had they not seen it with their own eyes. I believe them!

Although many things may not be super common in the animal kingdom.. it only takes ONE learning a new effective behavior and teaching it to their peers or offspring!

That being said.. ALL the raptors ( maybe other carnivores, memory fades) consumed prepared foods.. ground raw horse meat.. called BOP (bird of prey) and comes in chubs like ground beef, boiled eggs, frozen/defrosted chicks/rats/mice, etc.

The owls, hawks, falcons, and others that were still headed for release were taught how to live hunt by putting the mice/rats into a shallow pool/tub inside their flight enclosure to start off. The prey tub was removed once they had the hang of it. And if they appeared capable of surviving on their own, catching things freely within the enclosure, they were released in the same area they were found WHEN possible.

I'm not gonna lie.. it was a bit intimidating and exhilarating entering enclosures. There is nothing easy or fancy about caring for lives and most of the wildlife rehabber's/zoo keeper's are making VERY little. Many were also softee's giving their all!

When I saw the call for volunteers, I went because I wanted to learn more about my chickens I had just started keeping that year. Also I needed a gentile out to shorten time spent with a specific friend. :oops:

The first day they told us NO volunteer interacts with the mammals, only birds. They also rehabbed a lot of song birds, anything that was NOT domestic. I cleaned a LOT of poo and fed a lot of gross stuff out.. and proved reliable enough to help with SOME of the other animals.. I had bobcat baby climb my leg, red fox following me while cleaning and hiding fish in the bear habitat, porcupine, badger, and others.. all natives to California.. since it's "The California Living Museum" also known as CALM. Let me tell you.. snake poo stinks! :sick

Watching animals is where I realized that humans aren't the worst species ever.. at least most of us don't eat our young when times get hard. Battling over resources including mates and so on.. nature gets quite intense. Blessed/rich are we who rise above our nature!! :celebrate
 
Yes, it was actually a wildlife rehab located within the zoo that I was volunteering at where I discovered that.. The chicks came inside a bag that was tied up and put in the freezer. Some years before my arrival there, they found a rooster still alive inside the bag who got his own zoo habitat and they named him.. you guessed it, Lucky! They made a little goat petting zoo area to I learned of his story because he was in rehab crowing it up while being treated for bumble foot, also the first time I learned of bumble foot.

Thank you for sharing that sweet little tidbit! It's great when we can realize the things we THINK are appalling might NOT be as bad as we imagine! :thumbsup

Did you know that vultures WILL hunt prey also!! :eek:

The zoo keepers laughed when I expressed concern for the rabbits inside the tortuous/turkey vulture enclosure. I had forgotten they mostly ate carrion.. WHICH btw.. my family NO longer sees ANY road kill on our travels, we see carrion, now!

I was shocked when a fellow BYCer claimed a vulture attacked and killed their chicken.. they said they would not have believed it had they not seen it with their own eyes. I believe them!

Although many things may not be super common in the animal kingdom.. it only takes ONE learning a new effective behavior and teaching it to their peers or offspring!

That being said.. ALL the raptors ( maybe other carnivores, memory fades) consumed prepared foods.. ground raw horse meat.. called BOP (bird of prey) and comes in chubs like ground beef, boiled eggs, frozen/defrosted chicks/rats/mice, etc.

The owls, hawks, falcons, and others that were still headed for release were taught how to live hunt by putting the mice/rats into a shallow pool/tub inside their flight enclosure to start off. The prey tub was removed once they had the hang of it. And if they appeared capable of surviving on their own, catching things freely within the enclosure, they were released in the same area they were found WHEN possible.

I'm not gonna lie.. it was a bit intimidating and exhilarating entering enclosures. There is nothing easy or fancy about caring for lives and most of the wildlife rehabber's/zoo keeper's are making VERY little. Many were also softee's giving their all!

When I saw the call for volunteers, I went because I wanted to learn more about my chickens I had just started keeping that year. Also I needed a gentile out to shorten time spent with a specific friend. :oops:

The first day they told us NO volunteer interacts with the mammals, only birds. They also rehabbed a lot of song birds, anything that was NOT domestic. I cleaned a LOT of poo and fed a lot of gross stuff out.. and proved reliable enough to help with SOME of the other animals.. I had bobcat baby climb my leg, red fox following me while cleaning and hiding fish in the bear habitat, porcupine, badger, and others.. all natives to California.. since it's "The California Living Museum" also known as CALM. Let me tell you.. snake poo stinks! :sick

Watching animals is where I realized that humans aren't the worst species ever.. at least most of us don't eat our young when times get hard. Battling over resources including mates and so on.. nature gets quite intense. Blessed/rich are we who rise above our nature!! :celebrate

Thank you. Always happy to learn something new.
 
Chick lovers all, the situation is that USPS will not fly live chicks, live anything, for an additional week. This was announced after the hatcheries around the USA set their incubators with chicks to hatch this week. Another chick lover asked what the hatcheries would do with the chicks they may not ship. The answer is obvious.
my letter to the reps addressed this very issue. Besides the expense of producing, setting, and incubating these eggs, it must be demoralizing to the hatchery owners and their employees also, whether they dump the embryonic eggs or let the chicks hatching, hoping the embargo will lift.
 
...and thanks to this thread for the impetus, I've sent email to my State contact inquiring about NPIP certification to sell hatching eggs and live birds. Already pursuing the state's Limited Poultry license for human consumption of eggs and processed poultry.

Appreciate you all!


...and just like that. I meet all the minimum requirements, the State and I are scheduling a time to inspect and certify me. Waiting on a phone call or email. Eventually, I hope to have something to offer I can describe as other than "mutt". How does "Clay Ranger" sound? Hope no one has taken that already.
 
...and just like that. I meet all the minimum requirements, the State and I are scheduling a time to inspect and certify me. Waiting on a phone call or email. Eventually, I hope to have something to offer I can describe as other than "mutt". How does "Clay Ranger" sound? Hope no one has taken that already.
I like clay ranger
 
Just got a notice from Meyers. They will have their chicks on sale tomorrow, Feb 23rd. Too bad, I am scheduled to pick up Hatching eggs on the following Tuesday so I won't be tempted to purchase any of those chicks that they have on sale. I wonder if this has to do with the shipping problem. I really feel for the hatcheries at this time.
 
Just got a notice from Meyers. They will have their chicks on sale tomorrow, Feb 23rd. Too bad, I am scheduled to pick up Hatching eggs on the following Tuesday so I won't be tempted to purchase any of those chicks that they have on sale. I wonder if this has to do with the shipping problem. I really feel for the hatcheries at this time.
Probably since at least this way maybe they can get enough to pay for the electric bill to hatch them
 
It’s possible someone already covered this. Sorry if I’m duplicating. I didn’t read all comments.
I’m a retired Postmaster and in my 30 years with the USPS, these embargo’s were periodically placed when necessary to avoid animals dying while in shipping. Sometimes it was due to extreme weather conditions, sometimes flight changes etc. The USPS live animal embargo was necessary this time due to weather “impacts”. Since there was very little transportation and or processing (power outages) in Texas last week, the mail got log jammed. They have to get all that mail processed in order to safely handle live animals. I am told the embargo is scheduled to be lifted on Friday.
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