Venting....Got my hatchery chicks today...

[Bullwinkle]

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That's amazing that any survived if they went almost 4 days without food or water...

 

[Dora'smom]

We have a nice farm store, locally, that got in a shipment of silkies on Tuesday, but didn't release them until yesterday because they were all doing so poorly. My husband and I went to have a look at them, and the ones that I saw looked okay, but there were only a handful, literally. The owner said that he had waited to release them for sale, because the survival rate was so low, and that he thought that these few would live. I didn't ask him which hatchery he got them from, but am sure it was one of the well-known outlets, and am fairly sure that it was solely a bantam order.
My question is, having only had chickens as an adult for almost a year, have chicks always shipped this early in the winter/spring? I know that locally, chicks in most stores are not available until March, or Mid-March. Is the earlier shipment and general availability of chicks due to consumer demand and the backyard chicken movement, or is this the way it has always been? I am one of those who wants their chicks early, and we are having a mild winter, though I know it is terrible in the midwest, and on the east coast. My logic is that if I get my chicks early, they will be at POL by the time my current pullets are in molt.
I'm just curious, as I have read a number of accounts here regarding significant loss of chicks shipped.

 

[RhodeRunner]

So sorry about your experiance, I have been there was as well, it was terrible.

I do have to wonder though, if anyone else thought their boxing wasn't well off. My birds came in a (25 bird box) and it was thin, and had holes punched over it. They had sent over fifty birds to help warm my twenty-five pullets (had to ship them in twice due to terrible results) and I only managed to get 20 hens to live, after taking four days off of school force-feeding.

This past year I ordered from Ideal and their box was thick, and they even tapped up the holes. I took a day off of school thinking I would be caring for dead and dying chicks, but the chicks were fine as soon as I placed them in the brooder.

It made me think was really the packaging skills that made the birds live, as Ideal did that well, and didn't need to sent me an extra 25+ unwanted males, make me pay to have it shipped again, and miss school.

I really hope your other chicks come in better, and asking for smaller birds to ship with your bantams would probably be a good idea, as they can get trampled.

 

[chubbydog811]

What is the "DC" ? I'm not really sure where the mail goes first before it comes here...

I hatched around 150 leghorn chicks last year, and all of them were pretty small. Not Bantam small, but smaller than the mixed egg layers that I hatched...Maybe it's just my leghorns that are small!

We do have local feed stores that sell the chicks, but I dont want mine vaccinated, so that is out of the question. Exept for 6 hens, I have hatched out all of mine, and none of them are vaccinated...

 

[prov31gal]

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see! mcmurry! im always telling everyone to not order from there and i always get flack for it! but see.........mcmurry stinks.

 

[prov31gal]

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mcmurry sends chicks priority mail.....that can take up to 5 days! its 3-5 for priority......................thats toooooo long.. order from a hatchery that sends express and the weather wont mattter, if they shipped their chicks anytime of year and it takes 5 days they will die! order from a good hatchery like cackle or someplace else that DOES NOT ship priority mail and even in 3 feet of snow your birds will be fine . i have had birds arrive in early feb at temps in the 20s and if they are packed right and shipped quickly, they are fine. mc murry stinks.

 

[lceh]

I think you're right about the problems of mixing standards and bantams. Last April I split an order with a friend -- she ordered 8 standards, the rest were my bantams. Like you, we lost almost all the D'uccles. They were the only "true" bantams and I think they just got squished. Next time I'll get bantams only. I will say the one millie who made it is now one of our favorites.

So sorry for your losses!

 

[Shoshana]

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It may have been warmer than normal where you were, but the hatchery is in Iowa, and so the chicks had to travel the distance between, at altitude. McMurray has a pretty good reputation, I'm sure they'll make it right, but the lesson learned may be that next time order later in the season.

 

[chubbydog811]

This is the second year I have ordered in February...Last year it was below freezing, and snowy. I dont think it was this shipping in the cold, I think it was mixing the standards and bantams. Also, as someone mentioned, the box was very thin, and all of the holes were open. When I got them from Welp, the box only had a few open holes...I also got a handful of extras when I ordered from Welp.

This is personal opinion - I dont like that they ship on a weekend. That doesnt make much sense to me...Welp always ships on either a Monday or Tuesday, and wont ship if there is a holiday...

Anyway, I guess I know for next time!

Thanks again for the encouragement!

 

[Cornychick]

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mcmurry sends chicks priority mail.....that can take up to 5 days! its 3-5 for priority......................thats toooooo long.. order from a hatchery that sends express and the weather wont mattter, if they shipped their chicks anytime of year and it takes 5 days they will die! order from a good hatchery like cackle or someplace else that DOES NOT ship priority mail and even in 3 feet of snow your birds will be fine . i have had birds arrive in early feb at temps in the 20s and if they are packed right and shipped quickly, they are fine. mc murry stinks.

Agreed.