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McMurray always ships on Saturday and although your local PO is not open late on Saturday or on Sunday, mail is still moving on those days. I can pick up McMurray chicks at the Keene USPS site on a Sunday night if they are nice enough to let me since that is the last stop before Fitzwilliam, my local PO. I didn't find that out until after I received my chicks last February but I received them on Monday morning at my local PO and only had 2 losses out of 29 chicks, one crushed and one failed to thrive. I've had a similar fatality rate with one batch of chicks hatched here, the other chicks in the bator messed up one chick who tried to hatch and one chick failed to thrive after a difficult hatch. Chicks die sometimes, it's just a fact, they are fragile creatures.
Shipping in winter is hard because of the cold, in the summer they get too hot on the trucks and dehydrate and die. Shipping chicks is never perfect but for every one horror story there are hundreds of successful shipments, if there wasn't they would have stopped it by now.
My tips for shipping chicks:
If you hear there is going to be bad storms between you and the shipper when your ship date comes up, cancel or postpone your order. Big hatcheries will have more of those same breeds some other ship date. With private deals it's up to you, if you don't want to risk the chicks just pass and find another person selling at a better time.
and
Never pick a ship date that preceeds a holiday weekend
Also, talk to other local chicken keepers, chances are someone has experience with shipping in chicks and can tell you how the PO in your area handles these shipments.
And, just a side note, kinda off topic, if you are buying chicks from your local feed store you are most likely still buying chicks that were shipped through the mail, just the feed store employees get to deal with any losses so you don't have to.
No worrys for me since, I live down the road from Meyers hatchery. No delivery for me till I order my Freedom Rangers. Did not know PO is open on weekends my local closes by 4:30 most weekdays and only open till noon.
McMurray always ships on Saturday and although your local PO is not open late on Saturday or on Sunday, mail is still moving on those days. I can pick up McMurray chicks at the Keene USPS site on a Sunday night if they are nice enough to let me since that is the last stop before Fitzwilliam, my local PO. I didn't find that out until after I received my chicks last February but I received them on Monday morning at my local PO and only had 2 losses out of 29 chicks, one crushed and one failed to thrive. I've had a similar fatality rate with one batch of chicks hatched here, the other chicks in the bator messed up one chick who tried to hatch and one chick failed to thrive after a difficult hatch. Chicks die sometimes, it's just a fact, they are fragile creatures.
Shipping in winter is hard because of the cold, in the summer they get too hot on the trucks and dehydrate and die. Shipping chicks is never perfect but for every one horror story there are hundreds of successful shipments, if there wasn't they would have stopped it by now.
My tips for shipping chicks:
If you hear there is going to be bad storms between you and the shipper when your ship date comes up, cancel or postpone your order. Big hatcheries will have more of those same breeds some other ship date. With private deals it's up to you, if you don't want to risk the chicks just pass and find another person selling at a better time.
and
Never pick a ship date that preceeds a holiday weekend
Also, talk to other local chicken keepers, chances are someone has experience with shipping in chicks and can tell you how the PO in your area handles these shipments.
And, just a side note, kinda off topic, if you are buying chicks from your local feed store you are most likely still buying chicks that were shipped through the mail, just the feed store employees get to deal with any losses so you don't have to.
No worrys for me since, I live down the road from Meyers hatchery. No delivery for me till I order my Freedom Rangers. Did not know PO is open on weekends my local closes by 4:30 most weekdays and only open till noon.