Well, my chicks are lost in the mail

[Life is Good!]

Our Freedom Ranger chicks were in-route for 3 1/2 days. Drove me up a tree nearly, but they all arrived safely, alive, doing fine. Thirsty as all get-out, but fine. (Went from Philly to Ft. Worth to Oklahoma City to Chicago to us).
Just make sure to get them water right away while unpacking them. Each one of mine got three 'dips' of their beak into their waterer before I let them go into the brooder. Got all of 'em out and then put in food. They sure did sleep that day though. I think they rested for about 15hrs before they started being 'wild chicks'.
Know that they're in good hands (He who made them) and try to rest tonight!

 

[besjoux]

Well, both my husband and I woke at 3:30 in the morning and decided we couldn't sleep so we might as well call the larger hub close to our home (but not the local one). They did arrive an hour prior. The funny thing is that they were only 2 hours away for 24 hours! And the Kalamazoo hub isn't a small one. I just don't get how USPS plan on surviving considering packages are the best way of survival in this Internet Era......you'd think they would learn instead of just giving business to UPS and Fed Ex. Vent over, I have them home and they are all alive right now.

Now I just realized that the Infrared bulb I bought isn't hot enough. I tested it out but that was during the day (when I'm not usually asleep) but it's cooler at night. So I think I need to buy a bigger bulb and alternate between day and night. It's going to be HOT here during the day so probably going to take some adjusting.

Do you all adjust your lights? Lower at night and higher during the day? My water trough is big enough that they can move where they want. They can get out of the heat easily if it gets too hot.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Some gentle words.

Don't try to be precise, to the Nth degree. It isn't necessary. With daily temps in Michigan touching 95F the next few days, very little, if any, extra heat is going to be necessary, if you have them in a garage, barn or shed, In fact, be cautious about over heating.

A broody hen doesn't heat an entire coop or the Great Outdoors, she just provides a small area under her body, that is warm, as and when the chicks feel cool. Most the time, they are scurrying around in ambient temperatures in the 40's and 50's and they love it. But, when they need to come warm up, they cuddle under her body heat.

A brooder mimics that. The brooder should be large, as large as possible, giving them lots of room to scurry about. It is hot. They won't want to spend much time under a hot light. Just provide a "heat circle" where they can come and warm up, if they need to, which will only be at night, in these brutal temperatures. My guess is that a 250watt bulb will be difficult to keep from making it too hot this time of year. I would think 150 watts would provide them a decent warm circle, if place 20" above them.

 

[Fred's Hens]

BTW, I am delighted your chicks arrived, finally, and that all is well. Your chicks are three days old, so they should be now eating and drinking up a storm. I assume you dipped their beaks and they've already learned where to drink?

 

[flewdacoop]

let us now and update if they show up today and if they made the trip ok

 

[MelanieR]

SOOOO glad they made it and they're all safe and sound.
I haven't had a DOA chick yet and I know it would make me sad if/when I ever open my box to see that. Good luck with the chicks... and Fred's right... the bulb you have is probably fine.

I do like the red bulbs though... I think it's not as harsh as the white ones and makes it a little easier for them to sleep at night.

 

[Fred's Hens]

SOOOO glad they made it and they're all safe and sound.
I haven't had a DOA chick yet and I know it would make me sad if/when I ever open my box to see that. Good luck with the chicks... and Fred's right... the bulb you have is probably fine.

I do like the red bulbs though... I think it's not as harsh as the white ones and makes it a little easier for them to sleep at night.

Absolutely right!!! The red bulbs are soooooo much better than the harsh white ones.

 

[flewdacoop]

glad they made it have fun with your new babies

 

[kimberly_kodiak]

I had a similar problem a couple of years ago. I ordered 15 day old chicks from a hatchery and they were shipped on a Wednesday. I talked to the hatchery on Friday, the last day of operation for the week and was told they should be there on Saturday the latest. When they didn't arrive on Saturday, I called every post office and department that I could leaving my name and contact info for them. My chicks were lost and I feared they would die. I finally got a call from the airport hanger an hour away that my chicks had arrived on day four.

I gave them sugar water (1-2 tbsp per quart) and was instructed by the hatchery, on Monday, to get Sulmet (bought at local feed store) and add to their water for stress. The dosage is on the bottle. I lost 4 chicks which I attribute to the delay in delivery. Hopefully you have better luck then I had. The hatchery replaced the chicks but I was very unhappy with the loss in life. If possible try to verify that all chicks are drinking, this will hopefully ensure that you don't lose any.

Good Luck and keep us posted.

 

[jtbrown]

Glad you your little ones arrived and hopefully are doing well, that is crazy nerve wrecking! I have to tell you we personally have had great experiences with delivery from USPS, our postman is awesome! We have had more problems with Fed Ex. So, nothing is perfect as we all know.

But to answer your question about Townline, I got guineas from them this year, they are strong and healthy. So, if you ever need to go there, we have had a great experience with them. We ended up using them after an order mix up from an Ohio Hatchery.

Also -- just to let you know, as an aside to Fred's Hens words on temp, had a trio of broody moms hatch out 8 chicks a few weeks ago. I am shocked at how little time they spend under her. However, as the temps dipped into fifties last few nights and previously had been in the 60-70 range, the mommas got those little ones back up the ramp into the nest boxes and huddled. They had been on the floor with more space on warmer nights. Interesting that those hens have "built in" knowledge to deal with the chicks. Fantastic watching nature work. I had to fight the urge to grab those chicks up once hatched to get them into an environment I could control, glad I didn't.