What Is The Coldest Temperature Young Chicks Can Be Shipped In?

[Chick-a-Latte]

Hi, I am looking to have some chicks shipped to me from a breeder. I am looking to aquire 12-24, 1-2 day old chicks. How cold can they be safely shipped with a heat pack?

Thanks!

 

[TOOCLOSE]

The place you are getting them from will know the dates they can be shipped or the temps they can be shipped in!

TC

 

[kyexotics]

They're going to ship them when you request them...We purposely ask for them to be shipped 1st week in April to ensure they're not shipped in extreme cold(plus i needed time to build MORE coops and I don't want to work in the cold but main reason is thinking about babies being shipped in extreme cold)...It's that time of year, if you expect them anytime soon and you live or they're coming from a cold region, it's a crapshoot...Good luck!

 

[azygous]

Unless you're running a commercial enterprise and are on a time schedule, you should do yourself and the chicks the favor of ordering after April. (In the northern hemisphere, that is. It would help if you fill out your profile info with a geographic.)

Even with heat packs, which can be dangerous in themselves, it's a real nail biter until you get the chicks and get past the first 48 hours with them. There are so many variables - post office employees screwing up and leaving them on the dock, shipments getting lost, the heat packs over heating instead, etc.)

Look at your median temps, and figure out when the last chance of freezes is going to be past and order from a hatch after that. There's more than just shipping, too. If you order when the daytime temps are going to be in the 70s, you can begin taking your chicks outdoors for romps and letting them fly. You can begin doing this as early as two weeks, if the temps are mild. It's fun for you and fun for the chicks. If it's winter, you can't do that.

 

[Blooie]

Unless you're running a commercial enterprise and are on a time schedule, you should do yourself and the chicks the favor of ordering after April. (In the northern hemisphere, that is. It would help if you fill out your profile info with a geographic.)

Even with heat packs, which can be dangerous in themselves, it's a real nail biter until you get the chicks and get past the first 48 hours with them. There are so many variables - post office employees screwing up and leaving them on the dock, shipments getting lost, the heat packs over heating instead, etc.)

Look at your median temps, and figure out when the last chance of freezes is going to be past and order from a hatch after that. There's more than just shipping, too. If you order when the daytime temps are going to be in the 70s, you can begin taking your chicks outdoors for romps and letting them fly. You can begin doing this as early as two weeks, if the temps are mild. It's fun for you and fun for the chicks. If it's winter, you can't do that.

That's exactly what happened to mine when they were shipped last year.....they got delayed in the mail and sat in the mail sorting warehouse in Casper, Wyoming for an entire extra day and it was 25 degrees below zero there. It was -19 here when I finally picked them up from the Post Office in Lovell. <Sigh> Needless to say I lost a few. It was my own fault. I got over-eager to get them and didn't realize that I could order but request a later shipment date. We didn't have a coop built because it was still sub-zero out there so I had 22 chicks living in hubby's office from February 26th until April 1st. I'll not repeat THAT mistake again, either! They couldn't go outside for adventures and acclimation until shortly before we put them outside. It was stressful for us and for them.

Patience. azygous is absolutely right - if you aren't on a time schedule try to arrange for them to be delivered at a safer time.

 

[ImNotYogi]

I'd not take the chance of ordering in the winter. Unless you and the hatchery are in warmer weather. Something can always go wrong but you've more or less take the weather variable out when ordering after winter.

 

[Chick-a-Latte]

I know most people don't get chicks in February, but we are having unseasonally warm weather here and so is the breeder. I am working with a breeder and not a hatchery, so we are trying to work out the time. I just want to know what is the safe range of degrees to ship chicks in. I have an established brooder all set up. I am in Washington state.

 

[kyexotics]

That's exactly what happened to mine when they were shipped last year.....they got delayed in the mail and sat in the mail sorting warehouse in Casper, Wyoming for an entire extra day and it was 25 degrees below zero there. It was -19 here when I finally picked them up from the Post Office in Lovell. <Sigh> Needless to say I lost a few. It was my own fault. I got over-eager to get them and didn't realize that I could order but request a later shipment date. We didn't have a coop built because it was still sub-zero out there so I had 22 chicks living in hubby's office from February 26th until April 1st. I'll not repeat THAT mistake again, either! They couldn't go outside for adventures and acclimation until shortly before we put them outside. It was stressful for us and for them.

Patience. azygous is absolutely right - if you aren't on a time schedule try to arrange for them to be delivered at a safer time.

We live and learn, that's part of raising these babies!!! Sometimes the learning means heartache for us but if we weren't such caring people, it wouldn't bother us, so it's good when it does as I doubt you will make this mistake again...I tell people, especially employers, "I may make a lot of mistakes, I just hope to not make the same one twice!"...

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I received a shipment of chicks the 28th of January. It was somewhere around 35-40F when I picked them up from the PO. They came from Ideal hatchery in TX, and I have to admit, I have no idea what kind of weather they were having or what it was like in between. I did loose 2/25, but it was a day outside of Ideals 4 day replacement window (of course). The 2 I lost were much smaller than the others, didn't seem as active and robust, so I don't think it had anything to do with their shipping. The rest are still happily eating, drinking and making a complete mess out of their brooder.
The last time I ordered from them, I lived in VA. I can't remember what the temperature was exactly, but it was quite a bit colder than 35-40. I had to drive in the snow and some terrible wind to pick those nuggets up. But, I didn't loose a single one in that shipment.

Good luck!