Where can I get Day Old Chicks Without Minimums?

[MeepBeep]

 
Hi BYC,

I am thinking of getting some day old chicks from online hatcheries, because I don't have any nearby hatcheries. I live in Cupertino and would like chicks somewhere near spring. The problem is, I don't want 15 chicks or 25 chicks (usual minimum of online shipping) and shipping for small quantity chick offers are ridiculously high.....

There is a trade off between ordering a large number of early season day old chicks and shipping a small number of day old chicks.  This trade off is the number of chicks that will invariable perish from cold when shipped in small orders.  

So if your planning on ordering early chicks through the US Mail, and it seems from your post that you do plan on ordering early chicks, save yourself the headaches and heart aches and have the hatchery ship your early chicks prepacked in a bottle of formaldehyde.  At least your chicks will last longer and arrive in better condition when packed that way.  Sorry for the blunt language but the chicks won't mind.

They OP stated they were in Cupertino, if they order from a west coast hatchery or other close warm area come spring changes are slim the chicks will be exposed to any 'cold' weather that would result in imminent death... In fact one could argue the spring orders are better in that area vs risking summer heat...

 

[chickengeorgeto]

They OP stated they were in Cupertino, if they order from a west coast hatchery or other close warm area come spring changes are slim the chicks will be exposed to any 'cold' weather that would result in imminent death... In fact one could argue the spring orders are better in that area vs risking summer heat...

Day old chicks need 95 degree heat, will the night time temperature be that high by the end of February?

Chicks also can't self regulate their own body temperature. This is why most hatcheries include so called "little rooster packing peanuts" with a small order.

OR, the OP could just drown the extra chicks that he/she don't want, need or intend to keep. Problem solved.

 

[MeepBeep]

Day old chicks need 95 degree heat, will the night time temperature be that high by the end of February? 

Spring 2016 begins on March 20th, why are you rolling back to February, just because that is when some hatcheries start shipping? February is not spring, it's late Winter... The temps in Cupertino come 'Spring' are as warm as many Summer nights in other areas, where people have no issues with shipements...

Day old chicks do not need 95°F heat, it's ideal to have high temps like that but it's not necessary... This is proven every day when day old chicks are shipped all over the world by the 100,000s of thousands in less than 95°F temps and survive... I'll bet you can asked around here you will easily find 1000s of members that have successfully shipped day old chicks in less than 95° weather and even in the cooler spring and fall months without any issues...

The short of it, spring shipping is simply not an imminent death sentence...

Any legit hatchery will guarantee live arrival and viability for at least 2 days after delivery, if death was imminent during shipment why would they be tossing their money away with Spring (and even late Winter) shipments, knowing they will have to refund all those orders? The answer is simple death is not imminent and they don't refund all those orders, most arrive perfectly fine...

This is why most hatcheries include so called "little rooster packing peanuts" with a small order.

Many hatcheries claim that is why they include them, and it has merit sometimes and truth, but many hatcheries also just want to get rid of the roosters and that is a convenient way to do it, while proclaiming a more warm and fuzzy excuse...

If you personally don't want to order chicks for spring delivery that is certainly your choice but to proclaim death is imminent for those that do and to "save yourself the headaches and heart aches and have the hatchery ship your early chicks prepacked in a bottle of formaldehyde" well, that is just silly hyperbole...

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Spring 2016 begins on March 20th, why are you rolling back to February, just because that is when some hatcheries start shipping? February is not spring, it's late Winter... The temps in Cupertino come 'Spring' are as warm as many Summer nights in other areas, where people have no issues with shipements...

Day old chicks do not need 95°F heat, it's ideal to have high temps like that but it's not necessary... This is proven every day when day old chicks are shipped all over the world by the 100,000s of thousands in less than 95°F temps and survive... I'll bet you can asked around here you will easily find 1000s of members that have successfully shipped day old chicks in less than 95° weather and even in the cooler spring and fall months without any issues...

The short of it, spring shipping is simply not an imminent death sentence...

Any legit hatchery will guarantee live arrival and viability for at least 2 days after delivery, if death was imminent during shipment why would they be tossing their money away with Spring (and even late Winter) shipments, knowing they will have to refund all those orders? The answer is simple death is not imminent and they don't refund all those orders, most arrive perfectly fine...
Many hatcheries claim that is why they include them, and it has merit sometimes and truth, but many hatcheries also just want to get rid of the roosters and that is a convenient way to do it, while proclaiming a more warm and fuzzy excuse...

If you personally don't want to order chicks for spring delivery that is certainly your choice but to proclaim death is imminent for those that do and to "save yourself the headaches and heart aches and have the hatchery ship your early chicks prepacked in a bottle of formaldehyde" well, that is just silly hyperbole...

Hatcheries must have policies that work in every local environment. Without getting into the minutia, hatching eggs must be selected up to 30 days before the date that the newly hatched chicks are scheduled for shipment. This is difficult in a market like the USA that stretches from the shores of the Arctic Ocean to the South Sea Islands.

As a young man it fell to me to watch and adjust the temperature under a bank of natural gas brooders. It was important that i checked the temperature often so that the chicks didn't huddle together and suffocate. Like wise too much heat had much the same effect, dead biddies. I guess that we could have rounded up 1,000s of young chicks and knitted them little union suits with a flap in back so that they didn't die from too much chill or heat, but by the time i could have dressed all the chicks in their Winter duds the Sun would have come out and then I would have had to strip off the long chicken under ware.

The issue the OP raised is shipping small numbers of chicks in cool or cold weather. I once saw dead baby chicks piled up 4 feet deep in one end of a chicken house when a Winter tornado knocked out the electric power. These chicks piled up in a futile attempt to stay warm. That is why hatcheries charge a premium for small early orders of chicks. The hyperbole is all your's. there must be enough warm bodies in the chick shipping box to keep the chicks' bodies' warm.

 

[MonicainAZ]

Meyer and My Pet Chicken (who reportedly often ships from Meyer) ship their chicks with a heating pack when they ship small orders. I ordered 4 chicks in September from Meyer and they all arrived just fine. Considering the hatcheries have to guarantee the chicks and replace them if they don't arrive in good shape, they have a vested interest in making sure it works. During the winter (Dec - Mar), Meyer has a minimum order of 15 chicks.

 

[HomesteadFrau]

I believe My Pet Chicken ships in small amounts. Maybe around four chicks depending on where you live. Or if you can order with someone else or from a feed store then there would only be the minimum you agree upon.