Yellow chicks with red marker stripes on head from McMurray

[belibutn]

A friend of mine at work just got an order of chicks from McMurry - the Brown Egg Layer Special. There are a number of them that are yellow with a red magic marker stripe drawn onto their heads. Does anyone know what breeds they do that for?

(I will be posting pics soon - we are trying to identify his whole batch)

 

[pips&peeps]

Usually that means they are a rooster, when you have an order almost full of pullets.

 

[belibutn]

Oh goodness. He ordered 6 EEers, and the brown egg layer special - which should have contained 25 pullets. He was sent a total of 50 birds, and 14 of them have the red marks drawn on their heads. It looks like out of those 14, there are 2 different breeds. He was not expecting any roos at all.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Maybe your friend should call McMurray and just find out. It might mean something totally different in her case.

 

[fullhouse]

Packing peanuts I think they call it? You couldn't really ship 31, I think you need a few more for warmth in each section. So they add extra roos for "stuffing".

 

[mangled]

I believe their minimum order is 25. I can't see them putting 25 extra roos in for warmth, that's a bit overkill. We got 34 in the dead of Winter up here in PA, and they were fine.

I'd give the hatchery a call and see what's up. They may have made an error and sent the wrong order.

Good luck-
Em

 

[belibutn]

Thanks for the input, all. I'll have him call them up and see what is going on and what the 14 "red heads"- as my wife and I have labeled them- are.

 

[belibutn]

Yup, I called him, and he looked closer at his packing slip... "Extra roosters added for warmth"... Good excuse, but the fact ofthe matter is that 50% of the birds they hatch are roosters, and no where near 50% of the orders they get are for roosters. It's been warm lately, and the 'warmth' was not needed. More likely, the 'extra warmth' needed to be removed from their warehouse. So in 4-6 months he will start culling them.

I don't know... personally, I would be rather upset at 1) getting darn near double the birds I ordered (since I would be thinking about space concerns and feeding) and at 2) getting so many extra birds that generally can't be given away... at least not given away as anything other than a prepared dinner.

If 25 is the minimum order, than they should have boxes where only 25 of them can stay warm.

 

[MaineChickens]

I just got an order of 27 and there was not really a lot of room left in that box. It might be warm where YOU are, but not likely in Iowa... I guess if you want to order it is best to keep it to multiples of 25 unless you want to end up with roos. Maybe it would be good for them to note that on their site.

Personally, I don't mind the "peanuts." I will be getting some with my order from Ideal next week and that's fine with me.

 

[Yotta Yotta]

I don't have a big enough coop for tons of chickens...but if I did I would be happy to get the packing peanuts because then I'd get to choose which roos are the friendliest and then I'd just have to eat the rest.