Sad day on the farm...

[Stubbornhillfarm]

I excitedly went to the post office today to pick up my turkey chicks. Got our very healthy 25 meat chickens in the mail yesterday. They are all doing great. Out of our 16 turkey chicks, only 2 we're alive and one is questionable. I have called the hatchery and they are trying to see if they have any more available.

Just stinks all the way around. Such a waste. It is a miracle in itself that one day old anythings are shipped across the country in a cardboard box and make it alive in most cases.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know what is going on. Nachoqtpie just had a similar experience with shipped chicks. Same as with her, that is rotten luck. I am sorry for both of you.

 

[retiredwith4acres]

That happened to me once and is not fun at all. Also, turkey chicks are harder to get through the "young chick" stage anyway. Sorry!

 

[nachoqtpie]

Out of my 8 chicks... 3 survived. Those 3 are doing quite well now and are running around in their box. I think I might have the light too low, but it doesn't FEEL warm in there... Maybe I will raise it anyways.

 

[lesa]

That stinks! Sorry that had to happen...

 

[desertlady]

I wonder if the delivery was too rough? How sad !

 

[vfem]

BElieve it or not... this had been a TERRIBLE week for delivery of live chicks/ducks ect. Don't know why, but I think with the holiday on Monday the post office acted like they were on vacation all week. It's been hot, miserable and the PO is not carrying the chicks well at all! They make me so mad because I KNOW it is the PO's treatment of the boxes this week.

 

[nachoqtpie]

Bad day at work vfem? You guys getting a lot of DOA as well?

 

[vfem]

Not really like that... its more like the one's lost were boxes that were not handled well. Bad transport, stacking boxes... things they aren't supposed to be done in transport and they know it.

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

Thanks for the sympathies all and sorry to hear of this common theme nachoqtpie and vfem. My meat birds came the day before as I said and they are doing great. No losses at all. And...I do know that turkey chicks are VERY fragile in comparrison. We babied the two that were alive and they were still alive this morning.

That Hatchery unfortunately does not have any of the two breeds that I ordered available any longer, but they are going to substitute with another breed. Not ideal, but they are trying. They did offer to just refund my money, but we ordered turkeys because we want turkeys. So we will give it another shot. Hopefully, we will have a successful delivery of turkey chicks the end of next week.

vfem, oddly enough...On every other "box o chicks" that we have ever recieved, there was always a very visible, "Live Animal" sticker on the box. With this shipment there was none. Now quite obviously, the transporters should hear the chicks and see the holes in the sides of the box. But as my husband says, "Common sense is not very common!" Who knows, it could have been several different reasons, but whats done is done and we will move forward.