I Bit the Bullet and Ordered Chicks

Ok. Chicks are set to arrive the week of May 2nd. And I've changed my order. Twice. And I may call and add another chick on Monday (another assorted rare breed, maybe). Can you tell I'm anxious and indecisive?

1 EE
1 Fibro EE
1 Green Queen
1 CCL
1 Assorted Rare Breed
1 Buff Polish

I lost my sweet Jessamine on Sunday. I'm still very sad and dealing with the doubts I often get when one of my animals passes. I keep vacillating between really looking forward to new chicks and dreading getting new chicks.

But I think I'll go through with it. New chickens are never bad. My biggest worry now is that they arrive healthy. Not sure how well I will deal with another shipping disaster and more loss.

629864 said:

I wish I could send you some of my eggs, but I have NO idea how to do that. I'm open to suggestions if you want, though, as wre have daily blue/green eggs and all are fertilized. We have 9 "easter egger" layers with 1 EE rooster and 3 Brown Leghorn roosters. So there's no telling what their eggs will produce. No need for payment other than shipping. I would like to hear more about the whole "egg sales = farm status" thing. I don't think it's in the cards for me though as we have a hard time even giving eggs away here...everyone has an egg surplus.

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I totally would, but I cannot afford more roosters in my small flock, unfortunately. I have a mature roo as well as a 6 week old cockerel. But I really, really appreciate the offer!

Aunt Angus said:

I lost my sweet Jessamine on Sunday. I'm still very sad and dealing with the doubts I often get when one of my animals passes. I keep vacillating between really looking forward to new chicks and dreading getting new chicks.

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I'm so sorry about you Jessamine. Its so heartbreaking to loose them. I've lost more than my fare share of feather babies in the past year, it never gets easier. I think we expect it to for some reason, we expect our selves to get, "better at death". It finally hit me that that is not possible. I'm sending big hugs your way.
The fact that its so hard lets us know that it was a relationship worth having. Those bonds never break.
I hope you feel better soon, and crossing my fingers that you get happy, healthy chicks that can brighten your day.

Anything back from the necropsy? It took 3 weeks to get Smudge's results, so it can take a while.

Aunt Angus said:

Ok. Chicks are set to arrive the week of May 2nd. And I've changed my order. Twice. And I may call and add another chick on Monday (another assorted rare breed, maybe). Can you tell I'm anxious and indecisive?

1 EE
1 Fibro EE
1 Green Queen
1 CCL
1 Assorted Rare Breed
1 Buff Polish

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Wow! Those are some cool breeds! I had no idea that a Fibro EE was a thing, I want some!
Have fun with your new babies, how exciting!

Weeg said:

I'm so sorry about you Jessamine. Its so heartbreaking to loose them. I've lost more than my fare share of feather babies in the past year, it never gets easier. I think we expect it to for some reason, we expect our selves to get, "better at death". It finally hit me that that is not possible. I'm sending big hugs your way.
The fact that its so hard lets us know that it was a relationship worth having. Those bonds never break.
I hope you feel better soon, and crossing my fingers that you get happy, healthy chicks that can brighten your day.

Anything back from the necropsy? It took 3 weeks to get Smudge's results, so it can take a while.


Wow! Those are some cool breeds! I had no idea that a Fibro EE was a thing, I want some!
Have fun with your new babies, how exciting!

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I decided not to order a necropsy this time. I actually had her cremated by my vet. I am ok with it. I'm sure it was cancer or infection that led to the crop issues. I will be more careful handling sick chickens in the future.

Aunt Angus said:

I decided not to order a necropsy this time. I actually had her cremated by my vet. I am ok with it. I'm sure it was cancer or infection that led to the crop issues. I will be more careful handling sick chickens in the future.

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Thats nice, I have to agree. It sounded like cancer to me.
I must have missed the update on your thread, but I'm glad you were able to do that.

629864 said:

I wish I could send you some of my eggs, but I have NO idea how to do that. I'm open to suggestions if you want, though, as wre have daily blue/green eggs and all are fertilized. We have 9 "easter egger" layers with 1 EE rooster and 3 Brown Leghorn roosters. So there's no telling what their eggs will produce. No need for payment other than shipping. I would like to hear more about the whole "egg sales = farm status" thing. I don't think it's in the cards for me though as we have a hard time even giving eggs away here...everyone has an egg surplus.

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Breeders do this a lot in Europe. Here its not done to ship / mail chicks.

Safe egg transport:
Pack every egg in soft toilet paper, put the eggs point down in a egg carton. Wrap the egg box in soft material against bumping. And put the wrapped egg box in a box for the mail. Write Breakable / handle with care and This side up () on the box.

The receiver has to unpack carefully and put the eggs under a small angle , point down back in the egg carton. Wait > 24 hours before giving the eggs to a broody. Wait 2 days if they where disturbed.

Hatch rates are lower with shipped eggs as with fresh collected eggs. So buy 20 if you want 10 chicks/ 5 hens.

Aunt Angus said:

Ok. Chicks are set to arrive the week of May 2nd. And I've changed my order. Twice. And I may call and add another chick on Monday (another assorted rare breed, maybe). Can you tell I'm anxious and indecisive?

1 EE
1 Fibro EE
1 Green Queen
1 CCL
1 Assorted Rare Breed
1 Buff Polish

I lost my sweet Jessamine on Sunday. I'm still very sad and dealing with the doubts I often get when one of my animals passes. I keep vacillating between really looking forward to new chicks and dreading getting new chicks.

But I think I'll go through with it. New chickens are never bad. My biggest worry now is that they arrive healthy. Not sure how well I will deal with another shipping disaster and more loss.

Click to expand...

I received my chick and duckling order from Meyer this week. One of the rare breed chicks died the first night, but was weak on arrival and didn't look well and one of the ducklings was DOA. Everyone else is super healthy and gorgeous.

I called Meyer to let them know and they said they would replace both if I wanted, that I would just have to order two more of each to make the min 3 shipment requirement (no problem ), and they would cover the shipping.

The one that died was a Polish one and they said they are one of the more fragile breeds in shipping so I told them try to send a more sturdy girl this time. The chicks will ship out on Monday and the ducklings next Monday. I'm in Kentucky and the ducklings came from San Jose, California. We had a recent cold rainy spell and of course they arrived in that mess. But Meyer's is great and I love their prices and variety of chickens.

I have also used Welp Hatchery and had good results. I'm getting my geese from them this year instead of Metzer's as the only choice for the breeds I wanted were males and I wanted straight run, which Welp had.

Good luck with your new babies.

LovedMyAlydar said:

I received my chick and duckling order from Meyer this week. One of the rare breed chicks died the first night, but was weak on arrival and didn't look well and one of the ducklings was DOA. Everyone else is super healthy and gorgeous.

I called Meyer to let them know and they said they would replace both if I wanted, that I would just have to order two more of each to make the min 3 shipment requirement (no problem ), and they would cover the shipping.

The one that died was a Polish one and they said they are one of the more fragile breeds in shipping so I told them try to send a more sturdy girl this time. The chicks will ship out on Monday and the ducklings next Monday. I'm in Kentucky and the ducklings came from San Jose, California. We had a recent cold rainy spell and of course they arrived in that mess. But Meyer's is great and I love their prices and variety of chickens.

I have also used Welp Hatchery and had good results. I'm getting my geese from them this year instead of Metzer's as the only choice for the breeds I wanted were males and I wanted straight run, which Welp had.

Good luck with your new babies.

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Congrats on your new littlies!!! And I'm sorry you lost some. I hate finding little bodies instead of silly fluff balls.

Good to know about the Polish. Some of the losses in the DOA shipment I got the last time I ordered were Polish. Maybe I'll change that, too, then.

I was hoping May was late enough in the season that it would be a lil warmer. I'm wondering if I should have had them shipped in June...

Metzer has been great for me. I'm in CA and their farms are within driving distance, but their orders still have to be shipped. They used to do pickup orders, but COVID ruined that, too. I'm sure AI isn't helping, either. Most hatcheries use them for waterfowl - like the geese I was going to get this year. I ordered them through McMurray, but they would have shipped from Metzer. I canceled that order because I'll have my hands full with chicks and because I had planned to free range the geese. Not with AI lurking. It would be impossible to securely contain them and keep them away from any wild birds. We'll see what happens as the outbreak continues.

I really, really wanted geese this year instead of chicks, but I gotta get enough hens to hopefully placate 2 roosters.

Aunt Angus said:

That's true. Everyone here has chickens. I would give them away to friends/neighbors. I'll think about it.

My worry is that I'll fall in love with all of them and not want to part with them. I have room, but I add new birds every year to keep the eggs coming. I am cutting myself off at 20 chickens. I have 12 now. That's 4 this year and 4 next.

I'll see if someone around here wants to split an order.

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Wait till chicken math sets in. You’ll have 40, but will convince yourself it’s only 15.

I Love Feather Babies said:

Wait till chicken math sets in. You’ll have 40, but will convince yourself it’s only 15.

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Well, I was only supposed to have 4. And I have 6 on the way now....

I don't want so many that I have a hard time giving them individual care. If I ever retire, then all bets are OFF!