Well, as I mentioned before, we have new chicks that came this morning. We ordered quite an assortment, and most of them arrived safely. When ordering this time of year, I kept in mind that I may lose some in shipment. While it is sad to see some arrive dead from shipping stress, I don't have any sentimental attachment to the little fur balls. Virginia and Nathaniel take it harder than me, especially since all the losses on this run were theirs.
Nathaniel ordered the Dutch Mille Fleur bantams, five were shipped and 1 arrived live, and he is not doing well. Virginia ordered Silver Laced Wyandotte bantams, and she lost one. They are shipped as straight run (not sorted by sex) so we may have all roosters, all hens, or any mix of the two.
My layers all arrived great, chirping away and running around the brooder eating, drinking, and being merry. I would rather that I lost some, as the ones for the kids were to be pets. Of those that arrived live, Nathaniel's last is weak and tippy and so is one of Virginia's. I hope they make it through, but it doesn't look good.
Now before the PETA people come after me with sticks and knives(for people fighting for the right to live, they sure don't mind threatening people, lol) saying that we should never order chicks this time of year, I have to put in my 2 cents worth on the subject of shipping this time of year. I live in Maine, and we have cold weather for chicks pretty much year round. A chick is supposed to have 95 degree weather the first week, and lessening the temp 5 degrees a week the first 5 weeks or so. Maine does not get 95 degree weather, EVER.
I will be updating throughout the weekend with pictures of our little fuzz bundles. Stay tuned.
Mark
