Just got a call from my friend at the P.O. - they have a box of ducklings there, no one is home or answering the phone, and they'd really like to not have a dozen duck-ing murders on their hands!
Good news is, two below-freezing days in the mail stream and 2000 miles later, everyone is still on their feet and cheeping up a storm. Mail clerks have them off to the side where it's less drafty and quieter and have been checking in on them.
Now, I've never actually done live mail-order before. Theoretically the hatchery packs them with enough snacks and whatnot to last them the 72 hours the Post Office has to get them door-to-door, meaning they ought to be "just fine" until early tomorrow morning.
Bad news is, if the recipient doesn't pick them up, protocol is to return-to-sender.
Which presents a problem. The internet really doesn't seem to address what to do about sending chicks BACK by mail. I've got to assume there are some rules like don't feed them after midnight or something that need to be followed to make it so they can survive another 72 hours in a box.
With any luck, they'll get to go home with one of the clerks tonight rather than get locked in a desk drawer or something. I can certainly cobble together a nursery for from-egg chicks, but I'm worried there are some "gotchas" that might affect their chances of survival if they do end up getting mailed across country a second time. It's hard for me to imagine they'd be better off left alone at room temp in their original box until that 72-hour mark, but how stressful will multiple changes in environment be? They've been in unheated trucks and warehouses for two days, just warming them back to brooder temperature is going to be a shock. How quickly can they acclimate? Is cold to hot to cold again better or worse than cold to chilly to cold? What about food and water? Do ducks get car sick? Or day/night light exposure?!
If they do end up having to go back to sender obviously a new box and bedding will be necessary but what else and does it change if it's tomorrow vs. next week?
THANK YOU!
Good news is, two below-freezing days in the mail stream and 2000 miles later, everyone is still on their feet and cheeping up a storm. Mail clerks have them off to the side where it's less drafty and quieter and have been checking in on them.
Now, I've never actually done live mail-order before. Theoretically the hatchery packs them with enough snacks and whatnot to last them the 72 hours the Post Office has to get them door-to-door, meaning they ought to be "just fine" until early tomorrow morning.
Bad news is, if the recipient doesn't pick them up, protocol is to return-to-sender.
Which presents a problem. The internet really doesn't seem to address what to do about sending chicks BACK by mail. I've got to assume there are some rules like don't feed them after midnight or something that need to be followed to make it so they can survive another 72 hours in a box.
With any luck, they'll get to go home with one of the clerks tonight rather than get locked in a desk drawer or something. I can certainly cobble together a nursery for from-egg chicks, but I'm worried there are some "gotchas" that might affect their chances of survival if they do end up getting mailed across country a second time. It's hard for me to imagine they'd be better off left alone at room temp in their original box until that 72-hour mark, but how stressful will multiple changes in environment be? They've been in unheated trucks and warehouses for two days, just warming them back to brooder temperature is going to be a shock. How quickly can they acclimate? Is cold to hot to cold again better or worse than cold to chilly to cold? What about food and water? Do ducks get car sick? Or day/night light exposure?!
If they do end up having to go back to sender obviously a new box and bedding will be necessary but what else and does it change if it's tomorrow vs. next week?
THANK YOU!
Last edited:
