Shipping experiences this year? (2022)

[ChicksnMore]

I had an order with Purely Poultry due to arrive today and spent an hour on the phone this morning trying to find where they were. Turned out USPS decided to send the chicks out for delivery instead of letting me pick them up. Needless to say, they arrived dead. 100% of the poor babies died.

Heartbreaking.

I've never had such an experience and I'm just wondering how other people's shipping experience has been this year....normal for most people or has it been a bad year with USPS?

 

[AdorkableMom]

I just received 2 orders this morning. 1 from Purely Poultry and 1 from Breese Farms. Breese Farms I received 21 Breese chicks (I ordered 20) plus 2 rhode island reds (he seems to throw those in for fun). The box had 4 hand warmers stapled to the sides and 4 cups of gel stapled into the box as well (or something for them to eat - they ate it all). There were no doa and all seem to be healthy. The box from Purely Poultry had 11 ducklings. 3 were DOA and as of 4 p.m today (I picked them up at 7 am) another 2 have died. There was no heat source or food source in the box for them. I'm a little worried about Purely Poultry (1st time ive used them) as their email says I have 48 hours to submit photos and a claim, but their website says 24 hours from the time the post office stamps them. I submitted a claim on the first 3 doa and will add the others this evening. I was surprised that they shipped from Wisconsin without any heat in the box, nights are still very cold in Oklahoma (30s) and I imagine it is colder in Wisconsin. I am expecting call ducks from them on Friday, so we will see how those fare in the transit. But both boxes today were shipped on Monday so the post office did well for me.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Had a small order of 6 (4 ordered and 2 packing peanuts) arrive in a day and a half of with 5 doing great and 1 other doing just a tiny bit less great.

Did you make sure that it was marked as hold for pick up?

 

[springvalley123]

I've ordered several times, but just this once this year. I live in Arizona and ordered from Ideal in Texas for a 3/8/22 hatch, thinking that the shorter flight (compared with Iowa) would translate to greater certainty that the babies would make it in 2 days as all my previous batches from Iowa did in previous years. MISTAKE! My local USPS explained that in "the south" which includes the Houston and Austin DCs, there has been much consolidation so many delays. I heard chirping in the background--the boxes from Iowa to AZ were ON TIME! So depending on where you are in the country, I'd try to see if your choices of hatcheries are in areas that are affected by consolidation. Maybe ask your local USPS folks.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

My usps texts claim my ideal order is currently on time, something my other hatchery order didnt state. Maybe that's part of ir

 

[ChicksnMore]

I signed up for text updates, but the option to add delivery instructions said it wasn't available for the chicks. Probably because the shipper had instructions on the outside of the box to hold and call me.

Purely Poultry got right on it and the replacement chicks should arrive this Friday. I called the post office to let them know what happened and try to insure it doesn't happen again as we have more chicks coming in April from another hatchery. The post office said there were no delivery instructions on the box or from me...but the instructions were clear on the box. I double checked and it was clearly marked to hold and call with the correct phone number.

We ordered call ducks from Purely last year and half were dead on arrival. But I could see they'd been handled roughly...they had gel food cups stapled inside and heat packs but the food was splattered all over the top and sides. I assumed it was how USPS handled them rather then the shipper.

I've always had good luck with shipping except the last two years. Both times seem like USPS error though so just wondering if it's about the postal changes going on, bad luck or somehow with the hatchery.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I usually talk to our postmaster the day before they are set to arrive (easy to do in a small town). I let her know that she can call me las soon as they arrive at the main office in town at any time. They contacted me at 5am wgen my ducks arrived. I was very happy they did thsy. The local carriers here are AWFUL.

I so incredibly sorry that happened.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I signed up for text updates, but the option to add delivery instructions said it wasn't available for the chicks. Probably because the shipper had instructions on the outside of the box to hold and call me.

Purely Poultry got right on it and the replacement chicks should arrive this Friday. I called the post office to let them know what happened and try to insure it doesn't happen again as we have more chicks coming in April from another hatchery. The post office said there were no delivery instructions on the box or from me...but the instructions were clear on the box. I double checked and it was clearly marked to hold and call with the correct phone number.

We ordered call ducks from Purely last year and half were dead on arrival. But I could see they'd been handled roughly...they had gel food cups stapled inside and heat packs but the food was splattered all over the top and sides. I assumed it was how USPS handled them rather then the shipper.

I've always had good luck with shipping except the last two years. Both times seem like USPS error though so just wondering if it's about the postal changes going on, bad luck or somehow with the hatchery.

It's a complete gamble. It doesn't take much for things to go wrong.

 

[ChicksnMore]

I think I'll pop by the post office tomorrow and try that. I live just outside of a big city so might not work as well...but worth trying.

 

[springvalley123]

I think I'll pop by the post office tomorrow and try that. I live just outside of a big city so might not work as well...but worth trying.

I don't recall how I got the local post office number--googled it or something. It'll be a number with your local area code that rings directly at your post office. You can also try that. I suggest trying to find out what time of the morning the shipment/mail comes from your regional distribution center. For me, they happily told me that it comes from Phx at 6:30 every morning. So I knew to call or go down there at that time. There's usually a buzzer on the wall next to a halfdoor that you can ring that rings in the back so they know you're there. You can probably say "Hi Im Jane Smith here for my chicks from Hoovers".