Chicks in a Jiffy: How to Place Chick Orders from Chicken Hatcheries
Getting your chicks from chicken hatcheries is a great and convenient way to start your poultry. Before you place your orders with your hatchery of choice, it is also important that you know your shipping options. For best results, it is always recommended that you deal with chicken hatcheries nearest you. Remember that the chicks you ordered will be shipped to you via mail, so the shorter the route from the hatchery to your house, the better for the health of the chickens. To ensure that they get to you in time, opt to ship them via priority or express mail.
Worried about how the chicks will be fed and watered in transit? They don’t need to. This is because right before they hatch, they absorb most of the nutritional content of their egg yolks. This is enough to sustain them for three days without food or water. As such, chicken hatcheries should ship them out on the day they hatch, so that they have enough food stored in their bodies for the two- or three-day shipping.
What chickens do need is warmth during transportation. This is the reason why it is usual for a chicken hatchery to require minimum orders of 10, 15 or 25 chicks per shipping. The chicks are placed inside small cardboard boxes, or big cardboard boxes with smaller divisions, so they can keep each other warm by exchanging body heat through contact. When your chicks arrive, expect a call from your local post office to tell you that they are ready for pick up.
