We got the 6 am call…
“Jamie? This is John in Smithfield. We’ve got birds here for ya.”
{Apparently the Post Office guy and I are on a first name basis?!} {smile}
Shipping chicks by mail was a totally new phenomenon to me a few years ago. Who knew you could put live animals in a shoebox and send them across the country?! But now we get a couple boxes a year of meat chickens and a few layers to keep our egg production rolling. It takes layers 6-8 months to start producing eggs, so you have to think ahead about replacing losses or ramping up production.
Unfortunately this year we encountered a problem. Our first box was shipped on Saturday morning and we didn’t get it until Wednesday morning. That is waaaay too long for day old chicks. Plus we had a late spring freeze last week on their last night in transport. When we picked them up it was…well…not good.
There were 11 still viable when we got them home Wednesday morning. Barely.
We had two chicks pull through.
Two.
Out of 30.
Friends, that is hard.
We moved their little horse-trough brooder into the house because of the cold snap.
We called the hatchery and they apologized. Profusely. I have to admit to being a bit traumatized and probably being a little hard on the poor customer service guy. It was just kind of a situation of bad timing throughout the entire shipping chain of events. Not intentional (I hope!) and not fix-able. The hatchery immediately offered to replace the whole order. At that point we still had 11, but he didn’t seem to have much hope for them when I explained the timeline to him. (Hmm…he was right.) They have a guarantee and they tell you there might be small losses, but obviously this was not within an acceptable range.
We didn’t expect a call until–hopefully!–Tuesday. But when the phone rang at 6 am this morning, that seemed like a good sign this time! Mr. Fix-It headed out…
And came back with a noisy box. (Another good sign!)
The kiddos were super excited. We hadn’t even told them about the box coming this morning yet. Mr. Fix-It wanted to check the situation out first.
But this batch look healthy and lively and full of vigor–just like they should be. They gobbled up two plates of food just while we were watching them settle in! And oh the noise! {smile} When you have that many together, the peeping can be a little shrill. They’re still in the house right now–right in the foyer by the front door. But I don’t think it’s going to last very long. We won’t be able to get any sleep if they keep up that racket tonight! You could almost see Penny trying to cover her ears in her dog bed in the bedroom. {smile}
They’ll probably move to the garage later this week.
In the mean time we have football, and soccer, and Missions Conference at church this week. I’ve started sketching out some summer learning plans and we’re staying on the kiddos about finishing out the school year strong.
Did you have a lovely Easter? How’s your week shaping up?
Oh, and are you familiar with Zulily? I always saw the ads and thought it was like Pick Your Plum, one or two great deals a day. Turns out, it’s more like a whole bunch of great deals a day! Their offers cover just about every category, from kid clothes, to plus sizes, to kitchenwares, to shoes. I mention it because I’m on the hunt for church dresses for the Ladybug and I’ve found some really cute things there–and we all know that finding modest, ladylike clothes these days is tough!
See where I’m sharing this week…
