# Mail order chickens **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 25, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970 "2011-03-25T14:48:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/41 "2011-03-26T04:27:20Z")
the last link didn’t work…[here](http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x383/loshan1/101_0120.jpg) it is again. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/42 "2011-03-26T12:50:14Z")
I really want goats. I, too, would milk them and make cheese. What stops me is that apparently they’re incredible escape artists and also tend to chew on wood stuff rather than eat grass like civilized animals. Once we move to a wooded area, which will be in a few years, I’m definitely getting goats. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/43 "2011-03-26T13:24:05Z")
Just had to say that the first photo made me laugh. My cats would love some chicks! ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/44 "2011-03-26T15:42:26Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > I really want goats. I, too, would milk them and make cheese. What stops me is that apparently they’re incredible escape artists and also tend to chew on wood stuff rather than eat grass like civilized animals. > > Once we move to a wooded area, which will be in a few years, I’m definitely getting goats. We got goats to begin with for their ability to clear underbrush and reduce the fir risk in the wooded area/side of the mountain behind the house. They were great for that. However, they also managed to break into my garden and eat all my roses and raspberries (ouch). ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/45 "2011-03-26T15:53:08Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > Just had to say that the first photo made me laugh. My cats would love some chicks! It’s funny, she was very interested in the box, but once they were out and into the brooder, which is a clear plastic container in the living room, she completely ignored them. Two of my dogs are mildly interested, the third couldn’t care less. I thought they’d be more of a sensation among the other animals, guess not. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/46 "2011-03-26T16:18:40Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Those of you who weren’t aware that you could get chicks delivered via the USPS, didn’t you ever see the episode of _I Love Lucy_ in which the chicks that Lucy had ordered arrived before the hen house was ready, and they had to keep them in the house for a while? Or am I the only one who has seen every episode of that show multiple times (because not much else was on television after I got home from school)? > > Yeah but Lucy and Ethel bought those chickens at a nearby hatchery. They didn’t get them mailed. Sorry, you’re right. After you posted, I went on YouTube and watched the beginning of that episode. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/47 "2011-03-26T16:39:18Z")
> [@loshan](#): > > [Henry the Billy Goat](http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x383/loshan1/101_0119.jpg)…and [http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x383/loshan1/101\_0120.jpg](http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x383/loshan1/101_0120.jpg)(see how tiny!) Henry should be lolled as “I haz a sekrit” > [@Renee](#): > > It’s funny, she was very interested in the box, but once they were out and into the brooder, which is a clear plastic container in the living room, she completely ignored them. Two of my dogs are mildly interested, the third couldn’t care less. I thought they’d be more of a sensation among the other animals, guess not. My fat lazy cat likes to watch chicks, but doesn’t think of them as toys or food. Back when I had my wolf hybrid, a turkey chick played houdini and got out of the brood box, fell off the table into Lugh’s bed [under the table we were brooding on] and spent the night parent bonding with this 130+ pound wolf. Poor guy was puzzled because the turkey insisted on following him around the yard after that 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/48 "2011-03-27T16:39:01Z")
> [@dawson](#): > > Darn. I had visions of ordering a goat and having it shipped to brother -in- laws address. 😃 > [@Renee](#): > > I wish someone would ship me a goat. Airline pilot … We carry chicks all the time. Sometimes dozens of flats of them. And not always chickens; I’ve seen turkeys & ducklings & goslings too. And not 3 weeks ago I had a goat. A kid really. He (I think) was about 12" at the shoulder, mostly white with some tan patches. Really cute. He was packaged in a standard pet carrier (cast plastic clamshell with wire mesh doors & side windows). He had a straw bed, water, & a supply of goat pellets (both pre-and post-eaten.) The paperwork said we took him from Tulsa to Pittsburgh, but the shipper & recipient were from towns I’d never heard of in OK & PA. ---
**Author:** ![dawson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@dawson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dawson)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/49 "2011-03-27T17:10:01Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Airline pilot … > > We carry chicks all the time. Sometimes dozens of flats of them. And not always chickens; I’ve seen turkeys & ducklings & goslings too. > > And not 3 weeks ago I had a goat. A kid really. He (I think) was about 12" at the shoulder, mostly white with some tan patches. Really cute. He was packaged in a standard pet carrier (cast plastic clamshell with wire mesh doors & side windows). He had a straw bed, water, & a supply of goat pellets (both pre-and post-eaten.) > > The paperwork said we took him from Tulsa to Pittsburgh, but the shipper & recipient were from towns I’d never heard of in OK & PA. Well my Christmas shopping for this year is done. Goats for everyone! ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/50 "2011-03-27T21:57:25Z")
Actually, we receive 365 Cornish X chicks every week of the year (except for the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years) by post and usually, they do just fine. They’re packed into the boxes fairly tightly because chicks have to be kept at 90 degrees for the first week or they’ll die. They don’t try and peck at each other. The boxes have ventilation holes along the sides and on the top. During the cold weather, the holes on the sides are taped shut. The only real problem we’ve ever experienced was last summer. Although the USPS delivers the chicks, FedEx ships them on one leg of the route. Whoever was storing them overnight at FedEX was stacking the boxes tightly in a corner and the chicks suffocated because the vent holes were against a wall. There are few things more depressing than opening a box and finding a pile of dead chicks. The USPS will also ship lizards, snakes, bees, and turtles-if properly contained. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/51 "2011-03-27T22:44:01Z")
> [@jlzania](#): > > Actually, we receive 365 Cornish X chicks every week of the year (except for the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years) by post and usually, they do just fine. Wow. You eat a lot of chicken. I must unfortunately report the death of Josephine. Yesterday I saw the other chicks trample her and she didn’t get up. I put her back on her feet and she was fine for a few hours, then later in the night she grew lethargic with shallow, fast breaths and died soon after. RIP Josi. She was one of the easter eggers. The other girls appear perfectly fine, so whatever caused her death seems to be some sort of fluke. They’re growing like crazy, they already seem twice the size the were a couple of days ago. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/52 "2011-03-28T14:20:04Z")
I’ve had a yen recently to get some chickens, but since i don’t eat eggs and I couldn’t kill one for supper, there’s no point to it. My neighbor has had 24 baby fainting goats this year. They’re darling! StG ---
**Author:** ![dawson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@dawson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dawson)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/53 "2011-03-28T16:59:10Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > I’ve had a yen recently to get some chickens, but since i don’t eat eggs and I couldn’t kill one for supper, there’s no point to it. > > My neighbor has had 24 baby fainting goats this year. They’re darling! > > StG Is that the narcoleptic kind of goat? ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/54 "2011-03-28T18:42:52Z")
**dawson** - More like seizing than sleeping. When they get too scared/excited their limbs lock and they flop over on the ground. A few seconds later they jump up like nothing happened and keep playing. StG ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/55 "2011-03-28T21:35:49Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Wow. You eat a lot of chicken. Well, we do but even I couldn’t eat that many birds. I’m a pastured poultry farmer and this is how I earn a living. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/56 "2011-03-28T21:43:08Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > He had a straw bed, water, & a supply of goat pellets (both pre-and post-eaten.) You ate your cargo! :eek: Note to self: do not ask LSLGuy to fly relatives. Except maybe Aunt Edna. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/57 "2011-03-28T21:45:26Z")
Yay! Just this weekend I orders some chicks, including two easter eggers, which I should be getting in June, the week after I move into my new house! Yay! ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/58 "2011-07-09T14:23:16Z")
Update: The chicks are almost grown, should be laying sometime in the next few days to 3 weeks. They’re integrated with my three older hens, and doing well. Ultimately we lost two of them, Josephine at a few days old, and Estelle at about 10 weeks (it became apparent that she had some sort of leg deformity and had trouble standing as she got bigger, so we had to cull her…first time killing anything, not the easiest thing I’ve ever done.) The rest are happy, healthy, and lots of fun. Did you ever get your chicks, **Little Bird**? [Bok](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kVceMK1eGDA/Thee-tB1lqI/AAAAAAAAJqw/4FIFcuto6iU/s720/IMG_4882.JPG) [Bock](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-iz6EU0kk1Zw/ThefAB8GGnI/AAAAAAAAJq0/cjZnEG5rAGo/s720/IMG_4885.JPG) [Bwak](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-I-u1TaBKA2k/ThefBwIp1mI/AAAAAAAAJq4/dKOd8dXbI50/s512/IMG_4908.JPG) [Bwaak!](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-mb8AfO96_z4/ThefDfXj5WI/AAAAAAAAJq8/Wf8efN7JNCE/s512/IMG_4912.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/59 "2011-07-09T17:12:54Z")
I used to have pygmy goats and they were awesome! Big Time escape artists, but really sweet. I had bottle raised a few, and one, raised in the house at the same time I had kittens, was thoroughly convinced she too was a cat. Had hysterics when I took her to the barn. She wanted no part of those scary things that lived there. Ran around on circles and yelled. Then she crawled into my lap and maa-ed at me. She did get used to barn life but never really got over the idea of being a lap goat. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970/60 "2011-07-09T18:21:52Z")
The goats are the most melodramatic animals I’ve ever been acquainted with. (Those in the pic are not mine, we’re goat-sitting for the summer. They are fun and sweet, but we’ve got 5 of them and they’re a handful. Very smart, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-chickens/575970.md?page=4)