baby nurse
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2013
- Messages
- 2,782
There was a lot of nail biting before they actually arrived! I received the email that they’d shipped Monday evening and when I checked tracking Tuesday morning it said they’d left the facility at 9 Monday night and would be with us by 3pm Tuesday. But they never arrived and there were no more updates in tracking. I kept thinking “My babies! Are they cold? Is the box they’re in being handled roughly by the USPS workers? We’re they forgotten in some warehouse?” Gah. I felt so guilty for having ordered them through the mail— local places are done selling chicks for the season so this was the alternative.
6:30 Wednesday morning the phone rang and I was asked to come and pick up the chicks! Dropped the oldest off at school and raced to the post office. Followed USPS lady’s phone instructions and located side door, buzzer pressed, up a ramp, and through the ‘employees only’ door, and was met by a tall uniformed guy who asks me “Your name is...?” I tell him “I’m Sylvie.” And we stand looking at each other. I’m in flannel pajamas with a winter jacket, I’m not sure if this is a regular sight off hours at USPS. “Chicks. I’m here to pick up chicks.” Finally his face registers understanding and a nice lady appears and hands me a box. Lots of soft peeping. “Usually they are overnighted. I’m not sure why this one took so long. Good luck!”, she says.
Rush home, dismantle box and transfer each of the 5 chicks into the brooder. They are ice cold, sluggish and one looks as though it won’t make it. Tiny wings hanging down, eyes closing and teetering back and forth. So we dip beaks into warm sugar water and monitor the brooder temp and after 40 min or so, they are moving around and sipping water on their own. Husband, youngest child and I release a deep breath. All the chicks look like they’re going make it!
So there’s the back story of how things go when you order chicks through the mail!
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I hope you will post updates as she grows, as you did for Buckbeak.
