Mail Disruption is Killing Chicks
1 min read
Photo caption: The mail has not been kind to chicks recently. Photography by Stephanie Frey on Shutterstock. Article by Alex Robinson.
Farmers’ mail-ordered livestock has been arriving dead.
Democracy isn’t the only thing postal delays are endangering during the pandemic.
Poultry experts say growing numbers of mail-ordered chicks have been dying before reaching their intended destinations. The US Postal Service has let hatcheries ship chicks through the mail since 1918. It’s a common practice and in normal times, it usually works pretty well. Hatcheries ship chicks immediately after they hatch in ventilated boxes, and they can typically survive for up to 72 hours without water and food, as they consume the yolk sac from their egg. […]
