Stromberg's Chickens

Just over a month ago I placed an order for 25 Cornish Cross chicks with Stromberg's Chickens - www.strombergschickens.com (I am not hyperlinking their site for an obvious reason - I don't want to give them any traffic).

A couple of weeks (?) back I got a call saying that the chicks will ship on the week of May 11th, either on Tuesday or on Wednesday. This week we've set up the brooder and were eagerly awaiting the results.

When the chicks didn't come Wednesday, I checked my order status and it said "payment pending" - so I assumed that the chicks did not shi.p. But this morning at 7:15 I got a call from the post office saying that the chicks are here. I was at the post office 30 minutes later, and at home 10 minutes after that.

This is what was in the box: 23 dead chicks, and 2 survivors (though I am not sure they will last long).

And this is why:

The poor chicks were sent 3 DAY priority mail. All in all, they spent 36 hours in a box without food, water, or regulated temperature.

When I called Stromberg's, I was told that shipping chicks 24-48 hours in normal. I don't know if this is normal for them, or normal for the industry - but if it's normal for the industry, please support your local hatchery. All I am sure about is - I will never buy from Stromberg's ever again. Anything.