Commentary
The historical phenomenon of Easter chick supply is a testament to the survival qualities of poultry. The first 24 to 48 hours of a chick’s life when headed to a retail store are stress-filled. Ana Hotling shares some details worth considering as you counsel clients with Easter “babies.”
Newborn hatchery chicks go through a veritable gauntlet in the first few hours of their lives, writes Hotaling. They hatch on incubator shelves, are sent to dry out and fluff up, then are sorted into bins teeming with other chicks to await packing into ventilated cardboard containers. The chicks are then at the mercy of the U.S. Postal Service as they travel—typically in unheated transport vehicles—until they arrive at their destination. There they are unpacked and plunked into stock tanks often to be cared for by store associates who have no idea how to care for them. All this in the first 24 hours of a chick’s life.
Source: Hobby Farms, March 3, 2023. Link. Not all Chick Days purchases have happy endings. Hotling shares a few reasons why a new chick might fall ill and what to do when baby peep dies.
INSIGHTS: If we handled puppies the way we handle chicks, how would our industry react? Let us know what you think in the comments section.