Hacker News Reader

Comment by bennettfeely | Hacker News Reader

I'm curious how they protect the chicks in the mail during shipping when the temperature has been in the low-mid 90s the past few weeks in PA. Even in Maine it hit 90.

View on HN

Chicks are ideally at 90F for the first few weeks of life. When weather is cooler, they put chemical heat bags in the shipping boxes. I’ve never experienced it, but I’m told that during particularly hot times the hatcheries also use cool packs instead. Point being, they are trying their best to equalize the temps and get those birds to their destination as fast as possible.

Heat is generally the bigger issue - birds that are a few weeks along have a greater problems when it’s too hot out. If it is cold, they will pack together and keep each other warm - it’s actually quite happy to see, as at least with my birds they seem to put aside their issues and look out for each other when they get cold.

Like the article says it’s worked perfectly for a very long time. Having it be too warm is probably much safer than a little cold (our chicks would gather directly under the heat lamp and I wondered why it never bothered them). The problem here is probably dehydration from having shipments intentionally delayed.

I agree - dehydration / starvation is the primary issue here, followed by the risks of simply more moving and shaking.

different species have different temperatures and tolerances, chickens seem to have a body temperature something like 5-10 F warmer than humans which helps, what feels hot or cold to you doesn’t seem the same for another animal

Reply on news.ycombinator.com