Well, our box of chicks arrived this morning. Unfortunately, none of them survived their trip. I immediately contacted Customer Service at My Pet Chicken to find out what the deal was (and to get a little sympathy - there's nothing like opening a box of dead chicks to put a crimp in your day), and apparently there were some defective heating units that got shipped to them from the manufacturer. Traci, the wonderfully kind women I spoke to on the phone, was nearly as devastated as I was - she said they'd never lost a single chick before, much less a whole box! She thought they'd managed to get all of the defective heating units out of circulation, but apparently not.
This is one of the disadvantages of mail-ordering chicks - shipping can be stressful for them, and they don't always make it. It made me wonder why we hadn't just gone down to the feed store and chosen from their stock, although we wouldn't necessarily have been able to hand-pick our breeds. I will also admit to an allergy to shopping around - it's much easier for me to fill out a web order form than to call a bunch of different places to see if they have the particular thing I want. I have a tough time balancing the whole "buy locally" thing with the "get exactly what I want in the most convenient way possible" thing, especially with two kids who make any shopping trip a challenge (to put it kindly). I love shopping at New Seasons because they make it easy to do both (and I can shut the kids up by opening a box of bunny crackers for them while they're in the cart)! But that's a topic for another post. I'm very happy with the way My Pet Chicken has handled the whole thing, and I'm thinking positively and trusting that the replacement chicks will be happy and healthy when I open their box...
I was very worried that this whole experience would be traumatic for the kids, but they handled it much better than I did. Owen didn't even notice me bringing the chick box in, but Sydney immediately spotted it and started asking questions. She knew we were waiting for the chickens, and she was determined not to miss a thing! I was a little concerned that the box was a bit cold and damp and had a noticeable lack of peeping coming from it, so I didn't let her watch while I was opening the box. I eventually had to explain, though, because she was relentlessly asking to see our new chicks. It was hard for me to figure out how to explain the whole death thing to her. We've talked about it before, but I don't think she really understands it (although she does love to shock her parents by telling us she wants her brother to die). Today she had a close-up view, and I think it's good for her not to be completely shielded from it.
I let her hold one of the dead chicks, and she explored it thoroughly, gently touching its tiny beak and claws, probing its little wing and stroking its downy fluff. She didn't find it upsetting at all, but I nearly lost it! Tonight we are going to have a little chick funeral and bury them in the backyard beneath the Star Magnolia tree. We might talk about the circle of life, and how when you're dead, you go back into the earth so that bacteria and worms and bugs can turn you into dirt, and then other things will use your dirt to grow. Is that going to be completely lost on a 4-year-old?
Next week we'll try again with a new batch. Traci has promised that we will get a heating element that works this time, but I'll be on pins and needles Monday night and Tuesday morning until those babies are safe in their warm little pen. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
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