Shipping

[Guest]

John,

I have never shipped chickens through the mail. Could you explain the process and where do you get shipping cartons.

Roposter

[John]

I use the boxes from Petports: http://www.petports.com/
They only have to be \"Biologically-Secure\" if you use them for birds other than chickens.
Day old chicks may be sent Priority Mail, but everything else must go by Express Mail.
All \"Lives\" that fly NorthWest from Detroit and St. Paul have an extra $1/lb surcharge added on for the airline.  The good news about that is that they will ship to almost any zip code, including some in Alaska and Hawaii, and only require that the temp is between 25 and 85 degrees.  Shipping Lives from many other areas is more restrictive.

[John]

Hawaii, and only require that the temp is between 25 and 85 degrees

They have made a few changes to the policy on accepting LIVES that go thru Detroit.
The temperature range is now between 10 and 85 degrees.
They have added air service to many nearby zip codes that had ground service in OH, IL, IN and WI.
About the only places I can\'t send to are Reno, Nevada and Hawaii.  They have limited service to Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands.  
The Post Office website with rules and regs that cover everyone is http://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm300/601.htm#wp1064884

[Guest]

I have had great success shipping birds out of the Cincinnati airport Air Mail Facility (AMF.) I think it\'s best to try to ship out of an airport, that way the birds are put on a plane soonest.

I live about an hour south of the airport, and usually ship on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays. That way if the birds should take two days to get to their destinations they won\'t be traveling on a weekend (although all have gone one day so far.)

So the Friday before I call the post office (AMF) and make sure that the destination to which I want to ship is ok (sometimes certain zip codes are restricted, but I\'ve never had one in the past two years.)  

I use the Petports too (here\'s the link: http://www.fortune3.com/Shop@petports/ ) and like them a lot. I buy them by the case, cheaper that way. The night before I ship I put the bird(s) I\'m shipping in a cage in the garage (so I don\'t have to catch it in the early ayem in my clean clothes), assemble the box, put shavings in the bottom, and attach a large label to the front with the recipient\'s address and phone number.

The next morning I cut an apple in half, pop it into the box, pop the bird(s) in, seal them up, and off we go. I try to arrive at the airport by about 8:30 or so, in time to make the morning flights. I sent two boxes of Dutch Bantams out just this morning in fact, with bantams I find I can get a trio of started birds in the standard sized box, and two boxes can be taped together to ship as one unit.

Ron can attest that they make the trip fine, (I\'ve sent him two shipments of birds in the last year.)

I think that as long as you call ahead and ship out of an airport, you should be fine.

[John]

9.3.4 Adult Fowl

Adult turkeys, guinea fowl, doves, pigeons, pheasants, partridges, and quail, as well as ducks, geese, and swans sent by Express Mail in biologically secure containers approved by the manager of Mailing Standards (see 608.8.0 for address) are mailable if the number of birds per parcel follows the container manufacturer limits, and if each bird weighs more than 6 ounces.

There are some postal workers that don\'t understand the postal regulations for shipping poultry/fowl.  With the bird flu scare some are telling people that all fowl shipped must be in biologically secure containers .  Just because they think it and say it doesn\'t make it true.  I have a copy of an email that was sent to many Post Office managers here in Michigan, telling them:

Please address the matter of birds being sent through the mail in OTHER THAN the biologically secure containers as specified in Postal Bulletin # 21973 dated 6/4/1998.

I checked the regulations and even talked to Joel Rosen (the official postal employee to deal with all issues dealing with LIVE shipments).
Adult chickens and all Day-Old poultry do not have to be in biologically secure containers ...you know the boxes that have a cloth mesh over the vent holes.  That is only required for \"Adult turkeys, guinea fowl, doves, pigeons, pheasants, partridges, and quail, as well as ducks, geese, and swans\" for now!
If the media keeps putting the fear of the flu into the general public, public opinion may effect many changes and even more restrictions on us.