It all started with panic on Wednesday evening when I got a confirmation email that our brand new baby chicks were on their way… to the wrong address!!
The hatchery was sending them to my billing address, which was 70 miles away.
I had heard of this happening to someone else, so I TRIPLE checked that they had my address correct on the invoice they sent when I placed the order weeks ago. Every previous correspondence I had gotten from the hatchery had the correct shipping address on it, and now all of a sudden they got it wrong.
I was so mad.
Mad that they were careless with the lives of 32 baby chicks.
What would happen if we couldn’t pick them up?!
No, it’s not like we had to drive cross-counry. And normally the extra two-plus hours wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but we had a full day of other obligations and a horrible snow storm knocking on our door.
We did every single thing we could to make sure that our new chicks would have the best possible chance at a great start to life. We had their arrival perfectly orchestrated, set-up a Hilton-esque brooder, and even spent weeks developing our own chick starter feed recipe.
We put so much thought, heart and energy into planning for them, and planning our week around them, only to be foiled by what I have to assume was a careless employee at the hatchery.
Yes, I may be a tad over-dramatic.
For which I will blame “first time chick-mom syndrome.”
In the end it worked out- it always seems to, doesn’t it?
We made the longer trip to pick up the chicks, thankfully were able to rearrange the rest of our day around it, and literally pulled the car into the garage just as the sky started to pour a deathly ice-rain down on us.
There I go being dramatic again…
All of our chicks: 20 Red Rangers, 6 Americaunas and 6 Buff Orpingtons arrived alive and well. They are now enjoying life in their refrigerator box Chick-Palace; contently peeping, eating like pigs, sleeping in the most awkward positions, and bouncing off the walls. They are absolutely hilarious!
Lesons Learned:
If you have a separate credit card billing and shipping address and you are ordering baby chicks, you probably just… shouldn’t pay that way. I have a feeling that even if I would have made them confirm my shipping address over the phone at any point, it wouldn’t have mattered because both addresses would be on my order and would be liable to be confused on shipping day anyways. Pay over the phone. Send a check. Do whatever you need to so there aren’t two addresses associated with your name. Don’t give them opportunity to make a human error!
As John Steinbeck wrote: “the best laid plans of mice and men, often go awry.” I don’t think there is anywhere this is more true than on the farm or homestead! And I have a feeling this is a lesson I am going to learn over and over again.
This post featured on: Maple Hill Hop 25, Homestead Barn Hop 154, Tuesdays with a Twist #53, Backyard Farming Connection #75, Clever Chicks Blog Hop #81, Homestead Barn Hop #155, Clever Chicks Blog Hop #82, Natural Living Monday #70,
At least you figured it out ahead of time and were able to make plans to pick them up!
I am definitely thankful for that! :)
Oh, so glad it worked out. Let’s hope the drama is over! Thanks for sharing on The Maple Hill Hop!