How to get Chicks Through Auction without Chilling?

So I am taking 60 chicks to Auction tomorrow. For fun. They will be 15 days old, but still in my basement, under high heat lamp.

The weather is nasty wet and cold. Chicks need to be 3 hours early for auction. How to package them so they sell well, but don't get chilled?
They will be in the back of the auction mart. Not sure how warm, but won't be freezing I'm sure.

Ive never taken chicks to an auction, partly for those very reasons, hard to ensure they are kept warm until they are sold.
Are they standards or bantams?
YOu don't say how you are grouping them but I think small Rubbermaid type totes with lids(dollar store probably) might work well, lots of shavings in the bottom and then take the lid and cut out the middle of the top saving the frame and replacing the middle of the top with 1/2 inch square wire cutout (poke holes thru lid and fasten in place with zip ties)
Easy to look into but protects chicks from drafts.
Good luck.

They are standards. I will do your idea , and I'll report back tomorrow with a great sales story. Hoping. : : : :

I have not done it but I have seen it posted on here that some people put in Heat packs like the hand warmers foot warmers that you get from Peavey mart
I know people have used them when shipping chicks maybe they will see your post and say what they do
I Like Miry's Idea and the heat pscks might work in them

I have those at home. I'll try them for sure.

If it is the Innisfail auction they will be outside in the weather and if you are toward the end of the auction it will be hours before your birds are auctioned.


Line the box with insulative material.

Fill many many water bottles with almost boiling water.

Wrap bottles in dry paper towel.

Line the bottom of the box with paper wrapped bottles.

Cover with shavings.

Put the chicks on top.


Good luck. I would not sell chicks at an auction. I am surpised they accept them unless they have a brooder room for them.

put a heat pack on both ends, with straw for them to snuggle in, dont make the viewing hole to big...

Are you going to the Beaverlodge sale? If so we should try to meet up! Ill pm you my phone number you can text me!!

FYI the POPWA sale will have a chick mobile it is a heated inclosed wagon with viewing windows on both sides. It was used at two sales last year and worked very well.

Schipperkesue wrote:If it is the Innisfail auction they will be outside in the weather and if you are toward the end of the auction it will be hours before your birds are auctioned.


Line the box with insulative material.

Fill many many water bottles with almost boiling water.

Wrap bottles in dry paper towel.

Line the bottom of the box with paper wrapped bottles.

Cover with shavings.

Put the chicks on top.



Good luck. I would not sell chicks at an auction. I am surpised they accept them unless they have a brooder room for them.

I am positive they are kept indoors, as even the mini I sold at this auction last year was kept inside ( arena type set-up with stalls)
I would not have thought this was a good idea if I thought they would be outside.

I just got off the phone with Auctioneer, and the small stuff will sit inside the main building, right in the ring until and during sale. They will all e cleared and then the bigger stuff will start.
Whew!
This is what I thought; but still want to take precaution as they have been babied until today.

Thanks everyone for all the help!

If its just for your own fun, just don't do it.. Time your auktions to have chicks that are off heat already, you will get more money for them. Sorry, but i think it's cruel and dumb to put a bunch of chicks in the hands off an auktion, when they still need heat..they should refuse them..

Tell us how you Really feel Piet.

They are not tiny and delicate anymore. 15 days old, they are sparkling, flighty, happy. Room temperature will be more than adequate.
If I had of known I would walk away from this thread feeling insulted i wouldn't have bothered.

The title reads " how to do it?". Not " should it be done".

Thanks for nothing.

Usually I stand on the similar line of piet, however I must say, it is my understanding that chicks are shipped year round throughout the country and North America with decent arrival rates from reputable dealers and hatcheries. They do this somehow, safely and securely. An auction is no different. Katsuki asked how it was to be done, ie how she could protect her chicks DESPITE THEM being touted as being indoors, remaining in the heated section; she is trying to be responsible about her decision, unlike the many many boxed animals (or dogs wrapped in a fence panel with a note that says "don't touch! ear ticks!") I have seen at auctions.

The right to swing your fist ends where the other man's nose begins, and I think you hit her square in the jaw. Opinions are one thing, attacks are another. It's unfortunate.

Katsuki, in my limited experience (I met up with a friend at an auction to pick up chicks she incubated for me, the key is close and tight if you know they'll be outside, inside I would say there's less discrepancy. Meacham auction was -10 the day I went last year, I believe, and I had 6 chicks with a heat pack, a small warm water bottle and straw in a small box that allowed for enough movement to stand up and wiggle, but kept them piled in on one another, breathing holes provided. They just buckled down like they were under a mother hen and were fine.

Thank you for trying to be a responsible packager of animals at your nearest auction. I, for one, appreciate it.

You are doing it just for fun as you said, so why take the risk?? How much fun is it when they get chilled, stressed and die? Even for older birds that are fully off heat, auktions are hard on them. Do as you please i really do not care, just as you don't care. I am free to say as I please and you post on here, you can expect any sort of answer. And i did answer your question on how to do it...I would do it not. Its another thing when shipping in warm cars where you know timely parameters are met and day olds can go long without food or water. Have fun at the auktion, i hope they pay for your fuel cost.

Piet wrote:You are doing it just for fun as you said, so why take the risk?? How much fun is it when they get chilled, stressed and die? Even for older birds that are fully off heat, auktions are hard on them. Do as you please i really do not care, just as you don't care. I am free to say as I please and you post on here, you can expect any sort of answer. And i did answer your question on how to do it...I would do it not. Its another thing when shipping in warm cars where you know timely parameters are met and day olds can go long without food or water. Have fun at the auktion, i hope they pay for your fuel cost.

Calling someone names goes beyond stating your opinion. I take hens to the auction every year, I get its stressful, and I do it 'just for fun,' because I get to see how people value them and they help pay for my purchases. You don't have to approve. You can say you don't. However if you want to brow-bash someone and call them names, do so privately so they can choose to ignore you and don't have to be publically humilated or upset because YOU disagree.

Sweetned, i do not recall any name calling? You are getting me wrong, i am straight forward to the point and if someone has hurt feelings, they can fill out a hurt feelings report and send it to 1800-waa-waa. I am getting tired of everyone just "pussyfooting" around these subjects and just giving the: oh great, beautiful, good job when really it is not. I gave sound advice: time your hatches to auktions. You will get more money when they are off heat and fully feathered. Mabe a thought for next year? Now just move forward.

Just for future reference, this is the "chick-mobile" that is used at the POAA sales. It is fully heated, so small chicks can spend the day warm and safe. As a seller or buyer its nice to know the chicks are not going to be chilled and stressed waiting for their turn to be sold. I bought some 2 week olds through the POPAA auction last spring and they were perfectly happy and content after spending the day in the brooder-on-wheels.

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The auction is not any more stressful for chicks than any other form of owner transferance. I put mine in a cardboard box with shavings and air holes cut in near the top of the box, then fold the flaps to close it. The chicks keep each other warm. I don't use a large box, just one that's big enough. Its not like they are in the wind or anything. I have also bought lots of chicks at the auction, packaged this same way. They do not seem to have been unduly harmed.

Taking older chicks that are off heat to the auction doesn't make sense to me. You feed them for weeks longer and they don't sell for any more money, sometimes less! People like to buy cute little fuzz butts. They don't seem to understand the value of started birds. Also, older chicks are often put into wire cages in a draftier area of the auction.

I prefer not to sell at the auction, but sometimes they don't all sell quickly enough, and you are running out of space, so you need to have them go. I am hatching alot of chicks to get the nicest ones I want to keep, and then selling the rest. There is a small window each spring when people want to buy chicks, so I had better hatch as many as possible during that time. The auction serves a useful purpose.

Believe it or not but way up north where I live, the small animal auctions ( Odd n Unusual Auction) was an extinct idea for 10 years apparently.

They just started a comeback; last year was the first one in a Decade that was less than 2 hour drive from Grande Prairie.

My DH and I love the farm auctions but these get boring for the kids. But the Odd n Unusual Auction is really fun for everyone, as you pointed out Higgins.

I don't plan on a purchase, but this was a project that my 3 kids and I decided to undertake as a team ( they see it as a business partnership).

I don't see the harm really; it is happening whether I attend or not. I am famous for sticking with my standards but in this I guess I have none at present.

At the expense of these babies being turned over to complete strangers my kids get to experience the satisfaction any cattle rancher, sheep keeper feels at sale day. I wonder what most people are teaching their kids these days?

And thinking on it, the hatcheries don't do background checks before sending out chicks, and I am a spare at Canada Post, and I'm telling you that shipping eggs/chicks in winter is risky. It only takes one angry employee who drives the truck or unloads...
When I think of all the injustices in the world these days surely to god there is something more pressing to waste this much time dwelling on?

As far as disease; I am very aware of the facts and in truth I haven't witnessed a truly healthy chicken yet up here. It seems every farm I have gone to has sneezing birds. Even big professional set-ups where buildings cost 10s of thousands to put up and everything is hardware cloth etc etc. still sneezing birds.

I haven't decided how to approach this aspect of poultry keeping. It is a vicious circle I understand.
But keeping my birds housed up inside or in small confined pens for fear of intruding sparrows seems awful. There is no enjoyment in a Picasso Painting that is hung in the closet of the spare bedroom in the basement. Does that make sense?

Should I even have poultry if I'm not willing to lock them up and not allow anyone to view them or enjoy their antics in the grassy yard?

To me that would be the same as having a wonderful riding horse; but being so fearful of a lifelong illness that I keep him in the barn. Literally. No one but me and mine can go on and see him, and he can't come out. Maybe I'd make him a padded stall outside, but It will be covered for his sanitary safety and in turn he never experiences true sunshine. But he's happy because he'll never get COPD. Right? No, he'll won't even know what he's missing out on. Big green pastures, rolling in the dirt; trail rides and new scenes.

These???
http://www.princessauto.com/pal/product/8237190/
http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Hardware/Automotive/Winter-Products/Heaters/In-car/12-Volt-150-Watt-Auto-Ceramic-Heater-Fan/_/N-ntjkw/R-I8678770

Well in a pinch BCBoy, and I can think of other things I would want that for too.. But if of was that cold I wouldn't be doing this. They are in my warm car, going to a room temp auction ring, inside main building. The concession is fifty feet away. Warm in there; don't know why all the fuss.
Just wanting best packaging methods but apparently this is a big controversial topic.

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I remember your robin post, the time to write, the time to take pictures of babies in progress of growth, to the end result of the fly away. That was cool. And I also enjoyed this morning your view from the shoes as you were looking at your pooch with the birds in the background, love the view from the shoes. Most interesting topic, everyone's different take on different aspects of a topic. Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.