Live Baby Chicks Used as Packing Peanuts
PETA
BACKGROUND | SOURCE PETA
Ideal Poultry Breeding Farms, a company that sells and ships live birds, uses live baby chicks as packing material! According to complainants and Ideal Poultry’s own website, male chicks are included as filler in live shipments so that the birds who were ordered can be kept warm during transit. Sadly, many of these filler chicks reportedly arrive dead or die within hours of arrival. One caller who adopted several ailing filler chicks from a neighbor contacted PETA with a heartbreaking story: She tended, fed, and watered her chicks with a dropper throughout their first night, but she could only watch as each one slowly died.
We reached out to Janet Crouch, the owner of Ideal Poultry, but our concerns were brushed off with the response that male chicks are used for warmth and to take up extra space in the box. … Adding males for warmth is an acceptable practice with backyard poultry hatcheries.”
Your voice is needed! Please contact Crouch and let her know that live animals are not disposable and that using them as shipping material is inhumane! Please urge her to stop shipping live animals or, at the very least, to use heating packs in place of live chicks.
WHOM TO CONTACT
Janet Crouch
Ideal Poultry Breeding Farms, Inc.
800-243-3257, ext. 5562
254-697-2393 (fax)
janet.crouch@idealpoultry.com
You can also email help@idealpoultry.com or sales@idealpoultry.com
If emails get returned, send a message via PETA’s electronic mail system HERE
Click HERE for free faxing from your computer. No fax machine, credit card, or registering required.
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Ms. Crouch,
I am shocked to learn Ideal Poultry Breeding Farms ships live baby chicks as packing material and I am respectfully requesting you discontinue this business; one, they may not survive shipping and two, the recipient may abuse, neglect, or even kill the baby chicks, especially those people inexperienced in the care of baby chicks.
Please allow me to elaborate. Animals are sentient beings, capable of thought and emotion, including love and suffering. I ask you to acknowledge this important condition that both humans and non-humans share. Animals are undeserving of this cruel legacy whereby they are exploited and suffered for human greed and egotistical motive, which only fosters the dangerous premise of acceptable suffering against all animals, human and non-human.
Please consider my request, immediately cease causing harm to these inquisitive and intelligent animals by discontinuing your participation in the breeding and shipping business. Many other companies have already made the decision to stop the transportation of animals for such unethical practices, and I hope you, too, make the similar decision. Animals have rights to live free from pain and suffering regardless of objections to acknowledge such; I therefore hope this message finds you willing to examine and subsequently change your potential complicity in their abuse and potential death.
Thank you for taking the time to read this importance request.
NAME
Filler chicks?
Beyond cruel
And sick 
Karen Lyons Kalmenson
I find this absolutely disgusting that anyone can be so heartless to treat live creatures especially baby chicks this way who could be crushed tghey are living creatures not disposable packaging,I thought that some men were cruel but by God this woman has no love or compassion only coldness in her heart for these little creatures,yes I know that there are some women who are hard as nails worse than some men,but them sort of women act like men,but surely some must care about these creatures and what they suffer…
Filler chicks?
Beyond cruel
And sick
Done it sweetie and will make event out of this, for this is absolutely unacceptable!
Thanks, hon!
Reblogged this on margo54 and commented:
Cruelty to living creatures really mystifies me and disgusts me how anyone can hurt any creature for greed or enjoyment,they must be mentally brain dead…
Thank you, Margo!
You are very welcome Stacey
http://www.facebook.com/janetleecrouch
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.172423448583.122957.157544448583&type=3
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.157658198583.117489.157544448583&type=3
Thank you for these links! People are already commenting on dead animals.
Done ~ Sharing
Thank you!
My God, is there anything people won’t do to an animal? What happens with these male chicks when they aren’t used for filler? (Can’t believe I just typed that…) Are they ground up or tossed out in plastic bags like so many others? It seems male chicks don’t stand a chance no matter what…
Male chicks are not “productive” to the industry. If not for filler, more than likely just disposed. It’s sickening.
The alternative for male chicks is to be ground up alive. Both make me sick.
I think the real problem here is that these kind of companies who supply chicks typically kill the males in the same manner as the egg industry. Sometimes people will order a “straight run” — males and females, but usually they just want the pullets (females). It’s not clear from the article how the “filler” chicks are shipped (in the mail) differently from the others, or why they would be sick.
I think this is an alarmist article, and very ignorant. I looked up that company — they have been in business since 1937!!! If they were shipping sick chicks, with a high death rate, they wouldn’t have survived 5 years. let alone SEVENTY FIVE years. “Extra” chicks add warmth and security to the entire batch — it’s BETTER for the chicks, not a bad thing!
These chicks aren’t “filler material” — they’re either extra’s from overly successful hatching (which also points to high quality and health standards), or are often a sample of a rare breed — which gives the customers a taste of a Heirloom rare breed that needs to be preserved — and then people have the chance to see them live, and how beautiful the rare breeds are. Without breeders like this, SO many of the heritage heirloom breeds would become extinct…
Thanks for pointing this out, Rebecca. The chicks are shipped in the exact same way that the chicks which were purchased are shipped. That’s the whole point,to keep all of the chicks warm and increase their chances of survival!
I second that. I have recieved beautiful rare birds from ideal when i ordered less than 25. They are shipped in the same manner and all the chicks huddle together for warmth.
On another note, all you complaining about the poor welfare of the male chicks are the same people who would call to complain that your neighbor has a rooster crowing at 5 am in the morning. It is because of complainers like you that most people cannot keep a rooster at their house, thus creating this over-abundance of male birds. So, in essence, you either want to complain one way or another, or are abdicating that we play “God” and fix genes so that onlly females are born, which all of you would object too, as well.
So, I’m suggesting perhaps most of you should actually understand the real “scoop” on a story, and not get all bent out of shape when you know so little, and complain so much….
Homo sapiens is FRUGIVORE animal species- has NOT enzymes for using meat/milk/eggs/bread like own food.
Natural food of humans are raw fresh fruits with seeds and raw fresh vegetables, everyting else are Frauds of meat/milk/eggs/bread “industries“ owners for making them better profit, but very HARM to humans and very harm to animals and very harm to whole Planet.Also it is `good job“ for pharmacological/medical “industries “ owners if there are as many ill humans as is possible.
Zoonotic diseases associated with baby chicks include salmonella, campylobacterosis, C. diff (from farm factory practices of frequent use of antibiotics), avian tuberculosis, erysipelas, ornithosis, and cryptosporidiosis. Psittacosis. Bird flu. I’m sure people are getting poisoned with this “live packing”.
That company has been in business for SEVENTY FIVE YEARS — if they were selling sick chicks, they wouldn’t have survived 5 years, let alone 75! Nor would the Ag Commission ALLOW sick fowl to be shipped across state borders.
Extra chicks simply allows for surplus to go to good homes, and insures the safety of the ordered chicks by their extra warmth and insulation. Plus, it gives samples of other breeds to people who obviously WANT chickens. Without reputable companies like this, many (most) heirloom breeds would be extinct. And frankly, THAT is a sad, scary thought…. To ONLY be limited to commercial lines…. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Sounds like to me this a violation of health codes – and isn’t shipping live animals illegal in the postal service?
Again, you know very little of what you speak. The US Postal Service has been shipping live animals since it’s inception. To this day, they still ship reptiles and poultry.
Report her to the Health Department and US Postal service if she’s shipping live chicks. Chicks can spread diseases they are rather nasty creatures to be truthful and spread fecals material all over the place.
These people should be investigated, if they can commit such a hideaous act with inocent babies they probably abuse other animals and people.
I WONT WRITE WHAT I WANT TO BECAUSE I DONT WANT TO BE BLOCKED. TO PUT IT MILDLY .EVIL , THESE ROBOTS WHO DO THIS NEED EXTERMINATING !
Absolutely disgusting. Words cannot describe how I feel about people who are capable of this.
My own letter to Janet:
Dear Janet,
The use of live chicks as packing material is simply unacceptable, as is your cavalier attempt to simply brush off people like me that are expressing concern and outrage about this practice. These are sentient beings. Birds are among the most intelligent of animals and the very idea that you would subject them to torture and death as a means of providing additional warmth for the shipment of other living creatures suggests that you have virtually zero regard for animals.
This behavior is absolutely intolerable, inhumane, and wrongheaded. If it is, as you claim, a standard practice in your industry that is not merely not an excuse but a reason for a deep investigation into the other abuses your industry — and your company in particular — perpetrates upon living things.
Here’s what you should expect:
a real investigation into what your company does and how it treats all animals
exposure of this revolting practice on an absolutely massive scale
coverage in both animal related and mainstream media
a loss of revenue as disgusted people take their business to companies that treat animals with the respect they deserve
thousands of outraged people like me writing to you to express their disgust
animal authorities writing about this in high-traffic publications
an onslaught of negative press
massive social media awareness of what you’re doing.
My suggestion: change your policy immediately. Apologize profusely. Make a sizable donation to organizations that protect and care for animals. Improve your treatment of and respect for animals across the board and make all your facilities available for spot checks by representatives of animal rights organizations.
Sincerely,
Oliver Starr
Exceptional letter, thank you so much!
You might want to note that world renowned animal behavior expert, Marc Bekoff also wrote about this after I emailed him. His post is here: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201204/baby-chicks-used-packing-filler
Is it OK if I send her an email and call her “Crotch” instead?? What a discusting human being!!!
Reblogged this on Wisconsin Wildlife Ethic-Vote Our Wildlife and commented:
This is not a wildlife story, but it illustrates the manner in which all living beings are subject to being treated by our culture. Absolutely horrifying what is done to these little guys. Even worse is what egg producers do to male chicks. They throw them alive into grinders because they are of no use to them. I am not over exaggerating, this is indeed what they do.
So…. you would rather have extra chicks destroyed than adding FREE CHICKS to an order? Chicks have been shipped live for GENERATIONS with excellent success. Adding a few extra chicks only adds to the success and comfort of the chicks, and gives the customer MORE value. And they are never shipped sick — no farm would stay in business if that were the case (nor would the Agricultural Commission ALLOW diseased poultry to be shipped!). I am sorry for the heartache for the customer — but it sounds like they were not ready for the responsibility of caring for young chicks. Don’t blame the company without their side of the story.
First of all, i’ve ordered chicks in the mail before. It is not illegal to ship live animals provided it is done in the correct manner. What this article fails to mention in it’s biased way, is that “filler chicks” is not an accurate word. Free chicks is. I’ve had free chicks included in my order if my order is fairly small so that all the chicks will be warmer, including itself. These free chicks are treated no differently than the rest of the chicks, and in almost all my previous experience are not necessarily even male. Extra chicks are provided to insure that you get all the chicks you ordered in case one of them is unhealthy in some way since they are shipped very quickly after birth. Also..these chicks are never sick, and are not different than the rest of the chicks in any way…I could be wrong and this company could be doing something that is wrong, but I don’t think this article accurately depicts anything wrong or illegal, but more seems to attack a company because some person got chicks that were most likely not taken care of properly on arrival, or shipped properly by the postal service. Chicks are also overnighted, so that they spend less time in a moving box, and are shipped with a heating pad to also help keep them warm for the journey. I’ve never had a “filler chick” be sick, or die, or anything of that sort. I think everybody needs to do some more research before they put a company out of business for just trying to sell chickens. If they are guilty of mistreating chicks, that’s a different issue obviously, but from this article I have no reason to believe that they are doing anything wrong, just that their words are being twisted that way. Also, when you incubate chicks and they hatch in your own incubator, you are supposed to leave them in the incubator for 24 hours to insure that all the other chicks that are going to hatch hatch before you remove them. So they don’t get fed on the first day either way and can comfortably survive that day, and two more without needing to eat, as they are still digesting nutrients from the yolk.
I actually have ordered day old chicks from ideal poultry to start our backyard flock. As we wanted only a small number of chicks we were given the option of having extra chicks included to help ensure the survival of all. Baby chicks need to stay warm, and 25 chicks is the minimum that the company felt comfortable shipping. Since we only wanted ten we could have chosen that they ship only that amount, but the Ideal Poultry representative did not recommend it as the chicks would probably die. We chose to take the extra chicks, and when they arrived all 25 chicks were snuggled in their box, warm and healthy. We raised all the chicks until 3 months of age and found homes for all of the males except one which we kept for our own flock. The people at Ideal poultry never showed anything but concern for the health and survival of their animals, and we never had any problems with any of our chicks. I urge everyone to put in the effort to fully understand issues before you make judgements on others actions. Ideal poultry, I am sure has it’s faults, but making sure that their chicks arrive happy and healthy by sending extra male chicks seems a whole lot better then throwing them in the garbage! There are many issues that need to be addressed in our food and animal raising industries, but this doesn’t seem to be one of them.
It’s really not so bad as it sounds — chicks have been shipped live for GENERATIONS via mail — and the breeders OFTEN have surplus from good hatchings — so rather than have them go unclaimed, they insert a few extras into the batch to keep the whole lot warm. They also often include one or two of the rarer varieties, so that people can see first-hand how absolutely gorgeous the rare species are — and then the customer MAY want to purchase more of the rare ones — which helps keep those heritage breeds alive!!
This is only the tip of the iceberg. If you saw “Dirty Jobs” on TV you saw how chicks are sexed. Since their privates are inside, the newly hatched chicks are squeezed to make those parts visible out the back end. The girls are then place on a conveyer belt. The boys go into the trash can, alive. I unwittingly purchased three pullet chicks from Ideal Poultry by purchasing them from my local feed store. One turned out to be a cockerel and not even the breed I purchased. He survived, and although he has a slight limp, he is healthy and a very sweet roo. He guards his hens well, is respectful of the dogs and he is gorgeous. I have no idea what breed he is, but I’m glad he survived. We, who purchased chicks for laying hens pay a premium for pullet/girl chicks so that we don’t have to feed and care for roosters. They aren’t needed for egg production and having more than one can lead to aggressive behavior, though not always. While chickens are legal in many cities, many don’t allow roosters, or may limit ownership to just one rooster. As long as we consider roosters of no value, hatcheries will treat them as such. The hatcheries always add extra chicks to allow for in transit damage. They do care that their chicks arrive alive because it affects their rating, not because they care about the little babies. No one wants to pay for dead chicks. We really shouldn’t be shipping any chicks at all. If we start buying from local breeders, picking them up ourselves, we would eliminate the problems. We slam the hatcheries, but the guilt lies in ourselves. Until we are found without fault, should we throw stones at others?
This is SHOCKING, Evil and Cruel !!
Yall get a fucking life!
I bought my husband 6 rock girls for xmas last yr, got 17 roosters as “packing material” was shocked and overwhelmed as what to do with these mystery guys. We decided to let them grow to adults then had them “processed” by this guy in the country. We were over whelmed by 37 chickens and mature roosters are a pain.Ideal told us maybe ONE male to help keep our girls warm.will get our chicks from another source or hatch more ourselves.
I forgot to mention, many of the 24 had broken toes and limped.
I seriously doubt Ideal told you 1 male. It clearly states on most of their web pages that you should order the minimum quantity, in order to keep your birds warm. And I also seriously doubt Ideal sent all their cripples your way…
I received Chicks from Ideal Breeding Farm yesterday via the U.S. Postal Service. Almost 700 miles from their location. I had ordered 10, as quantity is based on dollar amount of order. Upon inspection, my 10 pullets ordered were well, and as of today seem perfectly fine. Ideal had added 11 additional male chicks, apparently white leghorns for warmth. As of today, within 24 hours, I have lost 3 of them. I spoke with a local major hatchery today, not Ideal, and had told them of the high amount of added chicks received. They said that most chicks added are generally late hatches, and some are lethargic and not expected to make it. Yet, as they are God’s little creations, I’m out cost and expense of rearing these chicks as well as any other. Eventually, I’ll have to sell them, or give them away, as this isn’t the breed I raise.