AMES LAKE, Wash. -- An Ames Lake couple wants to know how and why 24 baby chicks died in the mail.
William Cutler and his wife planned to breed their flock of Dutch Bantam chicks with the two dozen they ordered from Backyard Chickens in Texas.
Shipping chicks is common across the U.S. Hundreds of thousands are mailed every week. They can survive three to four days after birth with the yolk attached.
But the Cutlers got a call their chicks did not.
"And said they're all dead," Cutler explained.
That call came from the post office Monday, he says, four days after the delivery receipt says the chicks showed up at a Seattle distribution center.
Each day after the notice the chicks made it to Seattle on Friday, Cutler went to the Redmond post office, asking about them. Employees had no idea where they were, he says. It wasn't until Monday that his wife got the call they all died.
The postal service, he claims, never told them what happened.
"We were in the dark. We don't know what condition they were in when they reached Seattle," Cutler said. "I feel extremely upset."
KING 5 contacted USPS. They claim the chicks showed up dead and it's not their fault. They blame a weather delay. A spokesperson says someone tried to contact the Cutlers earlier, but no one answered. Cutler denies ever receiving any call prior to Monday.
Cutler worries about the worst.
"Starving to death is extremely disturbing," he said.
The Texas hatchery has offered to ship another set of chicks for free. The original set cost $150. But Cutler and his wife see the chicks almost like their own children.
Now, they have nightmares about their kids traveling in the mail.
"I don't know what to do at this point," Cutler said. "I don't trust USPS with these animals' well-being."
