The Wilton Conservation Commission writes this letter with gratitude to the people who helped with the town’s recent town-wide cleanup day.
Contributed photoTo the Editors:
A friend and I started a vlog for the Cannon Grange in Wilton called “Chicken Tenders,” on the care and joys of backyard chickens.
I felt this couldn’t wait for a “Chicken Tenders” vlogcast, and thought this should be distributed to the wider community. Don’t buy any chicks that will have to be delivered through the mail!
Because of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s dismantling of the U.S. Postal Service, the slowdown in delivery is disastrously affecting hatcheries. A CBS news feed reported that at least 4,800 chicks shipped to Maine farmers through the U.S. Postal Service have arrived dead in recent weeks since rapid cuts hit the federal mail carrier’s operations.
The postal service is the only entity that ships live chicks and other small animals and has done so since 1918, according to the service’s website. A newly hatched chick has three days of food and liquid within its body to keep it alive. Since 1918, this was enough time for the USPS to get the chicks from hatchery to farm or home, but no longer.
Until a new administration, or perhaps for the next four years or longer, we may have to buy live chicks only at Agway, a nursery, or feed stores. “Chicken Tenders” will keep you informed, but for now, don’t buy chicks through the mail!
Bil Mikulewicz