A lot of chicks die in the mail.
Every spring, the local PO has boxes of chirping chicks. One day I saw a live delivery box, but instead of happy chirps, the box was silent.
I asked the clerk about that, and she just drew her finger across her throat.
I work for USPS. I’ve never delivered chick’s. All chick’s shipped through the post office are picked up by the buyer. We’ve had hundreds. I think this was a contract driver truck. Why it was left at the facility is unknown. But I’ve never left chickens, ducks, or turkey in any mailbox.
Shipping options have really improved over the past due to the better hatcheries including a green hydrating gel with the chicks in the event shipping takes longer than expected -for the first 3 days after hatching chicks naturally get their nutrition and moisture from the remaining yolk in the abdomen- but after that they need water that the gel provides. It is tinted green because chicks are very attracted to that color. That is well a d good, if the postal service standards had remained the same.
Unfortunately, while the packing has improved from the shipper, the service from the USPS keeps getting worse, taking longer to deliver than before, effectively cancelling the improvements.