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September 21, 2001

By Mike Barnett
Editor

The check may not be in the mail much longer for specialty poultry breeders like Ideal Poultry Breeding Farm, Inc. of Cameron, because airlines' interpretation of U.S. Postal rules could lead to no more USPS Priority Mail delivery of chicks.

Specialty poultry breeders like Ideal depend upon the Postal Service and airlines to deliver chicks, ducks, geese, guineas and turkeys to customers across the country. The airlines play an important part because the newly hatched fowl can only do without food and water for 72 hours.

USPS is required by law to accept and deliver day-old poultry. However, recent interpretation of contracts for shipping chicks that say airlines are expected to carry live animals as part of the mail (if they carry live animals as cargo) is causing the problem.

"If airlines carry live animals as cargo...and they carry U.S. mail...then they're expected to carry live animals as U.S. mail. The airlines are using the word expected as a loophole so they don't have to ship live animals," says Janet Crouch, one of three vice presidents (all siblings) in the Ideal operation.

Two shippers who have postal contracts have already used that loophole to stop delivering baby chicks. Federal Express, who recently contracted with USPS to replace Eagle flights, does not carry live animals. Northwest Airlines recently notified the Post Office they also will no longer carry live animals.

Industry speculation on some airlines' refusal to ship chicks centers on two points.

One is economic. A box of day-old chicks shipped USPS Priority Mail would cost the shipper about $5.25. Those same chicks shipped by air freight would cost $35.

Perhaps more important than the higher shipping fees, according to Crouch, is that Priority Mail delivery insure the chicks are delivered to the Post Office nearest the customer or directly to the customer's home. Shipped air freight, customers would have to drive to the nearest major airport to pick up their birds. The added cost and the inconvenience, Crouch says, could kill the specialty poultry business.

The other point of speculation is pressure from animal rights groups on the airlines. For example, one major animal rights group is encouraging its members to write airlines in opposition to shipping day-old chicks.

Animal rights groups claims of mistreatment and big death losses of young fowl shipped by airlines is unwarranted, Crouch says, noting Ideal has less than .1 percent death loss of fowl shipped.

Although breeders in other states have already been affected, Crouch said Ideal hasn't experienced shipping problems because of their location.

"We have Continental Airlines out of Houston. Delta and American are out of Fort Worth. So we're about three hours from both," she says.

"With these carriers we're in a good location (all currently ship live chicks)."

Crouch's fear is these carriers will follow the lead of others and quit shipping live chicks. If that happened, Ideal could lose up to half their business. And half of 3 million chicks a year would be a loss Ideal would be hard put to sustain.

Crouch had a taste of that scenario when she was unable to ship 12,000 chicks hatched the day of the terrorist attack on New York and Washington, when all airlines were grounded. Luckily, she says, customers in Texas (where the chicks could be ground-shipped) took the chicks.

"We're in good shape," she says. "It just shows the potential of what could happen."

Crouch is hopeful legislation expected to be introduced soon in the U.S. Senate will solve the problem. The legislation by Sen. Chuck Grass-ley of Iowa would authorize the Post-al Service to require an air carrier to accept shipments of day-old poultry and other live animals that are also allowed by the carrier's cargo service.

The legislation would also permit the Postal Service to assess a reasonable surcharge on shipments of live poultry to compensate carriers for necessary additional expenses.

"We think it will pass," Crouch says. "It's just an issue of getting our voices heard and letting senators in other states know this is an important bill."