Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Thousands of Chicks Dead on Arrival After Post Office Cuts
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
August 20, 2020

Share

PORTLAND, Maine — At least 4,800 chicks shipped to Maine farmers through the U.S. Postal Service have arrived dead in recent weeks after rapid cuts hit the federal mail carrier’s operations, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said.

Thousands of birds that moved through the Postal Service’s processing center in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, were also dead, impacting several farms in Maine and New Hampshire, Henderson said.

Pingree, a Maine Democrat, is raising the issue of the dead chicks and the losses farms are facing in a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and U.S. Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sonny Perdue, The Portland Press Herald reported.

Pauline Henderson, who owns Pine Tree Poultry in New Sharon, Maine, told the newspaper she was shocked last week when all of the 800 chicks sent to her from a hatchery in Pennsylvania were dead.

“Usually they arrive every three weeks like clockwork,” she said. “And out of 100 birds you may have one or two that die in shipping.”

Thousands of birds that moved through the Postal Service’s processing center in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, were also dead, impacting several farms in Maine and New Hampshire, Henderson said.

Steve Doherty, a spokesman for the USPS, said the agency “can’t locate a claim being filed for this loss.” Some animals, including live chicks, can be mailed safely under proper conditions.

“It’s one more of the consequences of this disorganization, this sort of chaos they’ve created at the post office and nobody thought through when they were thinking of slowing down the mail,” Pingree said, adding that her office has received dozens of complaints from farmers and others trying to raise a small flock of chickens in the backyard.

Pingree said she isn’t sure if Perdue is aware of how the changes in the Postal Service are impacting smaller poultry farmers in the U.S.

The Postal Service Is the Only Entity That Ships Live Chicks and Other Small Animals

“This is a system that’s always worked before and it’s worked very well until these changes started being made,” Pingree said.

DeJoy, a Republican donor who’s the first postmaster general who did not come from the ranks of the Postal Service, took control of the agency in June and has since swiftly engineered cuts and operational changes that are disrupting mail delivery operations. In Maine, two mail-sorting machines were dismantled at the state’s postal distribution hub.

He announced Tuesday he would halt some changes to mail delivery that critics blamed for widespread delays and warned could disrupt the November election, which is expected to bring a surge of mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic.

DeJoy is scheduled to testify before the Senate on Friday.

President Donald Trump made clear last week that he was blocking $25 billion in emergency aid to the Postal Service, acknowledging he wanted to curtail election mail operations, as well as a Democratic proposal to provide $3.6 billion in additional election money to the states to help process mail-in ballots.

Those funds are tangled in a broader coronavirus aid package that was approved in the House but stalled in the Senate.

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.

“Rural Americans, including agricultural producers, disproportionately rely on USPS for their livelihoods, and it is essential that they receive reliable service,” Pingree said.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Arrested in 2004 Cold Case Rape and Murder

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Willie Ray Butler

DON'T MISS

California’s Economy Ranks Fourth Worldwide, Surpasses Japan

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Traffic Stop Leads to $600K Cocaine Bust

DON'T MISS

Fresno Ranks Fourth in US for an Affordable Night Out

DON'T MISS

New US SEC Chair Says Crypto Sector Deserves Clear Regulations

DON'T MISS

US Officials Arrest Milwaukee Judge for Obstructing Immigration Operation

DON'T MISS

Exclusive: US Congress Republicans Seek $27 Billion for Golden Dome in Trump Tax Bill

DON'T MISS

China Exempts Some Goods From US Tariffs

DON'T MISS

Luigi Mangione Due in Court for Arraignment as Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty

UP NEXT

On Major Economic Decisions, Trump Blinks, and Then Blinks Again

UP NEXT

Chicago Bears Great Steve McMichael Dies at 67 After Battle With ALS

UP NEXT

Long Wait Is Over for Cam Ward, Travis Hunter and Other Draft Prospects Joining the NFL

UP NEXT

Golden State’s Jimmy Butler Injured in Game 2 Loss, His Status for Game 3 Unknown

UP NEXT

Jalen Green Makes Eight 3s to Help Rockets Even Series With Warriors

UP NEXT

US Justice Department Directs Investigations Over Gender-Affirming Care

UP NEXT

US Justice Department Cancels Hundreds of Grants for Police, Crime Victims

UP NEXT

Yelich’s 5th Career Slam and Bauers’ 2-Run Homer Power the Brewers to Win Over the Giants

UP NEXT

Happ Hits Game-Ending Single in the 10th as the Cubs Rally Past Dodgers

UP NEXT

Trump: No Plans to Fire Fed Chair Powell, but Wants Lower Rates

Fresno County Traffic Stop Leads to $600K Cocaine Bust

1 hour ago

Fresno Ranks Fourth in US for an Affordable Night Out

1 hour ago

New US SEC Chair Says Crypto Sector Deserves Clear Regulations

2 hours ago

US Officials Arrest Milwaukee Judge for Obstructing Immigration Operation

2 hours ago

Exclusive: US Congress Republicans Seek $27 Billion for Golden Dome in Trump Tax Bill

3 hours ago

China Exempts Some Goods From US Tariffs

3 hours ago

Luigi Mangione Due in Court for Arraignment as Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty

3 hours ago

Shedeur Sanders Snubbed in NFL Draft’s Round 1 but Leads List of Top Available Players for Day 2

3 hours ago

Chargers Choose North Carolina RB Omarion Hampton in Effort to Boost Offense

4 hours ago

49ers Draft Georgia Edge Rusher Mykel Williams With the No. 11 Pick in the NFL Draft

4 hours ago

Fresno Man Arrested in 2004 Cold Case Rape and Murder

A Fresno man has been arrested in connection with a decades-old cold case after DNA technology linked him to the 2004 murder and sexual assa...

1 hour ago

Robert Castillo (left), 61, of Fresno, has been arrested in the 2004 murder and sexual assault of Barbara Lee after DNA evidence linked him to the cold case and two additional rape investigations. (Fresno County SO)
1 hour ago

Fresno Man Arrested in 2004 Cold Case Rape and Murder

Willie Ray Butler is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for April 25, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
1 hour ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Willie Ray Butler

1 hour ago

California’s Economy Ranks Fourth Worldwide, Surpasses Japan

A CHP K-9 unit discovered 13 pounds of cocaine worth over $600,000 hidden in a vehicle's exhaust tunnel during a traffic stop on I-5 in Fresno County on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (CHP)
1 hour ago

Fresno County Traffic Stop Leads to $600K Cocaine Bust

1 hour ago

Fresno Ranks Fourth in US for an Affordable Night Out

The seal of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2021. Picture taken May 12, 2021. (REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo)
2 hours ago

New US SEC Chair Says Crypto Sector Deserves Clear Regulations

Hannah Dugan speaks as she was seeking election to Milwaukee County Circuit Court during a forum at the Milwaukee Bar Association in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., March 15, 2016. Mike De Sisti / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images via (REUTERS/File Photo)
2 hours ago

US Officials Arrest Milwaukee Judge for Obstructing Immigration Operation

A Lockheed Martin Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile interceptor is seen during the third annual "Made in America Product Showcase" on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 15, 2019. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)
3 hours ago

Exclusive: US Congress Republicans Seek $27 Billion for Golden Dome in Trump Tax Bill

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend