Short answer: Inspect the box, the count and the paperwork in the first ten minutes after your chicks arrive, before you start on individual birds. Photograph the outside of the box and any dead chicks, count live, dead and weak in separate piles, and match the batch label to the record. Anything wrong goes to the hatchery the same day, with a picture, on WhatsApp at +233 24 915 1503.
Key takeaways
- Read the outside of the box before you lift the lid, and note anything wet, crushed or blocked.
- Photograph the box and any dead chicks before anything is moved or thrown away.
- Count live, dead and weak in three separate piles on a clean surface.
- Match the batch label, breed, number and hatch date to the record and your order.
- Report losses the same day with the count and the photo.
- Keep arrival losses on their own line so they never mix with later brooding losses.
Read the box from the outside before you open it
Most of what went wrong on the road is written on the outside of the box. Walk round it once before you lift the lid. You are looking for a wet patch on the base, a corner split from being dropped, ventilation holes blocked by a bag or another load, or a smear of droppings down the sides. Each one tells you something about the journey, and you will want that information when you speak to us.
| Sign on the outside | What it can point to | What to do first |
|---|---|---|
| Damp base or wet patches | Spilt water, condensation from heat or cold, or chicks that were already scouring | Note it, photograph it, lift the box gently onto a dry surface |
| Crushed or split corner | A drop, or boxes stacked under heavier loads | Photograph it, then check the nearest chicks for injuries before anything else |
| Ventilation holes blocked | The box was covered or packed too tightly, which traps heat and smell | Clear the holes or move the box to an airy place before you open the lid |
| Droppings smeared on the sides | A long journey without a rest, or litter that became wet | Count the chicks promptly and look closely at the group nearest the smear |
| Box warm to the touch | A hot cab, or the box left in direct sun | Move it to shade, then check for panting or gaping before you count |
None of these signs proves the hatchery did anything wrong. A box can be crushed in a van that the hatchery never drove. What matters is that you saw the state of the box at the moment it reached you, and that you wrote it down before anyone could argue about it. Our guide to how to transport day-old chicks safely explains what the road does to a box, and why chicks die in transit covers the causes in more depth.
Photograph the box before anything moves
A photo is the cheapest insurance in the business, and it is the step most farmers skip because they are excited or in a hurry. Take three pictures before you start. The first is the outside of the box with the label visible. The second is the box open, with the chicks in it. The third is any dead chicks laid out together on a clean surface. Add a short note with the time and your location.
Keep the original photos on your phone and do not compress them through an app before you send them. If a chick dies the next morning, the picture taken from the box is the one that shows what state it arrived in. Without it, we are left with your memory of a box you cannot show us, and that is not fair to you or to the next buyer.
A blurry photo is still better than none. If the first attempt is out of focus, take another one, because a picture you did not take cannot help anyone.
Open it in the right room, not on a hot tailgate
The place you open the box matters nearly as much as the box. Carry it straight into a room with a closed door, out of the wind, away from direct sun and off the floor if the floor is wet. Keep the box away from the gate where people walk in and out, because chicks take fright easily and a crowd of onlookers makes counting slow.
Ghana gives you two hazards to plan for, and they come at different times of year. In December and January the harmattan brings fine dust into everything. Chicks breathing dusty air in a draughty shed are often the first to show it, so open the box indoors and close the windows near the box. In the rainy season the risk runs the other way: wet floors and damp air, which chill chicks that have just come out of a warm box. A dry towel or a clean sheet on the floor is the simplest fix.
Put everything you need on the table before you lift the lid. A clean sheet, a tray, your count sheet, a pen and your phone. You should not be looking for a pen while a box of chicks waits in the crate.
The smell and the warmth inside the box
Once the room is ready, lean in and smell before you look. A sharp ammonia smell means wet litter, or a box that sat sealed with droppings in it for longer than it should have. A mild, dusty, clean smell is normal. If the smell is strong, open one end of the box, let the air move for a minute or two, and then count, rather than tipping the whole box out at once.
Next, feel the warmth. Slide the back of your fingers into the box through the opening, without pressing down on the chicks. They should feel warm and lively, not cold and clumped. Chicks that are chilled huddle in one corner and give a thin, steady cheep. Chicks that have overheated spread out, open their beaks, and pant. Both patterns are worth noting before the count starts, because they explain what you will see in the brooder if nothing changes.
Do not respond to a bad smell or a cold box by pulling the lid off and leaving the chicks in a draught. The aim is to see the chicks in comfortable conditions, not to expose them to a new problem in the name of inspection.
Count live, dead and weak in three separate piles
Count from one side of the box to the other, lifting each chick out onto the sheet or into the tray as you go. Do not count the chicks while they are still in the box and then count them again on the sheet. A double count is the first thing a dispute runs on, and it is easy to avoid by moving each chick once.
Use three piles. The first is live and moving. The second is dead, meaning the chick does not move, does not respond to gentle touch and has no breathing you can see. The third is weak: the chicks that are alive but do not stand, do not respond much, or lie with the head low. Weak chicks go into the brooder in their own corner, with a heat source and water within a few steps, and you check them through the day. Count them, but keep them on their own line in your record.
Here is a worked example. You open a box of 50 and count 46 live and moving, 2 dead and 2 weak. The 2 dead go into the photo and the count you send us that day. The 2 weak are not dead on arrival, so they do not go on the dead line. You write them down as weak on arrival. If one of them dies that night, it goes on your brooding record, separate from the arrival count, and you note the time it died.
That separation is the whole point. The arrival count is the evidence for the transport. The brooding record is the evidence for how you looked after the chicks. Mixing them makes both of them useless.
Match the label to the paperwork, line by line
The box label and the batch record are two halves of the same story. Read the batch identifier on the label, then find that identifier on the record. If they do not match, stop there and ring the hatchery before you go on. A mismatch is often a simple mistake at packing, but it is much easier to sort out while the box is still in front of you.
Work through the rest of the paperwork against your order:
| Check | Where to look | What a match looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Batch identifier | Box label and batch record | Identical, letter for letter |
| Breed or line | Label, record and your order | The same breed name in all three |
| Number of chicks | Label against your count | Your live, dead and weak total equals the label figure |
| Hatch date and dispatch date | Batch record | Chicks dispatched on the day they hatched |
| Vaccinations listed | Batch record | Each vaccine named, with a date |
| Sex mix, if you ordered sexed chicks | Record and your order | Consistent with what you were told |
Check the breed name against the page you ordered from, whether that was the broiler day-old chicks page or the Sasso page. A label that says one thing and an order that says another is a question for the hatchery, not a surprise for the brooder.
The hatch date deserves a second look. Chicks are dispatched on the day they hatch, so a hatch date that is days older than the day of delivery is a question to put to the hatchery before you pay for the next box. It is not an emergency, but it matters for how long the chicks have been on the road and in a box.
Mixed colours, and what they tell you about the order
Look at the colours in the box as you count. If you ordered one breed and the box looks like a patchwork, check whether the breed is one where colour is used to separate the sexes at hatch. Some crosses are colour-coded so that cockerels and pullets can be told apart on the first day. Others are not, and a mixed box then tells you more about the stock than about your order.
If you ordered pullets for a layer house and you see what looks like a clear run of males, that is a question to put on WhatsApp the same day, with a photo. It is not something to discover at week eight when the birds start crowing. Our sexing guide explains how the different methods work and how accurate they are, and the layer day-old chicks page describes what we supply for laying flocks.
Once the count is done, the guide to telling a healthy chick from a weak one takes you through the chick-by-chick checks that come next, and it is worth reading before you look at the weak pile. Our sister guide on choosing a trustworthy hatchery covers what to check before the box is ever ordered.
Do not guess at sex on the day. Count the colours, write down what you see, and let the hatchery explain the cross.
Need chicks for your next batch?
Send breed, number and town. We reply with price, hatch date and delivery cost in writing.
The first thirty minutes: a checklist
Use this list in order. It takes about thirty minutes for a box of 50 if you do not rush, and it saves you from the common mistakes that turn a small loss into a dispute.
- Walk round the box and note anything wet, crushed, blocked or smeared.
- Photograph the outside of the box with the label visible.
- Move the box to a closed, dry room away from wind, dust and direct sun.
- Smell the box and note whether the smell is clean, dusty or sharp.
- Feel the warmth through the opening and note whether the chicks look chilled or overheated.
- Open the box and photograph it with the chicks in place.
- Count live, dead and weak into three separate piles, once each.
- Photograph the dead chicks together on a clean surface.
- Match the batch identifier, breed, number and dates against the record and your order.
- Write the count, the time and any notes on your sheet, then send the count and photos to the hatchery the same day.
Recording losses so a claim can be settled fairly
The replacement rule is easy to state and easy to lose if the paperwork is missing. A dead chick on arrival is replaced free in the next hatch, but only when the count was written on the day and the photo is with us on WhatsApp by the same evening. The count is the evidence, and it only counts if it was written down at the time.
Keep a single sheet per box, with the same columns each time:
| Date | Batch | Count on label | Live | Dead | Weak | Photo sent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example | Box 1 | 50 | 46 | 2 | 2 | Yes, same day | Right-hand corner crushed |
| Next box |
If you are still deciding which breed suits your house, the breeds page helps before the next box arrives.
If you send the count two days later, you are asking us to remember a box we did not see. We can only act on what was written down and sent on the day, so the sheet and the photo are the two things to protect.
Mistakes we see at the box, almost every time
After enough boxes, the same few errors come round again. Most of them are about speed, and none of them is hard to avoid once you know to watch for it.
- Opening the box in a hot car park before anyone has looked at it from the outside.
- Counting in a heap, so chicks are counted twice or missed altogether.
- Throwing the dead out before taking the photo, which leaves nothing to show the state of the box.
- Sending the count on Friday for a box that arrived on Tuesday.
- Calling the box "fine" because the chicks are moving, without counting the weak ones separately.
- Filing the arrival count with the brooder records, so nobody can tell transport losses from later ones.
- Waiting to see whether the rest settle before reporting a bad box, which uses up the time you had to act.
Our frequently asked questions cover the most common arrival problems in more detail.
The last one is the costliest. A bad box is much easier to deal with on the morning it arrives than a week later, when the chicks have been fed, moved and mixed with the rest of the flock.
When the box comes by bus or through a third party
Plenty of farmers collect boxes at a bus station or from a third party in a town far from the hatchery. That is an ordinary and sensible way to receive chicks, but every extra handover adds risk. Ask the person giving you the box how long it has been in transit, whether it was kept in shade, and whether anyone opened it on the way. Write the answers next to your count, because they explain a lot about what you find.
If the box was handed over in a crowded station, look for crushed corners before you sign for it, and say so on the spot. Do not leave it until your WhatsApp message three days later. A problem noticed at the handover is a problem the person handing it over can still see and respond to.
For delivery areas and how boxes are sent, see the delivery page. If you need to place the next order, use the order form on the home page or WhatsApp +233 24 915 1503.
If you collect from the farm yourself, the same routine applies. Take the box straight to your prepared room, not to the back of the vehicle while you finish a conversation.
Questions farmers ask
How long do I have to report dead chicks on arrival?
Report them the same day. Send the count and a photo to +233 24 915 1503 on WhatsApp, or email support@halaalfarms.com. That is the rule we work to. If you find more dead chicks the next morning, send those too, with the time you found them, and we will tell you how they fit the policy. Do not wait to see whether the rest settle before you report.
Should I open the box straight away when it arrives?
Photograph the outside first, then move the box into a closed, dry room away from wind and sun, and only then open it. Do not open it on a hot tailgate. Chicks that have just come out of a warm box can chill quickly in a draught, and chicks in a hot vehicle can overheat before you have counted them.
What exactly should I photograph?
Take three pictures: the outside of the box with the label visible, the open box with the chicks in it, and any dead chicks laid out together on a clean surface. Keep the original files with their time stamps. Send them on the day, and if one is blurry, take another rather than sending nothing.
What if some chicks look weak but are still moving?
Keep them apart, in a warm corner with a heat source and water within a few steps, and check them through the day. Record them as weak on arrival, separately from the dead. Weak chicks that recover are a good sign. Those that do not recover go on your brooding record, not the arrival count. Ask us if you are unsure how to label them.
Can I refuse a box that looks badly damaged?
Call us before you sign anything. If a box is clearly damaged or the count is far from the order, we want to know at once, while the box is still in front of you. Refusing quietly and then calling a week later makes the problem much harder to sort out for both of us.
Does a few dead chicks mean the whole batch is bad?
Not on its own. Losses in any batch can come from the road, from the box or from the chicks themselves, and one count on one morning tells you very little. What matters is that the count is recorded, the photo is sent, and the chicks are watched over the following days so you can see whether the pattern changes.
Who should I contact about a problem on arrival?
Use WhatsApp or call +233 24 915 1503 first, because it is the fastest route. Send the photos and the count to support@halaalfarms.com as well, so there is a written record. Farm visits are by appointment if you want to see the hatchery in person.
