Micheal Clements, NAFB News Service

Poultry farmers say postal service delays are causing deliveries of live chicks to result in dead chicks. Shipping of live chicks is common through the United States Postal Service. However, Maine poultry farmer Pauline Henderson says delays in shipping resulted in 800 dead chicks at her farm. She told local media the dead birds she received shipped in the normal amount of time but were apparently mishandled. Farmers like Henderson allege recent operation overhauls, including cuts in sorting equipment, have made USPS an unreliable shipper for live chicks. The Portland (Maine) Press-Herald reports thousands of birds that moved through the Postal Service’s processing center in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, all met the same fate, affecting several farms in Maine and New Hampshire. Representative Chellie Pingree, a Maine Democrat, penned a recent letter to the USPS and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Pingree alleges the Trump administration “attacks on the Post Office are devasting small farmers.” Pingree is among the many Democrats calling for the removal of  Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.